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Speaker 1: Pushkin. Mountain lions do their hunting in the dark, after dusk,

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Speaker 1: and in the early morning hours, right before the sun

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Speaker 1: comes up. The hills above Malibu, California, are full of them.

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Speaker 1: They're vicious predators, but they're so shy that the wildlife

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Speaker 1: biologists who study them call them ghost cats. If you

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Speaker 1: hike in the hills surrounding Malibu, you probably haven't seen

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Speaker 1: a mountain lion, but one has almost certainly seen you.

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Speaker 1: Hemmed in by freeways and an ever-expanding suburbia, the mountain

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Speaker 1: lions are stressed, half-crazy. A few years ago, I wrote

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Speaker 1: a story about them for The New Yorker, where I work.

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Speaker 1: The people in Malibu were really upset, especially about a

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Speaker 1: rogue lion known as P45, which was slaughtering pet alpacas

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Speaker 1: and mini-horses, seemingly for sport. There was a huge debate

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Speaker 1: over who was to blame for these deaths— a murderous lion

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Speaker 1: or or the people who had left their pets, unprotected,

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Speaker 1: in lion country. One morning, I went out searching for

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Speaker 1: evidence of lions in the mountains near Malibu Creek State Park.

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Speaker 1: I was with one of the wildlife biologists, and we

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Speaker 1: were in a tangle of branches and bushes, looking at

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Speaker 1: a dried-out deer carcass, a month-old lion kill. This question

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Speaker 1: just popped into my head. So I asked him, Hey,

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Speaker 1: you ever find a dead body out here? He turned

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Speaker 1: and looked at me so strangely. He was going to

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Speaker 1: stick to talking about lions. No comment on what humans

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Speaker 1: might do in these hills. In my 15 years living

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Speaker 1: in Los Angeles, I've logged a decent amount of time

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Speaker 1: in Malibu, sometimes reporting, but mostly just taking my kids

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Speaker 1: for afternoons at the beach. You know Malibu. It's paradise.

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Speaker 1: The ocean, the mountains, the honey-colored light, celebrities and surf

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Speaker 1: bums and laid-back billionaires, people with prayer beads and private security.

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Speaker 1: It's like a postcard of itself. The real Gidget is

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Speaker 1: a hostess at a local restaurant, and you could easily

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Speaker 1: run into Kim Kardashian at the sushi bar. But often

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Speaker 1: in Malibu, I get this unsettling sensation that there's something

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Speaker 1: else there, underneath that pretty surface. Something elusive and slightly menacing.

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Speaker 2: A riptide.

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Speaker 1: An undertow. And I can never quite shake the feeling

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Speaker 1: that the place is warning me to go away. Here's

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Speaker 1: what I know when I start all this. It's not

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Speaker 1: a lot. It was before sunrise, June 22, 2018, and

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Speaker 1: the campground at Malibu Creek State Park was packed. It's

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Speaker 1: an idyllic spot. Campsites are arranged in a ring around

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Speaker 1: a large meadow dotted with oak trees. Jagged peaks zigzag

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Speaker 1: across the open sky. It was four in the morning,

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Speaker 1: still dark. Everyone was inside their nylon tents and RVs,

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Speaker 1: cozy in their sleeping bags for a couple more hours.

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Speaker 1: But someone was awake, watching, silent, undetected, slipping shadow-like around

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Speaker 1: the sleeping campground. He had a gun, and he fired

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Speaker 1: it directly into one family's tent. Inside the tent was

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Speaker 1: a man named Tristan Beaudet, a brilliant young research scientist,

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Speaker 1: 35 years old. He was sleeping beside his two little girls.

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Speaker 1: The bullet struck his forehead, killing him. And whoever did

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Speaker 1: it slipped away into the darkness. It's like a story

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Speaker 1: that's meant to terrify you, playing on your deepest fears.

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Speaker 1: A story you'd tell around a campfire, with ghosts and

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Speaker 1: murderers and things you can't explain. Except that this story

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Speaker 1: is true. And once I heard it, I couldn't stop

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Speaker 1: thinking about it. How did this happen? How does anything

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Speaker 1: like this happen? In Malibu, of all places. But it

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Speaker 1: did happen in Malibu. And as I'd come to find out, inexplicable,

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Speaker 1: nightmarish things happen in Malibu All the time. Tonight, a

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Speaker 1: mystery in Malibu.

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Speaker 3: The driver found a man dead in a ditch along

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Speaker 3: Las Vergas Canyon Road. There have also been nine additional

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Speaker 3: calls for shots fired.

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Speaker 1: I just don't feel safe anymore.

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Speaker 3: Breaking now, a homicide investigation. We do have a nude

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Speaker 3: body and it's still unclear exactly how it got here.

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Speaker 1: It is a suspicious death. The human bones were just

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Speaker 1: a half mile from the trailhead.

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Speaker 2: We could possibly hear somebody screaming for help.

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Speaker 3: Detectives and I trying to figure out who he is

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Speaker 3: and who killed him.

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Speaker 4: I'll tell you what, they'll be standing with pitchforks outside

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Speaker 4: Lost Hills Sheriff's Department.

