Man accused of starting Palisades fire was ‘angry, intense, driving erratically’, lawyers say

The man accused of sparking the deadly Palisades fire in Los Angeles was upset over a failed relationship and his lack of plans for New Year’s Eve – and he ranted about being angry at the world before the initial blaze was ignited, according to court documents filed by prosecutors. Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, has pleaded not guilty to starting what became one of the most destructive wildfires in California history. It began on 7 January 2025 in the hillside neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades and Malibu and killed 12 people. Prosecutors say Rinderknecht started a fire on 1 January that burned undetected deep in root systems before flaring back up a week later. Rinderknecht’s trial will begin on 8 June. His attorneys say he is being used as a scapegoat for the Los Angeles fire department’s failure to fully extinguish the earlier blaze. An outline of the prosecutors’ strategy – with details about the defendant’s alleged state of mind on the night before the first fire began – appears in a 29 April pre-trial memo filed by the US attorney’s office. Witnesses reported that Rinderknecht had been driving erratically while on Uber routes around the Palisades on New Year’s Eve, said prosecutors. His passengers described him as “angry, intense, driving erratically, and ranting about being ‘pissed off at the world,’” the memo said, echoing a criminal complaint against Rinderknecht that had previously been filed. …