Nearly 10 years after shooting a man to death in El Dorado County, Eric Mehlmauer this month admitted to having committed the crime and will be going to prison for 10 years.

Tobias Kaiser and Mehlmauer were roommates in Fair Play. They were arguing about the theft of personal property that escalated into the shooting on Nov. 30, 2006. According to the El Dorado County District Attorney’s Office, the two “had a history of bad blood stemming from an illegal marijuana cultivation scheme that failed to produce expected profits.”

Investigators said Mehlmauer and several accomplices put Kaiser’s body inside a metal tank, welded it shut, and then buried it on the rental property.

The missing person investigation soon turned into a homicide investigation when a confidential witness and other evidence came to light, investigators said. But the case got cold quickly when no body was could be located.

The cold case detectives resurrected the case in 2014, which led to the arrest of Mehlmauer and an accomplice on Jan. 15, 2015. Kaiser’s body was recovered March 27, 2015.

On March 4, 2016, Mehlmauer pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and admitted to a special allegation that he used a firearm in the commission of that crime. El Dorado County Superior Court Judge Ken Melikian sentenced him to 10 years in prison.

— Lake Tahoe News staff report