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Speaker 1: I said to her, I hollered down, are you all right?

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Speaker 2: She said, I'm just resting or something like that. Once

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Speaker 2: she left, she just disappeared.

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Speaker 1: I'm Dana Goodyear, and this is Lost Hills.

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Speaker 3: Episode 1 The Killing Zone Episode 1 The Killing.

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Speaker 5: Zone Would you guys start by just saying your names

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Speaker 5: and what your relationship is to Tristan?

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Speaker 3: My name is Scott McCurdy. I'm Tristan's brother-in-law, and this

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Speaker 3: is my wife.

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Speaker 1: My name is Pamela Wu. I'm Tristan's sister-in-law and married

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Speaker 1: to Scott McCurdy. I want to talk to Scott because

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Speaker 1: he was with Tristan on the camping trip. He was

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Speaker 1: in the next tent over with his own young boys.

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Speaker 1: He's the closest person to the story. Tristan's little girls

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Speaker 1: were two and four. The younger one could barely talk.

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Speaker 1: Scott is the closest thing to a witness.

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Speaker 3: Tristan always has this bucket list of things that he

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Speaker 3: wants to do, and camping in Malibu State Park was

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Speaker 3: on the bucket list. Years ago, before we had kids,

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Speaker 3: he and I went up to Malibu Creek State Park,

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Speaker 3: and he and I always wanted to go back and

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Speaker 3: camp there.

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Speaker 1: Scott tells me that Tristan, his wife Erica, and their

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Speaker 1: kids were about to move from Orange County up to

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Speaker 1: the Bay Area.

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Speaker 3: I feel like he knew that I was a little

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Speaker 3: bit sad that he was going to be leaving Southern California.

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Speaker 1: Erica is an OBGYN and had a medical exam to

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Speaker 1: study for. So Tristan proposed a trip, something he and

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Speaker 1: Scott had been wanting to do for a long time. Camping.

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Speaker 1: Just the dads, with the kids, in Malibu Creek State Park.

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Speaker 3: And he wanted to have kind of one last camping

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Speaker 3: trip while he was down here, and we were all together.

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Speaker 3: So it was meant to be this bonding, really fun experience.

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Speaker 1: They caravaned up to Malibu.

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Speaker 3: We're driving up, and we pull in, and Tristan was first,

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Speaker 3: and we pass the ranger booth where you get your sight,

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Speaker 3: and I follow Tristan in, and we're we go down

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Speaker 3: the long winding road and he makes a wrong turn

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Speaker 3: and off the asphalt road onto this gravel dirt road,

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Speaker 3: which later he commented he was so excited that he

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Speaker 3: got to take his Forester off-roading. He was such a

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Speaker 3: funny dude.

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Speaker 1: The campground is basically a large oak meadow. There's a

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Speaker 1: one-way asphalt road that goes around it with campsites offset

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Speaker 1: on either side.

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Speaker 3: You know, we found our campsite, we got the kids

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Speaker 3: out and we all walked around and The campsite was

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Speaker 3: a little bit angled, and so Tristan really didn't like

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Speaker 3: it because there wasn't a good spot to pitch the

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Speaker 3: tent where you wouldn't be leaning one way or the other,

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Speaker 3: and so it just wasn't the ideal campsite. So we decided,

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Speaker 3: and we were early enough, not all the sites were full,

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Speaker 3: that we decided one of us would go back and

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Speaker 3: bargain with the rain to get another site.

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Speaker 1: They moved to a different spot, Site 49, in a

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Speaker 1: nice flat area on the northern end of the meadow.

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Speaker 1: And then they noticed that the guy on the next

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Speaker 1: site over was leaving. They asked him if they could

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Speaker 1: use his site, too. Spread out a little.

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Speaker 3: He said, sure, no problem.

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Speaker 1: Tristan set up his tent there, in Site 51. Then

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Speaker 1: he and Scott and all the kids spent the day

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Speaker 1: at Surfrider Beach, that famous stretch along Pacific Coast Highway,

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Speaker 1: right by the Malibu Pier. At the end of the day,

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Speaker 1: they headed back to the park and got ready for

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Speaker 1: a night around the campfire. Scott says that Tristan could

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Speaker 1: be counted on to bring delicious food and pre-mixed cocktails

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Speaker 1: when they camped. He was the kind of person who

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Speaker 1: optimized everything. And so did you and Tristan get to

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Speaker 1: stay up drinking... manhattans or something out of a flask

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Speaker 1: after the kids finally went to.

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Speaker 3: Bed tristan had uh pre-mixed manhattans for that for that

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Speaker 3: trip um that last conversation we had we you know

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Speaker 3: we stayed up and we were just we're talking about

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Speaker 3: families for hours and hours and um and i told

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Speaker 3: him how much i was gonna miss him i'm like

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Speaker 3: i kind of guilted him a little bit like you

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Speaker 3: know well we had a good run buddy You know,

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Speaker 3: we had a good run. I'm going to, I'll miss you.

