Michael Vilkin versus John Upton: What really happened?

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ABC 20/20 featured the story this past weekend of John Upton and Michael Vilkin–both neighbors who didn’t get along.

Vilkin owned a vacant lot and tended to it as if it were a full-time job but Upton had some serious complaints that he aired with Vilkin. The two were known to not get along.

The last fight these two men had involved Vilkin cutting down trees on his own property and Upton being upset that his privacy would be lost at his current home where he rented.

Vilkin ended up shooting and killing Upton, got convicted of murder and faces 25 years to life for the murder.

So what really happened here?

When I watched the show, I do not question that Vilkin was bullied by Upton. There is no doubt in my mind he was bullied.

But I have a problem with Vilkin’s story. At first, Vilkin told us he was assaulted by Upton when he shot him in self-defense, but the second time he said he saw Upton coming at him with a gun, and shot and killed him. The gun Vilkin thought he saw Upton carrying ended up being a cell phone.

The two versions of Vilkin’s story are completely inconsistent.

So I do believe Vilkin was bullied and it probably was driving him mad, but I don’t believe that he had to shoot Upton as an act of self-defense.