Burglary suspect Anthony Rauda has been charged with the murder of Tristan Beaudette, a 35-year-old Irvine research scientist who was shot and killed while camping with his young daughters in Malibu Creek State Park on June 22, 2018.
Rauda, a survivalist who had been living off the land in a remote wilderness preserve area of Malibu Creek State Park, was arrested on October 10, 2018, following a string of burglaries. In each of the incidents, food was stolen from businesses around the periphery of Malibu Creek State Park, including the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District campus on Las Virgenes Road, and De Anza Park community center on Lost Hills Road.
Rauda was the subject of a major manhunt following the murder of Beaudette, and was implicated in other shooting incidents, as well as in the series of burglaries.
He has now been charged with one count of murder and 10 counts of attempted murder, in addition to five counts of second-degree burglary.
The attempted murder counts include an incident in 2016, when Rauda is alleged to have fired at a man sleeping in a hammock in the Tapia Park area of Malibu Canyon, striking him in the arm with shotgun pellets.
Rauda is also accused of firing into a vehicle parked in the Malibu Creek State Park campground, narrowly missing a sleeping camper. He is also accused of firing on moving vehicles on Las Virgenes Road, including a June 18 incident involving firing on a Tesla that took place just days before Rauda allegedly shot and killed Beaudette, who was asleep in a tent with his two daughters in the Malibu Creek State Park campground. Beaudette was declared dead at the scene. His children were not injured.
The murder and attempted murder charges were filed after forensics and ballistics testing results linked Rauda to the incidents.
Rauda had a history of weapons-related arrests prior to his arrest on October 10, and was being held on parole violations. If convicted as charged, he faces a maximum sentence of life in state prison.
The case remains under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