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Speaker 3: You know, I remember at the end of the night

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Speaker 3: we decided, you know, okay, well it's, it's late. Let's

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Speaker 3: go to bed. It was probably, I don't know. I

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Speaker 3: don't know what time it was. Maybe it was one

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Speaker 3: o'clock or something. I'm not sure. And, you know, we

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Speaker 3: put out the campfire and, you know, we, I gave

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Speaker 3: him a big hug and, you know, I told him

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Speaker 3: I loved him and I told him, I did, I

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Speaker 3: told him again that I was going to miss him.

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Speaker 3: And it makes me sad but so happy at the

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Speaker 3: same time. Because at least I got that.

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Speaker 1: A few hours later, Scott says, he was awakened by

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Speaker 1: a loud noise, like fireworks, and the sound of one

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Speaker 1: of his nieces crying. He couldn't figure out why Tristan

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Speaker 1: wasn't helping her, he knew that something must be wrong.

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Speaker 1: He got up, leaving his own young children, and hurried

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Speaker 1: over to Tristan's tent. He opened the flap. In the dark,

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Speaker 1: he could see the girls kneeling beside their dad. One

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Speaker 1: of them kept saying, wet, wet. He dug around for

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Speaker 1: a phone, and when he found it, used it as

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Speaker 1: a flashlight. He rolled Tristan over and saw that his

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Speaker 1: face was drenched in blood. The girls were kneeling in

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Speaker 1: a pool of it. That's what was wet. He pulled

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Speaker 1: the girls out of the tent into the chilly early

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Speaker 1: morning air and began to scream for help. I've never

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Speaker 1: investigated a murder before, but I'm assuming the autopsy will

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Speaker 1: be filled with information. You know, leads I can follow

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Speaker 1: that will get me started in the right direction. When

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Speaker 1: the coroner releases it, I scour it for details. At

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Speaker 1: the time of his death, it says, Tristan Beaudet was

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Speaker 1: wearing a gray T-shirt, blue shorts, and white socks. His

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Speaker 1: face was unshaven. He had a little alcohol in his system,

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Speaker 1: probably the Manhattans, and a little THC. Above his right eye,

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Speaker 1: just below the hairline, but pretty close to dead center,

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Speaker 1: was an oval hole where a full copper-jacketed lead bullet

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Speaker 1: had entered. piercing his brain. That bullet was excavated from

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Speaker 1: his right shoulder blade. Included with the autopsy is something

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Speaker 1: called a GSR data sheet. It stands for Gunshot Residue.

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Speaker 1: I had to look that up. The box for homicide

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Speaker 1: is checked. But everything else about Tristan Beaudet's case and

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Speaker 1: how he died can only be learned from the omissions,

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Speaker 1: gaps in the narrative of facts. The weapon is described

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Speaker 1: as outstanding. Make and model, unknown. Ammunition brand and caliber, unknown.

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Speaker 1: Number of shots fired is left blank. How did the

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Speaker 1: injury occur? The autopsy simply, opaquely says, shot by another.

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Speaker 1: When Tristan Beaudet was killed, rumors started flying around Malibu.

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Speaker 1: Beaudet worked at a pharmaceutical company. and had published research

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Speaker 1: on vaccines. Probably he'd been targeted, assassinated by Big Pharma

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Speaker 1: or the government. Or the perpetrator was a disgruntled park worker,

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Speaker 1: possibly ex-military. Or maybe it had something to do with

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Speaker 1: the illegal marijuana grows that everyone knows are a problem

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Speaker 1: in Malibu Creek State Park. But what Scott says, that

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Speaker 1: they moved spots twice and ended up in a third spot,

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Speaker 1: given by a nameless stranger... It just makes me think

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Speaker 1: about how random the killing was. Scott was there. He

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Speaker 1: was with Tristan the whole time, right up until they

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Speaker 1: zipped into their separate tents. And he's baffled.

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Speaker 3: For me, and I think for Tristan, campgrounds were a sanctuary.

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Speaker 3: They were a place that you could go and you

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Speaker 3: could let your guard down a little bit. The kids

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Speaker 3: could play. You'd have fun setting up your camp and

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Speaker 3: making dinner and just hanging out with the people you love.

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Speaker 1: Do you think about Malibu differently now?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, no, I, I, I definitely do. I mean, I

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Speaker 3: think you've got just this, this really great spot in

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Speaker 3: the world where you should be able to go and

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Speaker 3: enjoy nature. And you just don't think that in a

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Speaker 3: place so beautiful that you're going to experience something so evil.

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Speaker 1: When I think about what happened to Tristan Beaudet, I

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Speaker 1: always think about the thin wall of his tent. He

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Speaker 1: probably felt so safe, nestled in beside his girls. He

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Speaker 1: trusted nature. He wasn't scared. He had no idea what

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Speaker 1: was out there, or how vulnerable he was.

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Speaker 3: Going camping anywhere, something could happen. There could be a bear.

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Speaker 3: There could be a mountain lion. Those are kind of

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Speaker 3: inherent risks in nature that, you know, they could be present. And,

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Speaker 3: you know, if it happens, you know, if, if there's,

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Speaker 3: if there's a bear, you know, it's the idea of

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Speaker 3: that is really scary, right? But usually when there's something

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Speaker 3: like that, I mean, it's posted, you know, you know what,

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Speaker 3: you know, that there's, there are predators out there lurking.

