The ‘Malibu Sniper’ who shot and killed a 35-year-old father while camping with his two toddler daughters has been sentenced to 119 years to life.
Anthony Rauda, 46, was convicted Wednesday of the murder of Tristan Beaudette, who was shot in June 2018 at Malibu Creek State Park.
Rauda was convicted of manslaughter and multiple other charges on May 26 in a series of shootings that terrorized campers in the area.
The investigation into the death of the 35-year-old pharmacist revealed several other shootings in the area. The park was sealed off as police searched for the killer.
Rauda had pleaded not guilty to the man’s murder, who was a “devoted husband and father whose life revolved around his family,” his wife said in 2019.
On Wednesday, 46-year-old Anthony Rauda was convicted of the murder of Tristan Beaudette, who was shot in June 2018 at Malibu Creek State Park. Pictured: Rauda in court on June 7
Beaudette (top left) was camping with his two-year-old and four-year-old daughters when he was fatally shot by Rauda in June 2018. In the photo: Beaudette with his wife and daughters
On Wednesday, Rauda appeared in an orange prison jumpsuit while strapped to a chair being rolled in and out of the Los Angeles courtroom.
He wore goggles that were visible under a gauze net placed over his neck and face as LA Supreme Court Justice Eleanor J. Hunter read his verdict. The net, called a spit guard, prevents inmates from spitting or biting on those nearby.
In addition to his murder conviction, the wanderer who lived in the wilderness was found guilty of three counts of attempted murder.
Two of those counts involved Beaudette’s daughters who were not affected by the gunfire, but were awakened by gunfire and watched their father die.
The man was also convicted of ffive counts of second-degree commercial burglary.
Prosecutors said Rauda had been terrorizing the Malibu campground since November 2016, when he shot a man sleeping in a hammock.
At about the same time, he fired a shot at the sleeping area of a vehicle.
In addition, he was accused of shooting at vehicles three times in 2017. There were no injuries as a result of those incidents.
The ‘survivalist’ was finally arrested in October 2018 on suspicion of burglary after police spotted him carrying a rifle through the park.
Rauda appeared in an orange prison jumpsuit while tied to a chair being rolled in and out of the Los Angeles courtroom
He wore goggles visible under a gauze net placed over his neck and face as L.A. Superior Court Judge Eleanor J. Hunter read his verdict
In addition to his murder conviction, the wilderness-dwelling drifter (pictured above) was found guilty of three counts of attempted murder
The investigation into Beaudette’s death (pictured) revealed several other shootings in the area. It was shut down while police were on the hunt for the killer
Beaudette’s fatal shooting took place at Malibu Creek State Park in the Los Angeles area
The Los Angeles jury acquitted Rauda of seven other attempted murder charges in the other Malibu campground incidents.
Prosecutors had hoped the jury would convict him of first-degree murder for Beaudette’s murder, but he was ultimately convicted of second-degree murder.
A first-degree indictment indicates that a person intends to kill another with their actions, while a second-degree indictment implies that a person knows that their actions can be fatal.
The judge had initially sentenced Rauda to 142 years to life, but after meeting with lawyers he said there had been a miscalculation and revised the total.
The conviction marks an end to the lengthy and tumultuous trial in which Rauda was at one point thrown out of the courtroom for theatre.
In March 2022, the convicted killer threatened Judge Charlaine Olmedo.
He tried to make motions on his own behalf, NBC4 reported, despite having a lawyer to represent him.
“The court will not hear any of those motions at this time,” Olmedo said.
After kicking him out of the room and announcing she would next see him in his courtroom in September 2022, Rauda returned with an apparent threat.
“You’ll see me before that… You certainly will,” Rauda replied.
The Los Angeles jury acquitted Rauda of seven other attempted murder charges in the other Malibu campground incidents. Pictured: Rauda on the day he was arrested in 2018
At one point during his trial, Rauda was thrown out of court for antics
In 2019, Beaudette’s widow Erica Wu filed a lawsuit against the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department alleging that they failed to warn the public of safety issues at the Malibu campground prior to her husband’s shooting.
However, Santa Monica Supreme Court Justice Mark H. Epstein dismissed the case in 2021, telling Wu she needed more concrete evidence for her claims.
The widow said law enforcement deliberately concealed information about the incidents leading up to the June 2018 shooting.
“Had deceased Tristan Beaudette known about the earlier shootings, he would never have brought himself or his young daughters to camp, leaving his daughters and himself in grave danger at Malibu Creek State Park,” her lawsuit alleged.