Pose and Pacify: Malibu Canyon Shooting Public Safety Meeting Causes More Confusion…Flashbacks of the Mitrice Richardson Case?

Representatives from Law Enforcement and State Agencies gathered on Sunday, August 19th, at King Gillette Ranch for what was supposed to be an update on “Safety in the Santa Monica Mountains” after the death of Tristan Beaudette at Malibu Creek State Park on June 22.

The murder forced the closure of the campground as well as the discovery of multiple incidents of violence occurring in the area that was not reported to the public by law enforcement and state officials.

News of Beaudette’s murder, and the report of another victim 4 days before on The Local Malibu’s social media, brought forward more victims of shootings. It also shed light on the fact that these incidents had been occurring since late 2016, leaving campers and commuters in the line of fire without their knowledge and many pondering a different scenario…had Tristan Beaudette known about the shootings at Malibu Creek State Park would he most likely have made different camping plans and still be alive today?

**A message received and posted on the Local Malibu Facebook page that led to more victims coming out on the same thread.**

POSE AND PACIFY

It was an impressive line-up at the King Gillette Auditorium on Sunday morning led by respected local, Senator Henry Stern who grew up in the area. Stern started the Public Safety meeting by stating the reason for bringing top brass from local law enforcement and state agencies together; “We don’t want to be known in this region for these kinds of incidents.” Stern said “We don’t want to be defined by this…we certainly don’t want to live in fear.”

Eight representatives from Lost Hills Sheriffs Department, State Parks, MRCA, CHP – including the Lt. from LASD’s Homicide Bureau, were in attendance. It was an impressive display of macho muscle up on the stage – a necessary, calculated production to “save face” in light of the fact that State Parks and local Law Enforcement chose to keep this information from the public for close to 24 months.

Stern explained to approximately 200 attendees the intention of the meeting was that officials are “…trying to knit some infrastructure together” and announced the formation of the “Santa Monica Interagency Task Force”, a body consisting of the law enforcement and state agencies meant to function together as an ongoing task force to keep the Santa Monica Mountains safe.

However, most residents weren’t interested in the “warm and fuzzy” delivered by Stern (although it did come across as authentic and endearing) or the “kumbaya” law enforcement portrayed about how they have been working together.

Residents were there for answers and they got none.

The meeting, covered by virtually every local news channel, turned out to be more show than tell, as law enforcement left many unanswered questions, giving no real information to satisfy concerned community members. Residents trickled out of the meeting early, confused and unsatisfied – much like they did when law enforcement addressed the Mitrice Richardson case in 2009.

**This wasted on my Facebook wall shortly after the meeting.**

Astute observers such as Ronda Hampton, a psychologist who has been an integral part of investigating the Mitrice Richardson case, was very disappointed in the meeting, seeing through the “Show of Force” facade and the appearance of a task force she does not believe exists:

“I was also disappointed to hear from a Sgt. from the Lost Hills station that what was being presented as the formation of a task force which included all of the agencies speaking at the meeting, was in fact not a task force at all. It was disappointing to see that as those men sat up there and discussed the fact that they had formed this task force with the idea of better coordinating efforts to improve public safety, it was all a farce. I would challenge the residents to find out information about when the task force meets, how regularly the meetings occur, how and when the task force was formed, what issues has the task force been focused on, if the public is invited to task force meetings, how members of the task force could be contacted, who is the primary contact person of the task force? These questions will not be easily answered as it became clear as the meeting proceeded that this was just a group of men gathered together on stage to placate the community.

A question was presented to the “Task Force” about the unsolved murder of Mitrice Richardson and the continued missing status of Elaine Park who both went missing from the Monte Nido area near Malibu State Creek Park and it was evident by the response from Lt. James Royal that he missed the connection between these cases and the case of Tristan Beaudette. He seemed a bit irritated that Mitrice Ricardson’s name and Elaine Park’s name were mentioned in the meeting. What he needs to understand is that there is a reason that members of the communities of Agoura, Calabasas and Malibu still reach out to me, they want want Mitirce’s murder solved, they want to know what happened to Elaine Park and they do not want Tristain Beaudette to be another Mitrice Richardson or Elaine Park, unsolved. I think Royal does not understand the impact that unsolved murder cases and missing persons cases have on a small tight knit community. As much as people who live in the community are concerned for their own safety, they are also concerned for those who visit their beautiful community and Lt. Royal should understand that. ”

Hampton became involved in the Mitrice Richardson case after Richardson, her psychology intern, was found dead in the area. Hampton has been communicating with the Monte Nido community and with law enforcement ever since:

“I will forever be connected to the communities of Malibu, Agoura, Calabasas and particularly the community of Monte Nido. After Mitrice Richardson, my former psychology intern, went missing in 2009 it was those communities that rallied around Mitrice’s friends and family. For years I spent much time in the area and in many ways I know these communities better than my own. I was happy to hear the announcement of community meeting regarding the recent shootings and I attended the meeting after some who live in the area suggested that I attend. When incidents, such as the murder of Tristan Beaudette and the other shootings occur I think it is very important for law enforcement and public officials to reach out to the community and offer them the opportunity to express their fears and concerns and to hear a plan for safety. The meeting, hosted by Senator Stern, fell short of offering any additional information about the case of Mr. Beaudette and offered no helpful information that would inform the community of how to best protect themselves while the murderer is still on the loose. In short, the meeting was disappointing and I think that is evident by the fact that people began leaving the meeting after a short time when it was clear that no helpful information was going to be provided.”