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Speaker 3: And so you, maybe you keep your kids a little

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Speaker 3: bit closer and you keep your kids a little bit

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Speaker 3: safer that day.

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Speaker 1: But you would never go to a campground where there

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Speaker 1: was a known human predator?

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Speaker 2: No.

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Speaker 3: No one would ever do that. We did not know

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Speaker 3: that there was this danger at this park. And had

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Speaker 3: we known, we would never have put our children in danger.

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Speaker 2: Never. Never.

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Speaker 1: It was only after Tristan's death that he and everyone

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Speaker 1: in Malibu found out there was a real danger. People

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Speaker 1: were being targeted in Malibu Creek State Park. Law enforcement knew.

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Speaker 1: And Tristan Beaudet was not the first victim. From 2016

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Speaker 1: to 2018, there was a series of shootings in and

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Speaker 1: around Malibu Creek State Park. One person was injured, but

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Speaker 1: no one died. These were near misses, six of them.

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Speaker 1: I'm a thousand feet above Malibu, in a helicopter, with

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Speaker 1: Tui Wright, a retired sergeant detective from Lost Hills Station.

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Speaker 1: That's a small outpost of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department,

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Speaker 1: and it covers law enforcement for this whole area, From

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Speaker 1: coastal Malibu to Calabasas and the miles and miles of

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Speaker 1: wilderness in between.

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Speaker 4: It's a beautiful area. It's a wild area with some

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Speaker 4: rugged terrain. The sunsets are beautiful. Out there is Point Dume.

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Speaker 1: Over by the beach, I can see a line of houses,

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Speaker 1: shoulder to shoulder on the sand. They look like toys

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Speaker 1: from here. It's some of the most expensive real estate

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Speaker 1: in the world.

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Speaker 4: You can see down there, that's Malibu Colony. That little

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Speaker 4: peninsula of... Homes there. Quite a few rich and famous

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Speaker 4: folks live there.

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Speaker 1: We head inland, over the mountains, following Malibu Canyon Road.

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Speaker 4: This is Malibu Canyon going in here. The highway goes

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Speaker 4: along the canyon.

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Speaker 1: It's a major road, connecting the beach and the valley.

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Speaker 1: Something like 20,000 cars travel on it every day.

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Speaker 4: Over in here is some of the areas where the

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Speaker 4: Kardashians live and all of that.

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Speaker 2: Kind of area.

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Speaker 1: And there's Malibu Creek State Park. It's wild and pristine.

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Speaker 1: Volcanic rocks, oak savannas, undulating grasslands. If you remember the

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Speaker 1: opening sequence to the 1970s TV show MASH, where the

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Speaker 1: helicopter flies past craggy green peaks, that's Malibu. Creek State Park.

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Speaker 1: But Sergeant Tui Wright sees something different. He sees the

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Speaker 1: killing zone.

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Speaker 4: Dana, I'm thinking, just to keep it simple, we might

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Speaker 4: start with the... shootings, and then moved to the burglaries,

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Speaker 4: and then moved to the capture, since it happened that way,

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Speaker 4: and the capture route and the camp.

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Speaker 2: Does that sound okay to you? That sounds like a

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Speaker 2: great sequence.

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Speaker 1: Sergeant Wright was in charge of search and rescue, finding

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Speaker 1: hikers lost in the mountains below. His knowledge of this

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Speaker 1: terrain put him right in the center of the investigation

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Speaker 1: into Tristan Beaudet's death and everything that happened before and

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Speaker 1: after it. Sergeant Wright asks the pilot, Pete, to take

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Speaker 1: a lap over the park.

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Speaker 4: Pete, maybe a left bank there, and we'll go back

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Speaker 4: over towards Tapia.

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Speaker 1: Below us is a picnic spot, Tapia Park, at the

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Speaker 1: edge of Malibu Creek State Park. That's where, in November 2016,

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Speaker 1: a backpacker named Jimmy Rogers was shot, hurt but not killed,

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Speaker 1: while sleeping in a hammock slung between two trees. Near

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Speaker 1: miss number one.

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Speaker 4: Over here in the park, down in the campground there,

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Speaker 4: is where the next two incidents occurred.

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Speaker 1: Less than a week later and about a mile away,

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Speaker 1: in the campground where Beaudet was later killed, a man

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Speaker 1: was shot at while inside his camper. Near miss number two.

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Speaker 1: Two months later, in January 2017, there was another shooting

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Speaker 1: in the same campground, this time at a couple sleeping

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Speaker 1: in their car. Near miss number three.

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Speaker 2: Let's talk about the highway shootings.

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Speaker 1: Then, in the summer of 2017, the targets seemed to

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Speaker 1: change to moving cars driving along the canyon road. In

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Speaker 1: the span of a few weeks, first a white Porsche

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Speaker 1: and then a white BMW were hit with gunfire. near

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Speaker 1: Misses 4 and 5. Below us, on the park side

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Speaker 1: of the canyon road, there's a hill, well concealed by

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Speaker 1: bushes and trees.

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Speaker 4: You can see the hill and the brush and the

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Speaker 4: canopy trees come right up to the edge of the highway.

