Moorpark man, 71, gets 25 years to life for murder of brother-in-law

A Moorpark man received a sentence of 25 years to life in state prison for fatally shooting his brother-in-law, who was helping his estranged wife move into a new home.

Elsworth Dennis Cadle, 71, pled guilty on May 14 to killing his brother-in-law, Mark Milton, while the victim was in the driver's seat of a U-Haul truck in Moorpark in 2020, according to the Ventura County District Attorney's Office. Milton was married to Cadle's sister, and Cadle's estranged wife and daughter had been living with the couple in 2019.

The mother and daughter decided to move into their own place in early 2020.

On Jan. 3, 2020, Cadle saw Milton just outside a storage unit where his estranged wife and daughter were picking up their belongings, according to prosecutors. Milton and his wife had rented the unit. Cadle first drove past the area and spotted the victim before returning sometime later in a rental car.

He got his gun, drove back to the storage unit and shot Milton in the head, prosecutors said. He fled but was arrested several hours later by Ventura County sheriff's deputies. 

Investigators found the firearm in the rental car's center console.

In addition to a murder charge, Cadle also admitted to personally and intentionally discharging a firearm resulting in death, a special allegation with a sentencing enhancement.