Man accused of starting Palisades fire was ‘angry, intense, driving erratically’, lawyers say | California wildfires
The man accused of sparking the deadly Palisades fire in Los Angeles was upset about a failed relationship and lack of plans for New Year’s Eve, saying he was angry at the world before the first fire was ignited, according to court documents filed by prosecutors.
Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, pleaded not guilty to starting the blaze that became one of the most destructive wildfires in California history. It began on January 7, 2025, in the hillside neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades and Malibu, killing 12 people. Prosecutors say Rinderknecht started a fire on Jan. 1 that burned unnoticed in the root systems and reignited a week later.
Rinderknecht’s trial will begin on June 8. His lawyers say he was used as a scapegoat for the Los Angeles Fire Department’s failure to fully extinguish the earlier blaze.
An outline of prosecutors’ strategy — which included details about the defendant’s alleged state of mind the night before the first fire started — is included in an April 29 pretrial memo filed by the U.S. attorney’s office.
Prosecutors said witnesses reported Rinderknecht driving erratically on Uber routes around the Palisades on New Year’s Eve. His passengers described him as “angry, irritable, driving erratically and yelling about being ‘mad at the world,'” the note said, recalling a previous criminal complaint filed against Rinderknecht.
According to court records, Rinderknecht yelled at passengers about Luigi Mangione, the suspected killer of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson; capitalism; and alertness. When asked in a Jan. 24 interview with investigators why someone might have committed arson in the Palisades, Rinderknecht replied that “it would be out of anger that the rich are enjoying their money while ‘we’re basically enslaved by them,'” once again referring to Mangione’s alleged crime, according to the documents.
Prosecutors also said Rinderknecht was devastated by a failed relationship and upset that plans for New Year’s Eve were thwarted.
In an email responding to these allegations, Rinderknecht’s attorney, Steve Haney, said: “My client has maintained his innocence throughout and we look forward to clearing his name at trial.
“The reason offered for my client to start a fire [New Year’s] The fact that Eve didn’t have a date speaks for itself.
Haney held a press conference in March to call for Rinderknecht’s release from prison in light of evidence he said showed he was not responsible for the fire. Haney pointed to testimony in which a firefighter said he noticed the ground was still smoldering from the Jan. 2, 2025, fire and warned supervisors that there were hot spots. This testimony was collected as part of a lawsuit filed by fire victims against the city.
One battalion chief testified that he walked around the burn area four times throughout the day, ensuring all hot spots were outside.
Fire Chief Jaime Moore, appointed in October, said she was concerned about the differences in firefighters’ accounts and commissioned an independent report into how the fire on Jan. 1, 2025, was handled.
Haney said the defense did not have that evidence at the time Rinderknecht was charged.