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Speaker 2: Yep.

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Speaker 1: Sergeant Wright's theory is that a shooter lay in wait,

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Speaker 1: firing on approaching cars.

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Speaker 2: It's a good elevated position.

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Speaker 4: where you have immediate cover and an immediate escape direction.

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Speaker 1: The shootings in the park and on the Canyon Road

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Speaker 1: were totally bizarre events. Rhymes with no reason. They all

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Speaker 1: happened at the same time, around 3, 4 a.m. Each

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Speaker 1: one involved a single shot. But after near-miss number five,

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Speaker 1: things went quiet. Eleven months passed without another shooting. Until

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Speaker 1: June 18, 2018. Early that morning, around 4 a.m., in

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Speaker 1: the same area, a Tesla, a white one, was hit

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Speaker 1: in the hood. Near miss number six. Even then, after

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Speaker 1: 20 months of unsolved shootings, law enforcement didn't alert the public.

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Speaker 1: The sheriff's department stayed silent, and so did California State Parks.

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Speaker 1: There was no press conference, nothing was posted at the park,

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Speaker 1: no information-wanted flyer, Not even a suggestion to remain vigilant.

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Speaker 1: And four days after the Tesla was shot, Tristan Beaudet

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Speaker 1: was killed in the campground. When you got the call

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Speaker 1: that there had been a shooting at the campground, it

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Speaker 1: wasn't out of the blue for you. I'm just putting

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Speaker 1: myself in your shoes and thinking you must have had

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Speaker 1: a sinking feeling because there had been a series of

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Speaker 1: incidents leading up to that moment.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, that is true.

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Speaker 4: And this was our greatest fear, that.

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Speaker 2: This was a serial shooter.

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Speaker 4: And that eventually he would hit somebody and or kill them.

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Speaker 2: He'd already hit somebody in the beginning.

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Speaker 1: So he's saying that privately, law enforcement worried there was

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Speaker 1: a potential serial killer at large. They thought he was

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Speaker 1: looking for victims. and that Malibu Creek State Park and

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00:24:37,936 --> 00:24:43,516
Speaker 1: the Canyon Road were his hunting ground. While millions of people,

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Speaker 1: oblivious of the danger, continue to visit the trails, spend

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Speaker 1: the night in the campground, and travel on the Canyon Road.

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Speaker 1: Even me. I took my kids to Malibu Creek State

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Speaker 1: Park in early 2018. We walked the three-mile loop to

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Speaker 1: the rock pool. It's a famous swimming spot. And we

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00:25:02,936 --> 00:25:06,196
Speaker 1: checked out the teenagers jumping from the ledges We talked

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Speaker 1: about camping in the campground when it got warm enough.

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Speaker 1: It's hard not to look back and wonder, what if

361
00:25:13,376 --> 00:25:19,526
Speaker 1: we had? After the Beaudet murder, the earlier victims, the near-misses,

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00:25:19,826 --> 00:25:22,706
Speaker 1: went to the media. There was an outcry in Malibu

363
00:25:22,766 --> 00:25:26,946
Speaker 1: as people began to panic about the canyon shooter. The

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Speaker 1: campground was temporarily closed, but though no one was in custody,

365
00:25:31,466 --> 00:25:34,156
Speaker 1: the rest of the park remained open. and there was

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00:25:34,276 --> 00:25:39,916
Speaker 1: still no sign posted about anything that had transpired there. Then,

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Speaker 1: about a month after the murder, there was a rash

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Speaker 1: of mysterious burglaries from commercial buildings near the periphery of

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Speaker 1: the park.

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Speaker 2: You want to talk about the burglaries?

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Speaker 3: Sure.

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Speaker 2: Okay.

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Speaker 1: Scroungy, desperate stuff. Not laptops or cell phones, but sandwiches

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Speaker 1: from the fridge, seized candy, cinnamon rolls. Junk food from

375
00:26:01,596 --> 00:26:04,136
Speaker 1: the front of a vending machine smashed out with a rock.

376
00:26:05,416 --> 00:26:07,876
Speaker 1: A couple of these places had video surveillance, and a

377
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Speaker 1: guy was caught on camera, masked and wearing a headlamp

378
00:26:12,246 --> 00:26:14,866
Speaker 1: with a backpack and what appeared to be a rifle

379
00:26:14,986 --> 00:26:15,666
Speaker 1: sticking out of it.

380
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Speaker 4: The next place we're going to go to is called

381
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Speaker 4: the Calabasas Recreation Center. It just so happens to be

382
00:26:23,126 --> 00:26:26,586
Speaker 4: directly next door to Malibu Lost Tools Sheriff's Station.

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Speaker 1: The area where all these crimes took place... is essentially

384
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Speaker 1: the backyard of the sheriff's station. And one burglary, the

385
00:26:35,746 --> 00:26:40,046
Speaker 1: last one, was literally next door. So he came within,

386
00:26:40,326 --> 00:26:44,126
Speaker 1: what would you say, 100 yards of the sheriff's station?

387
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Speaker 2: I would say maybe even closer to the parking lot.

