A man charged with a series of shootings in and around a Southern California campground, including the murder of a pharmaceutical scientist while he slept with his two children in a tent, has been convicted on Friday of second-degree murder and other crimes, his attorney said.
Anthony Rauda, 46, had been charged with first-degree murder on June 22, 2018, for the murder of Tristan Beaudette, but the jury found him guilty on the lesser count, attorney Nick Okorocha said in an interview.
Rauda was also found guilty of three counts of attempted murder and five counts of burglary, Okorocha said.
The jury acquitted Rauda of seven counts of attempted murder in the series of shootings that lasted nearly two years, from Nov. 3, 2016, to June 22, 2018, in and around Malibu Creek State Park, about 34 miles west of Los Angeles, he said.
Beaudette, 35, was shot in the chest. Her daughters, then aged 2 and 4, were not injured.
The two children are among those named as victims in the attempted second-degree murder charges Rauda was convicted of, Okorocha said.
Rauda was also convicted of attempted first-degree murder in the shooting of a Tesla that was driving near the park, Okorocha said.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In court, the assistant district attorney in charge of the prosecution said the evidence was “overwhelming” that Rauda had shot unsuspecting drivers and “had a habit of stalking and attacking campers” in the park, usually between 3 and 5 am. City News Service reported.
The first shooting reportedly targeted a man sleeping in a hammock. Rauda was acquitted of the crime.
Rauda was arrested in October 2018 for the burglaries, which targeted a community center and a water district facility in the area, City News Service reported. Food was taken away during the break-ins.
He was later charged in the shooting.
Okorocha said there were enough flaws in the case that jurors found reasonable doubt in the prosecutor’s claims.
“The jury appears to have been very careful and thorough in their deliberations,” he said.
