Prosecutors say arson suspect in Los Angeles' Palisades Fire was angry 'at the world'

Source: Associated Press

Prosecutors say arson suspect in Los Angeles' Palisades Fire was angry 'at the world'

CHRISTOPHER WEBER
Updated Mon, May 4, 2026 at 1:15 PM EDT
3 min read

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The man accused of sparking the deadly Palisades Fire in Los Angeles was upset that he didn't have plans for New Year's Eve and ranted about being angry at the world before the initial blaze was sparked, according to court documents filed by prosecutors.

Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, has pleaded not guilty to starting what became one of the most destructive wildfires in California history. It began Jan. 7, 2025, in hillside neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades and Malibu and killed 12 people. Prosecutors say Rinderknecht started a fire on Jan. 1 that burned undetected deep in root systems before flaring back up a week later.

Rinderknecht’s trial is set to begin June 8. His attorneys say he is being used as a scapegoat for the Los Angeles Fire Department’s failure to fully extinguish the earlier blaze.

An outline of the prosecutors' strategy — with details about the defendant’s alleged state of mind on the night before the first fire began — appears in an April 29 pretrial memo filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

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Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/prosecutors-arson-suspect-los-angeles-171532250.html