Man gets 15 years for beating friend to death

Joshua Saiger’s family said he had a difficult life. His mother committed suicide when he was 9 years old, and Saiger was the one who found her.

Authorities said Saiger, 41, had a brutal death. They said his assailant beat him with a metal broom, a sauce pan and a wooden cutting board. The cutting board broke in half, as did the metal broom. The pan lost its handle.

When Saiger was down, the assailant poured boiling water on his torso. His aunt said Tuesday she saw the “gruesome results” at the funeral home.

On Tuesday, Michael Charles Newton, 67, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for killing Saiger, who was found dead in Newton’s apartment in June 2019. Newton was initially charged with murder, but eventually pleaded guilty last month to voluntary manslaughter.

Deputy District Attorney Melissa Ocampo said the two men had been friends. Shortly before the fight, Newton moved into a one-bedroom apartment on Mission Cove Way, along Mission Avenue. Newton “was known to be abusive” to Saiger, the prosecutor said.

Shortly before noon June 6, 2019, Oceanside police responded to a call about a person not breathing in Newton’s apartment. Officers found Saiger dead.

During Newton’s sentencing, the prosecutor read letters from Saiger’s sister and aunt, who both wrote of their disappointment at the 15-year sentence and their love for Saiger.

Patricia Caesar, an aunt who had raised Saiger since he was 13, wrote of his kindness and natural musical talent, and also of his challenges.

“Josh had a very rough life in his earlier years and he worked very hard to overcome the obstacles he faced, sometimes succeeding and sometimes not,” Caesar wrote. “He ended up becoming homeless because, as he used to say, he enjoyed living off the grid.”

Aimee Saiger, the victim’s sister, wrote that Newton should give himself “a big pat on the back, because you truly got away with murder.”

“I hate that you were the last person to see him alive,” the sister wrote, “and that your face was the last person he saw.”