Malibu Creek State Park Shootings: Will Rauda Take the Rap?

Cropping out the identifying information to conceal the identity of the sender, I immediately posted it on our feed ( photo above) to warn residents of a potential sniper in the area.

Clearly something was going on as that specific post took on a life of its own. Meliss Tatangelo was the first victim to come out on the thread (photo below) telling her harrowing story of being shot at in January 2017, at the campground in Malibu Creek State Park. The slug hit the car she was sleeping in with her boyfriend, coming within a half inch of killing her.

It also led to the discovery of other victims and to exposing these crimes being covered up State Parks officials and law enforcement going back to 2016. The community was literally, and figuratively left in the dark, with a predator, and no way to make an informed decision about our safety.

Including Beaudette, who may have made an entirely different decision as to his camping plans that night had he known about the shootings and still be a live today.

QUESTIONS BUT NO ANSWERS

As new information came to light regarding the shooting incidents, and that yet another law enforcement cover-up was in play, this cast an even larger, darker cloud of suspicion over the Lost Hills division of LASD. This cloud had already been ominous, hanging over them for the better part of 9 years playing a pivotal role in the high profile case of Mitrice Richardson.

Richardson was detained after failing to paying her bill at Goeffrey’s Restaurant in Malibu, and was released from Lost Hills Sheriff’s Department under very suspicious circumstances in 2009. Her body was found 10 months later near Monte Nido. The case is now scheduled to be re-opened under the new Sheriff.

Which leads us to the questions mainstream media seems to be ignoring…

Why did State Parks and LASD hide these crimes from the public since 2016?

Why didn’t LASD get involved in these attempted murder cases from the beginning? 

Why were the victims ignored by authorities?

Why wasn’t anyone, victims and the community, given answers?

Because they had none… or did they?

Almost a month after the murder, a flyer was distributed asking the public for help. According to inside sources leads had run cold and authorities had no description of the suspect (only a lot of speculation swirling around). Which would suggest they had no answers.

A few weeks later, on August 19th, Lt. Rodney Moore, head of LASD Homicide division told the crowd at the Public Safety meeting hosted by Senator Henry Stern (to address the shootings and safety in the Santa Monica Mountains) that they had “no known suspects at this time.”

Needless to say, residents left the meeting very unhappy campers (pun intended).

 

Yet, in this Oct. 12th article by ABC News, a family member was interviewed telling reporters Rauda had been living in the hills for the last 10 years. He also said authorities had Rauda in custody 4 months prior on trespassing.

Are we to believe that Rauda was right under our nose for the last 10 years and the community or law enforcement wasn’t aware of him?

It seems a little far fetched to try to pass that off as a believable scenario nowadays. There are way too many prying eyes around here for a killer/shooter/burglar to be on the move for 10 years, in our proverbial back yard, and not been seen (and information promptly distributed on social media) – especially since Rauda was found within a few mile radius of the murder scene (and close to the locations of approximately 6 other cases of attempted murders).

Is it really possible to think Rauda could get away with all these criminal acts, some even a stone’s throw away from from Lost Hills Sheriff’s Department? That’s quite a feat. Somehow I don’t think Rauda is that saavy – or that stupid in my opinion.

The shooter’s M.O. was to strike late at night of in the pre-dawn hours yet Rauda was found in the middle of the day, in a wide open field, complete with NBC hovering overhead, after two unsuccessful SWAT visits (a.k.a. Political Dog and Pony Shows) and conveniently scheduled weeks before the November election for L.A. County Sheriff.

That just seems a little out of character with the details of the crimes Rauda is alleged to have committed.

There is also the burning question of why the three tips (that have since been registered with the County) emailed to LASD, State Parks, and Malibu Search and Rescue the week before Rauda’s arrest were ignored. The tips were sent in by a longtime local who travels the canyons frequently and is an avid outdoorsman. The witness only started seeing Rauda around the time of the burglary at Malibu Valley Farms and had never seen him anytime before that.

The tips detailed the exact location of where law enforcement could find Rauda. The witness had seen Rauda in the same location multiple times the previous week. That information was in authorities hands when the SWAT team performed the show stopping search on Malibu Canyon Rd. on October 6th. Three days later, on October 10th, Anthony Rauda’s high profile arrest was executed in the exact spot detailed in the previously emailed tips.

Another interesting tidbit to share is at the swearing in ceremony for new Sheriff Villanueva on December 3, I had the opportunity to speak to a few member of the SWAT team. Of course the topic was the Rauda case and one of them openly commented that he was shocked after seeing photos of Rauda after his arrest… “that was not the description of the suspect we were given” he said.