DEFLECT AND DISMISS

Numerous reports of shots fired and other crimes following the death of Beaudette in July kept Lost Hills Sheriffs Department busy, and the month of August has not slowed down either.

Lt. James Royal of Lost Hills SD read a detailed list of incidents that have occurred since the June 22nd murder at Malibu Creek State Park. Most reports were “reports of shots fired”, however, Lt. Royal cautioned the crowd eluding these incidents may not be connected…and then again…maybe they are.

Royal seemed to downplay at least one of these incidents, a reported “road rage” on August 9th, now being called a being “a heat related” back window blowout instead of a shooting incident.

While LHSD did a thorough search of the vehicle and found no forensic evidence to to call it a shooting, Lt. Royal did not include in his explanation that his front desk confirmed it was reported as a road rage (we confirmed the report as did other residents). The driver of the vehicle (of the blown out window) also admitted he was involved in a confrontation with another driver at the time. So, at this point, Lt. Royal impressing upon the “heat related” aspect (in fairness he did supply this reporter with a link to similar blowouts on this vehicle) is still misleading in my opinion, especially when you add together the other information reported in the same incident.

**A road rage incident was reported and confirmed by Lost Hills SD on Aug. 9th.**

Another report Lt. Royal referred to was a blown transformer, which was clarified quite quickly by residents, law enforcement and Southern California Edison. While it was initially reported as “report of shots fired”, I’m curious as to why that particular incident was thrown into the mix if it was confirmed not to be related?

Lumping the “blown out back window” and the blown transformer along with the rest of the “reports of shots fired” unfortunately leads us to believe law enforcement might be dismissing some of these incidents and contradicting their own statements.

Lt. Royal clearly stated: “Although they have not confirmed to be related, we have treated them as if they may be”.

It is true their may be a lack of forensic evidence to definitively tie these events together or to the shooter or shooters, however, that does not mean residents and commuters in the area are crazy. They didn’t all of the sudden start hearing things that aren’t there and they are not making these incidents up. Neighbors are confirming what they hear with each other. Not everyone is paranoid.

Are law enforcement and state officials taking every report seriously? You bet they are now. They are pulling out all the stops with multiple units responding to reports of shots fired, and in most cases, adding air and canine ground support. While it may seem like they are dismissing some events after the fact, they respond to them swiftly, with the assumption the shooter (or shooters) are active and in the area.

LHSD is fully aware they must leave no stone unturned and are looking to the community for support and information as well the apprehend the person or persons responsible for these crimes.

INFORMATION HIGHWAY

Lt. Rodney Moore of the LASD Homicide Bureau was in attendance to address the recent gang activity (two body dumps since May) and assure residents that those incidents are not believed to be associated with the shootings or the murder of Tristan Beaudette. However, Lt. Moore and Lt. Royal kept mum about details of the case, understandably so on some level, but why law enforcement did not address details already released by the media – including our publication The Local Malibu – is still a mystery.

The first reports of Beaudette’s murder hit the local and national news stations revealing the time Beaudette was murdered (4:44 a.m. – some reports are 4:45 ) which was initially released by officials at the scene. As more information and more victims came forward, a timeline, or “witching hour”, as to when the crimes were being committed, was clearly evident. So, it is unclear as to why investigators did not at least touch upon what is already confirmed and floating around on the internet via various news outlets.

Richard Winton’s article for L.A. Times ABOVE, details the time of the shooting incident with Tatangelo, and TOP, CNN reports on the time of Beaudette’s murder. The shootings occurring before the murder, had a window of 3-6 a.m. Since the murder, reports of shots fired are all over the map regarding time of day, leading to the possibility of more than one shooter.

Multiple photos of vehicles shot in the area have been published as well and most gun enthusiasts have established that the same type of weapon could have used both types of ammunition involved in the crimes that occurred before Beaudette’s murder.

Without question, investigators have sound reasoning behind not releasing vital information that could potentially compromise the investigation, however, there is a lot they could have clarified based on what has already been reported. For that matter, there are a few local news publications who asked questions at the meeting, when most of the answers were already out there had they done a little more investigating. Not doing so leads to more confusion.

Gun enthusiasts and hunters will verify that a shotgun can use birdshot as in the photo of the white car and also used in the shooting of James Rogers as he slept in his hammock. (Rogers fully recovered). Slugs like the photo of Meliss Tatangelo’s car above and in video she posted on The Local Malibu’s Facebook page can also be used in the same weapon. Both of these types of ammunition were used in most of the incidents leading up to the murder of Tristan Beaudette.

A MOUNTAIN OF MYSTERIES

To add salt to the proverbial wound, two young, adult males went missing in the area in the last 10 days.

Matt Weaver Jr.’s vehicle was found on on Stunt Rd. and Shueren RD. on August 11th. LHSD and Search and Rescue were dispatched, but have not located a body to date. Flyers have been actively distributed throughout the communities on both sides of Malibu Canyon/Las Virgenes Rd.

Another young male, Jose Martinez was last seen on Heathercliff Rd. and PCH on Aug.17th at approximately 8 p.m. Flyers have also been distributed locally in hopes of gathering information.

The mountain mysteries continue…

*These are developing stories.