'Malibu Sniper' sentenced to 119 years to life for killing camping father
The man who carried out multiple shootings in the Malibu Creek State Park area and who killed 35-year-old chemist, Tristan Beaudette while he camped with his two young daughters in June 2018, was sentenced Wednesday to 119 years to life in prison.
Wednesday, Anthony Rauda, 46, was brought into a downtown Los Angeles courtroom in a restraint chair and wearing a spit-hood over his head as he faced sentencing.
Rouda was convicted May 26 of second-degree murder and other counts.
Jurors also convicted Rauda of three counts of attempted murder, including two involving Beaudette's daughters, who were not struck by the gunfire, along with five counts of second-degree commercial burglary. Jurors acquitted Rauda of seven other attempted murder charges involving a series of other early-morning shootings in the same area.
Rauda, dubbed the "Malibu Sniper," pleaded not guilty to fatally shooting the father from Irvine.
Beaudette's two- and four-year-old daughters were not hurt but were listed as victims of attempted murder in the felony complaint.
The investigation into Beaudette's killing uncovered several other shootings at or near Malibu Creek State Park over a couple of years. The campgrounds were shut down as the investigation ensued.
Prosecutors say Rauda terrorized the area since November 2016, when he wounded a man who was sleeping in a hammock in the Malibu State Park area. Less than a week later, Rauda allegedly fired into the sleeping area of a vehicle.
The criminal complaint also accused Rauda of shooting into vehicles on three different occasions in 2017. No one was injured in those shootings, which were reportedly at random.
Authorities described Rauda as a "survivalist" who lived off stolen food while often sleeping outside in the Malibu area. He was arrested in October on suspicion of burglary after authorities spotted him on a ridge top carrying a rifle in his backpack.
The jury acquitted Rouda of seven other attempted-murder charges. Prosecutors had been seeking a first-degree murder conviction for the June 22, 2018, killing of Beaudette as he camped with his daughters, but jurors convicted Rauda instead of the lesser charge of second-degree murder.
update: : A judge revised the initial 142 years to life sentence to 119 years to life in prison after meeting with attorneys, citing a calculating error in the original sentence.