388
00:26:48,916 --> 00:26:51,196
Speaker 1: Sergeant Wright says he followed boot prints from the rec

389
00:26:51,216 --> 00:26:54,536
Speaker 1: center's parking lot up into the dusty, desolate hills behind

390
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Speaker 1: the sheriff's station.

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Speaker 2: Do you see that big oak tree down at the bottom?

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00:26:58,876 --> 00:27:01,506
Speaker 1: Yep. We're looking at a fold in the hills where

393
00:27:01,526 --> 00:27:04,226
Speaker 1: a gnarled oak clings to the side of a steep slope.

394
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Speaker 2: The one furthest back towards the hill, the big one?

395
00:27:07,486 --> 00:27:07,686
Speaker 3: Yep.

396
00:27:08,106 --> 00:27:09,656
Speaker 2: I figured there was a camp here.

397
00:27:14,676 --> 00:27:18,356
Speaker 1: Following Sergeant Wright's hunch, half a dozen sheriff's deputies returned

398
00:27:18,376 --> 00:27:21,136
Speaker 1: to the site of the last boot print. As they

399
00:27:21,196 --> 00:27:23,896
Speaker 1: trudged up and down hills in the bright sun, the

400
00:27:23,996 --> 00:27:27,316
Speaker 1: only sound was a sheriff's department helicopter chuffing in the distance.

401
00:27:28,516 --> 00:27:34,136
Speaker 1: But then... a deputy heard a strange clanging noise echoing

402
00:27:34,156 --> 00:27:38,856
Speaker 1: through the canyon. It seemed to be coming from a

403
00:27:38,916 --> 00:27:44,406
Speaker 1: ridge to the west, already steeped in shadow. The deputy

404
00:27:44,446 --> 00:27:46,766
Speaker 1: dropped to his knee and looked through the optic on

405
00:27:46,806 --> 00:27:53,726
Speaker 1: his rifle. Zooming in, he saw a man. Saw the

406
00:27:53,766 --> 00:27:59,066
Speaker 1: whites of his eyes, as he would later testify. clean-cut,

407
00:27:59,226 --> 00:28:03,086
Speaker 1: early 40s, wearing all black, and a backpack with a

408
00:28:03,146 --> 00:28:08,056
Speaker 1: rifle sticking out the top. The deputies jumped him right

409
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Speaker 1: outside his camp.

410
00:28:13,616 --> 00:28:17,036
Speaker 4: Of course, he tried to flee, but deputies were on

411
00:28:17,076 --> 00:28:20,906
Speaker 4: him real quick. Search and Rescue and Lost Hills Patrol

412
00:28:21,746 --> 00:28:26,186
Speaker 4: immediately got their guns on him. At some point, he

413
00:28:26,226 --> 00:28:29,256
Speaker 4: tossed the pack. And you could see the rifle sticking

414
00:28:29,316 --> 00:28:29,996
Speaker 4: out of the pack.

415
00:28:37,626 --> 00:28:41,306
Speaker 1: The man with the gun was Anthony Rauta, a loner

416
00:28:41,486 --> 00:28:43,886
Speaker 1: who'd been living in the hills on and off for years.

417
00:28:45,466 --> 00:28:48,826
Speaker 1: The cops celebrated. Was the mystery of the canyon shooter

418
00:28:49,086 --> 00:28:53,386
Speaker 1: all wrapped up? Sergeant Wright, who helped track Rauta to

419
00:28:53,426 --> 00:28:56,956
Speaker 1: his camp, admits that it all seems a little neat.

420
00:28:58,446 --> 00:29:01,666
Speaker 1: The drifter living behind the station, hiding in plain view,

421
00:29:02,626 --> 00:29:05,366
Speaker 1: that guy's responsible for what may be the most violent

422
00:29:05,426 --> 00:29:06,906
Speaker 1: crime wave in Malibu history?

423
00:29:06,926 --> 00:29:11,386
Speaker 4: I would think it would take some nerve to commit

424
00:29:11,406 --> 00:29:15,326
Speaker 4: a burglary next door to the station. I mean, why

425
00:29:15,366 --> 00:29:19,006
Speaker 4: would somebody commit a murder and then hold on to

426
00:29:19,026 --> 00:29:23,046
Speaker 4: the same weapon and then do burglaries on videotape, making

427
00:29:23,466 --> 00:29:26,546
Speaker 4: very little effort to hide other than putting a mask

428
00:29:26,726 --> 00:29:30,686
Speaker 4: on part of your face? There's an assumption that most

429
00:29:30,766 --> 00:29:34,376
Speaker 4: criminals would think if their picture was captured on camera

430
00:29:34,396 --> 00:29:37,676
Speaker 4: with a weapon that there's going to be a heightened

431
00:29:37,716 --> 00:29:45,486
Speaker 4: law enforcement effort to engage them. And that's exactly what happened.

432
00:30:12,286 --> 00:30:15,286
Speaker 2: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Good afternoon.

433
00:30:15,346 --> 00:30:19,286
Speaker 1: Okay, number four and number five on calendar.

434
00:30:20,136 --> 00:30:21,216
Speaker 2: Anthony Rauta.

