by A 75-year-old man who was found guilty of killing another man in Ramona due to a disagreement over rent was given a sentence of 50 years to life in state prison on Wednesday.
A jury in El Cajon found Michael Allen Hughes guilty of first-degree murder in 2020 for murdering Mario Velasquez Cardoso, a tenant at a house owned by Hughes’ fiancée.
The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office claims that after months of animosity between Hughes’ girlfriend and Cardoso’s family, Hughes killed the victim early on November 5, 2020.
According to the DA’s office, Hughes set up a trap at the Pine Street home by closing the driveway gate, forcing 46-year-old Cardoso to exit his vehicle in order to open the gate as he was leaving the house to go to work.
According to the DA’s office, Hughes then shot Cardoso from a sniper position. The office claimed that Hughes took numerous precautions to ensure the murder went undetected, such as hiding his truck close by for a speedy escape and taking down a surveillance camera close to the house that would have recorded the shooter.
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Hughes attempted to place the blame for the murder on an innocent third party, according to the DA.
Despite Hughes’ early identification as a suspect, it wasn’t until sheriff’s detectives examined tens of thousands of CCTV footage that they were able to gather enough evidence to arrest him.