Let me expand on that. SWAT was given the description of male adult with red hair which fit the profile of someone law enforcement had been interested in at the beginning of the case but did not pursue. Yet, LASD forgot to add that important detail to their press release (see below) when describing the suspect they were seeking for the murder and shootings after the burglary video was released and SWAT was sent out (in full force) to capture for the shootings.

The LAPD release said “The suspect is described as a male adult, slender build, dark clothing.” the press release said.

Well, two out of three ain’t bad I guess.

FAKE IT TIL YOU MAKE IT

Well, for quite some time it looked like LASD had none in the hand, the evidence was deep in the bush, and no one was chirping.

Months went by with no breaks in the case, yet multiple reports of shots fired were being reported in the area near the murder scene. Some of these incidents were investigated thoroughly (as reported by law enforcement), including helicopters, K-9s etc., yet yielded no hard evidence according to authorities (at least that’s what they said at the time, I’m expecting the story to change now).

Reports of shots fired trickled into Lost Hills Sheriff’s Department regularly, but now authorities were conveniently dismissing them as a firecracker, a transformer that blew, a car that backfired – even a back windshield blowout (first reported as road rage) was explained away as “extreme heat exposure”. They even provided this reporter with a google link to back up their claims.

DUE PROCESS

The DA moving forward and charging Rauda with Beaudette’s murder was no big surprise especially with all the fanfare leading up to and after his arrest (and knowing he was due to be released soon for time served in probation violations) however, the amount of charges stacked against him is another story.

Of the ten counts of attempted murder, most, will be next to impossible to convict Rauda on unless LASD has some magical way of collecting and processing evidence that has not been compromised either by the elements over the last two years, or the process in which it was collected in the first place – if it was even collected by State Parks or LASD at all.

From November 2016 to early 2017, witness statements and email communication with State Parks show that the victims contacted LASD with multiple incidents of attempted murder and were told it was “out of their jurisdiction” (see photo above). Instead, Park Rangers were sent to collect evidence, specifically in Tatangelo’s case, even though Malibu Creek State Park has no established, Crime Scene Investigation unit, accessible crime lab, or the facilities to store evidence.

Inquiries to State Parks regarding whether the slug from Tatangelo’s vehicle was turned over to LASD were ignored. My colleague Dr. Ronda Hampton and I decided to formally reach out LASD HQ on behalf of the victim to find out why they had not followed up on, or based on previous responses from LASD, taken her case seriously at all.

Up until October 30th, more than 4 months after the murder of Tristan Beaudette, the victims of the shootings in State Parks had not been contacted until Dr. Hampton and I initiated communication with LASD regarding these cases.

In fact, it came as a surprise to one of the victims I contacted on the day Rauda was charged that they were included in the complaint filed against Rauda since detectives from Major Crimes had not interviewed them or taken a statement. 

James Rogers is another victim listed in the DA complaint against Rauda. In November of 2016, Rogers was camping at Malibu Creek State Park when he was shot with 3mm birdshot at approximately 3 a.m.

As Rogers hammock fell to the ground, he untangled himself and felt stinging in his arm but dismissed it as rodent bites at first. He later went to Urgent Care where the doctors misdiagnosed him, also suspecting rodent bites, and he was given a rabies shot. Rogers later discovered a pellet lodged in his arm, more in his sleeping bag and immediately realized what truly had happened.

At the time I interviewed him, right after the murder, no evidence was processed and Rogers was extremely upset at how the entire incident was handled by State Parks.

Rogers forwarded me the communication with State Parks a little over a month after the incident.

Clearly State Parks were negligent in the handling of these cases of attempted murder and involving LASD in a formal capacity from the beginning. However, when LASD was contacted by the victims, they seemed just as disinterested in pursuing these attempted murder cases… at least until after the murder and the shootings were exposed, leaving LASD with no choice but to investigate them.

Based on victim interviews, evidence inside sources know they never collected, and witnesses they don’t have, LASD/LA District Attorney’s Office is going to have an exceptionally hard time prosecuting these cases. Specifically for the incidents including the shotgun.

In fact, there is a glaring discrepancy between the details former Sheriff Jim McDonnell gave to the media the day Rauda was captured and the testimony given by a detective at Rauda’s probation violation hearing in December.

Mc Donnell shouted from the rooftops that the suspect had the (would-be) murder weapon in his hands and was ordered to “drop the rifle and surrender”.

The detective at the December 13th probation hearing testified Anthony Rauda had the rifle in his backpack.

So which is it? Hand or backpack?

So far Rauda hasn’t been allowed to speak in court so I don’t think we’ll hear his version any time soon. Rauda did not enter a plea last Monday , and I wouldn’t count on a confession either.

LASD has done a great job keeping up the theatrics portraying Rauda Hannibal Lecter style on display for the world to see attempting to further make the case he is a crazed killer. It seems a little over the top when in reality, he is the lamb being silenced.

