San Diego Brothers Face Torture Charges In Connection With Murder Of Homeless Man

Two brothers are facing torture charges in addition to murder and assault in connection with the beating and murder of a San Diego homeless man.

Austin Larry Mostrong, 21, and Preston Mostrong, 20, are accused of beating George Lowery, 50, to death in Santee, Calif. in April 2016 in a manner that investigators described as "a very horrific event."

Judge Lantz Lewis rejected the arguments made by the Mostrong brothers' attorneys that the attack was carried out in self defense, CBS 8 reported.

"There's murder and then there is what happened here," Deputy District Attorney George Modlin said Friday.

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Lowery was found by his wife face down, under a piece of plywood and unconscious with his hands and feet "hogtied" in a riverbed known as a homeless encampment in Santee on April 24, 2016.

His face had been pressed into the sludge and his body was covered in alcohol. He had been beaten so violently that his brain swelled inside his skull.

Lowery also had been robbed, sheriff's Lt. Kenneth Nelson said. He was taken to Sharp Memorial Hospital for treatment, to no avail. Lowery died five days later.

Prosecutors argued his death was a revenge attack stemming from an encounter near the homeless camp four days prior to Lowery's beating where Austin Mostrong's pellet gun was taken. Austin Mostrong allegedy said he was going to get it back, Modlin said during the hearing on the motion to dismiss the torture charges on Friday.

Defense attorneys argued that evidence backed up the mens' claim that Lowery advanced upon them with a machete.

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"Preston was approached by a man with a machete and there's forensic evidence that backs that up," his attorney, James McMahon said. "There was a machete there. There was confirmation that that was the decedent's machete."

They also argued evidence was lacking in favor of the prosecutor's conclusion that the man acted with intent, NBC reported.

The brothers are being held on $3 million bail. The case is scheduled for trial beginning in October.

[H/T Daily Mail]