At age 56, documentary film maker and philanthropist John Upton was dead. The father of three went outside his home on the morning of March 2, 2024, when he was shot in his midsection and then the head.
But Upton’s killer wasn’t a stranger. His next-door neighbor Michael Vilkin shot him with a .44 magnum gun and called the 911 shortly after. While Vilkin claimed the shooting was in self-defense — because he feared for his life — Upton’s neighbor was found guilty of murder.
For over a year the two neighbors disputed over clearing of the lot, focusing on a narrow 130-foot strip of the land that was right outside Upton’s front door. Vilkin wanted to clear it of invasive non-native Brazilian pepper-trees. Upton didn’t want him to cut down the trees.
The strip became a battleground. According to Michael Vilkin, Upton would intimidate him, screaming and yelling at him to stop cutting trees, every time he was out working on his land.
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