Only mentioned once in the media in the early days after his arrest, Rauda was badly bruised as a result of being jumped upon arrival at Men’s Central Jail. This was according to a family member (in an interview with ABC News) who went to visit Rauda in jail and at his November 1st court date, his court appointed attorney told the judge he did not want his client to speak. As a result, Rauda’s last comment was directed at the court-appointed attorney, who he told the judge he wanted fired. 

Rauda’s outburst in court made national news, furthering LASD’s narrative that Rauda is crazy enough to kill, and yet many were unaware that he was roughed up pretty bad his first day in jail, and was being stripped of his rights to represent himself when he had already successfully beat his previous weapons charge in 2016.

Clearly, the fear of being potentially railroaded was looming large in Rauds’a brain based on his actions in court. Authorities need to clarify why Rauda was prevented from speaking in court, and why when he asked to have his attorney fired the court ignored him.

Could Rauda be a really a bad guy the cops successfully got off the street? Maybe. But is he the murderer or the shooter responsible for these crimes?

If he is, it’s looking pretty weak right now and Rauda could eventually walk because of the cover-up and incompetence investigating this case from the very beginning.

DIG DEEP

After Rauda’s arrest in October, and the subtle reveal by law enforcement that the murder weapon was in all actuality a rifle (as opposed to a shotgun used in the previous shootings as they would have the public believe), I made repeated inquiries to LASD as to the whereabouts of the shotgun.

The response I got from directly LASD? Crickets.

Indirectly, LASD spoke volumes in response to my inquiries regarding the shotgun.

The morning after I released my article highlighting the shotgun used in at least four shootings, there was a massive search by LASD at Malibu Creek State Park and deputies diving into bushes “looking for additional evidence” complete with a news choppers overhead to catch the action.

According to inside sources, LASD “did not find what they were looking for”. When I asked for further clarification, I was told specifically LASD did not find the shotgun.

Of course… stories can change (especially after this article is released).

DENIED AND DISMISSED

Shortly before the Political Dog and Pony Shows, and Rauda’s arrest, there was an incident in Carbon Canyon where a resident contacted our publication after a warning shot was fired at him. Once we received the details of the incident, we forwarded the information to two high ranking officers at Lost Hills Sheriff’s Department. The resident called 911 from his cell phone at the scene which in turn went to CHP voicemail (this is can happen as landlines are only designed to go to the main 911 dispatch and cell phones are re-routed to CHP). The resident did not receive a return phone call from 911 and headed back to his home to document the incident. He then promptly emailed our publication knowing how closely we have been following the shootings.

After forwarding the information, which included the approximate location of the shooter, type of weapon, which was thought to be a small caliber rifle, one of the high ranking officers called the resident a few hours later and reached his voicemail.

The message went something like this… “Hi, the is officer… from the Lost Hills Station. Here is my number and extension… If we don’t connect today, we will talk next week.”

Next week????

You have an active shooter in deep brush less than 24 hours before, with what LHSD knew could have been the shooter with the murder weapon (at this point only law enforcement – and the killer – knew it was a rifle) you might want to make it a priority right?

Thankfully, the officer and the resident connected later that day by phone and went out to the scene the following day. The report I received was the search came up empty handed for both the shooter and evidence.

Shortly before this incident, neighbors heard gunshots not far from the trail where the warning shot was fired. A caretaker of a ranch close by saw a tall, slender man in dark clothing with a backpack suited to carry a take-down rifle (one that disassembles) traversing the terrain in military fashion with dark scraggly hair. The same description that was distributed on NextDoor as other witnesses had seen him in the area as well. The description was much closer to the description in the press release sent out by LASD after the burglaries – and definitely not the description given to SWAT.

It is also important to note, this area was undisturbed by the Woolsey Fire.

WHERE THERE’S SMOKE…

The formal LASD press release distributed  last Monday would have you believe there were no other shootings after Rauda was arrested on parole violation on October 10th, 2018. When in reality that is far from the truth.

Not only were there multiple reports of shots fired after he was arrested, there were a few particularly scary incidents near Malibu Creek State Park on October 28th, one of which was a car shot at right in front of the Hindu Temple which Lost Hills Sheriff’s Department has determined as “unexplained”.

A little over a week after this after this incident, the Borderline Massacre took the lives of over 20 students andSgt. Ron Helus of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department taking our attention away from the Malibu Creek State Parks shootings.

The following day, the Woolsey Fire created another devastating distraction with the fire destroying a good portion of the area in and around Malibu Creek State Park.

It was also the only event to put a stop to the shootings, whereas Anthony Rauda’s arrest did not.

However, Monte Nido and Backbone Trail were miraculously spared by Woolsey’s wrath, the area plagued by many reports of shots fired in the months after Beaudette’s murder.

The question is was a shooter spared too?