Arson suspect targeted Palisades because he believed 'wealthy were destroying the world': prosecutors

Jury deliberations are underway in the trial of Jonathan Rinderknecht, the man who has been charged with starting the small brush fire that later exploded into the massive Palisades Fire in the days after New Year’s Day 2025. The jury began deliberating on Wednesday morning, with the prosecution and defense delivering their closing arguments on Tuesday.

While firefighters initially thought they had extinguished the Lachman Fire on New Year’s Eve, it smoldered underground for six days and later erupted into the deadly Palisades Fire. If convicted on the three arson counts, Rinderknecht faces up to 45 years in prison.

Assistant US Attorney Danbee Kim said that Rinderknect "had a deeply entrenched belief that the wealthy were destroying the world," telling the jury that in the defendant’s mind, "the Pacific Palisades neighborhood represented all of that," per ABC 7.

Defense attorney Steven Haney argued that no evidence was presented during the 10-day trial that linked his client with the fire, and that the alleged proof presented to the jury "doesn’t make much sense." He said the prosecution "showed you fragments. You don't convict people on fragments."

The prosecution called over two dozen witnesses during the trial, demonstrating Rinderknecht’s actions leading up to the fire. The witnesses painted Rinderkneckt as being "a troubled, angry man, increasingly bitter about failed relationships, low finances, the current administration, and a dystopian society he believed was divided by cruel corporate overseers who had built a wall between the wealthy and everyone else," ABC 7 reported.

Evidence presented to the jury during the trial showed that law enforcement determined that Rinderknect "maliciously" set the Lachman Fire through witness statements, video surveillance, cell phone data, and the analysis of fire dynamics and patterns at the scene, as well as other things.

A prosecution witness testified that, shortly after the fire was sensed at around midnight and Rinderknecht called 911, Rinderknecht drove his car away from the scene, passing fire engines responding to the fire. Evidence showed that he turned his car around and followed firefighters to the scene.

A veteran arson specialist called to testify by the defense said he believed the Lachman Fire was sparked by fireworks, not arson. The specialist, Retired Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department detective Ed Nordskog, said, "There's no data that says it's arson. There's more evidence this was fireworks ... In fact, I don't believe it's an arson at all."

The witness also argued that any potential forensic evidence had been destroyed due to officials not roping off the fire as a crime scene until weeks later. He said, "Whatever evidence might've been there was buried, crushed ... or floated away in water."

A certified fire inspector, Derek Hill, told jurors during the trial that while investigators had explored the possibility of fireworks causing the fire, it was quickly dismissed.