Friend of Dead Man Is Charged

A San Luis Obispo man has been charged with the October murder of an Orange County in-line skating entrepreneur.

Mark Westwick, 27, was arrested Feb. 2 after a three-month investigation by the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Department. Detectives said Friday they found inconsistencies with Westwick’s account of the death of his friend, which he said was an accident.

Tyler Hutchinson, co-founder of Boulderblades Inc., a Newport Beach in-line skating goods company, died of a close-range gunshot wound to the head Oct. 29.

Westwick, a former co-worker and friend of the victim for nearly three years, called sheriff’s deputies nearly two days after the shooting and led them to the body, which he had stored in his garage, according to sheriff’s officials.

Westwick’s attorney, Melvin de la Motte, was unavailable for comment Friday.

Investigators discovered that Westwick wrapped Hutchinson’s body in a sleeping bag and plastic garbage bag, dumped it down an access hole in his kitchen to his garage and waited two days before alerting authorities, according to a sheriff’s report.

Authorities said the scene of the shooting had been cleaned up before Westwick notified deputies.

Investigators found Hutchinson’s car near Los Angeles International Airport, a few days after the shooting. Prosecutor Dan Hilford said it appeared Westwick left it there.

Westwick and Hutchinson, 25, had worked for Hutchinson’s step-father, David Wilk, at his company, Pacific Milk Caps, which makes the small discs popular with many children. In March 1995, Hutchinson ventured into the in-line skating business, according to Logan Gulla, partner and co-founder of Boulderblades Inc.

Sheriff’s detectives said they found bank records belonging to Hutchinson’s in-line skate business at Westwick’s home.

On the day he died, Hutchinson, who lived in Dana Point with his grandparents, traveled to San Luis Obispo to meet with an in-line skate innovator and to retrieve money from a savings account he shared with Westwick, Hilford said.

The account held more than $60,000 in savings from their the milk cap work. According to Hilford, Hutchinson found it nearly depleted.

“It just seemed like it must have been a terrible accident but now so much evidence has come out that it really makes you think,” Wilk, the victim’s stepfather, said. “The specter of months of trial is just extra pain and an extra barrier to the healing process. But of course we want to see justice done.”

Westwick has been released on $100,000 bail. His arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday in San Luis Obispo.