Update on May 24: Juror deliberations are underway in the murder trial against Anthony Rauda. The 46-year-old, already serving time for assaulting two police officers while in custody, is accused in the fatal shooting of Tristan Beaudette. In 2018 the young father of two was found shot while camping in a tent at Malibu Creek State Park.
Rauda faces ten attempted murder charges in connection with a shooting and burglary spree that began in 2016.
A defense lawyer argued that there is reasonable doubt in the case since cigarette butts near the crime scene do not contain Rauda’s DNA and that jurors should “follow the law.” Prosecutors said the cigarette butt argument is a “red herring” and that the cigarette butts were found at a public campground with no connection to the case.
May 19 update: The prosecution has started presenting its case against accused Malibu Creek State Park murderer Anthony Rauda. Rauda is on trial for the shooting death of Tristan Beaudette who was murdered while camping with his two young daughters in 2018.
During the second week of trial in a Los Angeles courtroom testimony was heard from a man who had been camping in a trailer at the park in 2016. The witness claimed he was wakened late at night by an apparent gunshot. He then said he found a hole caused by a bullet in his camper’s wall. Witness Ron Carson said he found buckshot and “debris everywhere.
There were as many as 10 reported shootings in the area in the two years prior before Beaudette was found fatally shot in his tent. Rauda waived his right to attend the trial after being convicted of assaulting two officers during pretrial hearings.
He also faces 10 counts of attempted murder related to the earlier reported shootings and five counts of burglary in nearby businesses.