435
00:30:22,596 --> 00:30:25,176
Speaker 1: It's been a long morning in a cold courtroom near

436
00:30:25,196 --> 00:30:29,716
Speaker 1: the county jail in downtown Los Angeles. Anthony Rauta is

437
00:30:29,776 --> 00:30:34,086
Speaker 1: late for his hearing. Officially, at this stage, the charges

438
00:30:34,126 --> 00:30:37,366
Speaker 1: have nothing to do with murder. Rauta is in violation

439
00:30:37,406 --> 00:30:42,376
Speaker 1: of the terms of his post-release community supervision. meaning he's

440
00:30:42,416 --> 00:30:44,976
Speaker 1: an ex-felon. He hasn't shown up to meet with his

441
00:30:45,036 --> 00:30:48,116
Speaker 1: probation officer for two years, and he's not supposed to

442
00:30:48,136 --> 00:30:51,816
Speaker 1: have weapons or ammunition. The deputies who arrested him at

443
00:30:51,856 --> 00:30:57,066
Speaker 1: his campsite say he had both. Unofficially, though, the charges

444
00:30:57,106 --> 00:30:59,126
Speaker 1: seem to have everything to do with the killing in

445
00:30:59,146 --> 00:31:03,606
Speaker 1: Malibu Creek State Park. Only a few hours after Rauta's arrest,

446
00:31:03,986 --> 00:31:06,506
Speaker 1: the sheriff himself had a press conference at the Hall

447
00:31:06,526 --> 00:31:11,306
Speaker 1: of Justice, that's department headquarters, downtown. And while they didn't

448
00:31:11,676 --> 00:31:14,276
Speaker 1: quite say that Rauta was the suspect in the shootings

449
00:31:14,336 --> 00:31:17,706
Speaker 1: or the murder. It was a big show. The captain

450
00:31:17,726 --> 00:31:20,686
Speaker 1: of the Major Crimes Bureau, the Lost Hills captain, a

451
00:31:20,706 --> 00:31:24,966
Speaker 1: top official from California State Parks. And now, Rauta's being

452
00:31:25,026 --> 00:31:28,456
Speaker 1: held without bail. And there are two plainclothes detectives in

453
00:31:28,496 --> 00:31:31,136
Speaker 1: the front row of the courtroom talking loudly about a

454
00:31:31,156 --> 00:31:35,116
Speaker 1: fishing cabin. One of the detectives has long gray hair

455
00:31:35,156 --> 00:31:37,756
Speaker 1: and a beard and is wearing shit kickers and jeans.

456
00:31:38,476 --> 00:31:41,936
Speaker 1: The other, lean with sunken cheeks, sneers at me when

457
00:31:41,976 --> 00:31:45,076
Speaker 1: I try to say hello. Later, I'll find out that

458
00:31:45,116 --> 00:31:48,496
Speaker 1: the lean one is Detective Mark Donnell, and that the

459
00:31:48,556 --> 00:31:51,896
Speaker 1: one with the shit-kickers is a detective named Ty Berry.

460
00:31:52,716 --> 00:31:56,786
Speaker 1: Complicated guy. A long and twisted history with the Sheriff's Department.

461
00:31:57,886 --> 00:32:00,186
Speaker 1: Donnell and Berry are both part of the Major Crimes

462
00:32:00,226 --> 00:32:09,256
Speaker 1: Bureau and worked the Malibu case. Finally, Rauta enters. with

463
00:32:09,296 --> 00:32:12,896
Speaker 1: a deputy in blue latex gloves gripping his arm, guiding

464
00:32:12,936 --> 00:32:17,176
Speaker 1: him to his seat. My first impression of Anthony Rauta

465
00:32:17,376 --> 00:32:24,446
Speaker 1: is he's pale. Library pale. An indoorsman. Not the weather-beaten,

466
00:32:24,606 --> 00:32:29,026
Speaker 1: leather-skinned survivalist I'd been expecting. His hair is dark and

467
00:32:29,106 --> 00:32:34,866
Speaker 1: slicked back in individual lines that look pencil-drawn. A little goatee,

468
00:32:35,186 --> 00:32:40,866
Speaker 1: blue jumpsuit, wrists cuffed behind his back. He's separated from

469
00:32:40,886 --> 00:32:44,006
Speaker 1: the rest of the courtroom by a plexiglass partition. But

470
00:32:44,066 --> 00:32:46,176
Speaker 1: he has something he wants to say to the judge.

471
00:32:46,916 --> 00:32:50,536
Speaker 2: That's Rauter's public defender attempting to intervene. And that's the judge,

472
00:32:50,556 --> 00:32:52,536
Speaker 2: who looks exceptionally annoyed. I don't give a shit, I

473
00:32:52,776 --> 00:33:07,976
Speaker 2: don't want to speak. You don't have a right to speak.

474
00:33:07,996 --> 00:33:11,016
Speaker 2: I'm going to fucking speak. You speak through your attorney. No,

475
00:33:11,036 --> 00:33:11,676
Speaker 2: I'm not going to speak.

476
00:33:11,696 --> 00:33:13,856
Speaker 3: I'm not going to cooperate with the public defender's office anymore.

477
00:33:13,876 --> 00:33:15,156
Speaker 2: So that's the decision on that one.

478
00:33:18,156 --> 00:33:20,166
Speaker 1: Rauta hurls himself against the plexiglass.

479
00:33:20,186 --> 00:33:22,806
Speaker 2: You're a piece of shit, bitch. You're a piece of shit, bitch.

480
00:33:22,826 --> 00:33:23,986
Speaker 2: Charge that, motherfucker.

481
00:33:24,326 --> 00:33:26,606
Speaker 1: The bailiff calls for help and a bunch of deputies appear.

482
00:33:27,386 --> 00:33:29,646
Speaker 1: They kick all the reporters out, but they forget about

483
00:33:29,666 --> 00:33:31,586
Speaker 1: the microphones that have been placed on a podium at

484
00:33:31,606 --> 00:33:34,386
Speaker 1: the front of the courtroom. And that's when Rauta tells

485
00:33:34,426 --> 00:33:36,306
Speaker 1: the judge to go fuck himself.

486
00:33:36,696 --> 00:33:37,616
Speaker 2: Fuck you and your mamas.

487
00:33:37,896 --> 00:33:40,106
Speaker 1: I think my client is a little overwrought, having been

488
00:33:40,166 --> 00:33:41,286
Speaker 1: in custody and.

489
00:33:41,606 --> 00:33:43,786
Speaker 2: Fuck you, yada, yada, yada. Fuck you.

490
00:33:44,686 --> 00:33:49,066
Speaker 1: He seems mad at everyone. The judge, the DA, the bailiff,

491
00:33:49,766 --> 00:33:52,496
Speaker 1: even his public defender. The one person who wants to

492
00:33:52,536 --> 00:33:52,916
Speaker 1: help him.

493
00:33:52,936 --> 00:33:55,156
Speaker 5: Don't come to see me no more, you piece of shit.

494
00:33:56,896 --> 00:34:02,186
Speaker 1: Rauta appears desperate, furious, trapped. He's thrashing about in the

495
00:34:02,226 --> 00:34:07,406
Speaker 1: fluorescent light of this dingy, cold courtroom. He reminds me

496
00:34:07,426 --> 00:34:15,496
Speaker 1: of the mountain lions. Hemmed in, stressed out, a dangerous ghost.

497
00:34:28,566 --> 00:34:30,786
Speaker 3: Several weeks later, when I see Rauta in.

498
00:34:30,766 --> 00:34:39,666
Speaker 1: Court, He's undergone a disturbing transformation. He's strapped to a

499
00:34:39,706 --> 00:34:43,146
Speaker 1: restraint chair, his face covered by a mesh mask to

500
00:34:43,206 --> 00:34:46,396
Speaker 1: stop him from spitting at the deputies. His head lolls

501
00:34:46,436 --> 00:34:50,756
Speaker 1: to one side as if he's under heavy sedation. I

502
00:34:50,836 --> 00:34:53,396
Speaker 1: notice that the public defender, who Rout has been trying

503
00:34:53,416 --> 00:34:57,126
Speaker 1: to fire, is gesturing to me. He wants me to

504
00:34:57,166 --> 00:34:59,806
Speaker 1: come talk to him in a quiet corner at the

505
00:34:59,846 --> 00:35:00,646
Speaker 1: back of the courtroom.

506
00:35:01,636 --> 00:35:03,396
Speaker 4: I got information, unfortunately, it's.

507
00:35:03,296 --> 00:35:04,596
Speaker 2: All under seal, so.

508
00:35:04,576 --> 00:35:06,456
Speaker 5: I can't really talk to you about it.

509
00:35:07,576 --> 00:35:10,556
Speaker 1: He's talking about the discovery, the evidence provided by the

510
00:35:10,576 --> 00:35:13,546
Speaker 1: sheriff's department about the weapon and ammunition that Raudo was

511
00:35:13,566 --> 00:35:14,126
Speaker 1: arrested with.

512
00:35:15,456 --> 00:35:18,166
Speaker 2: I don't think they've got the ballistics or anything like that.

513
00:35:19,226 --> 00:35:21,526
Speaker 1: In other words, he doesn't think they have enough to

514
00:35:21,586 --> 00:35:22,886
Speaker 1: charge Raudo with murder.

515
00:35:23,466 --> 00:35:26,106
Speaker 2: You know, I'm not sure what direction you're going in, but.

516
00:35:28,246 --> 00:35:29,926
Speaker 4: We checked any other suspects.

517
00:35:36,196 --> 00:35:39,716
Speaker 5: Because I don't think this kid is the shooter. There's

518
00:35:39,796 --> 00:35:44,796
Speaker 5: a killer out there. I don't know.

519
00:35:44,956 --> 00:35:47,596
Speaker 2: I shouldn't even be guessing. I don't know what his

520
00:35:47,656 --> 00:35:50,016
Speaker 2: family situation was. I don't know if there was any rivals.

521
00:35:50,036 --> 00:35:51,436
Speaker 1: I don't know if there's anything else.

522
00:35:52,596 --> 00:35:55,116
Speaker 2: Something's wrong. This kid didn't do anything. He's crazy.

523
00:35:56,756 --> 00:35:59,476
Speaker 3: There was so much pressure that they had to arrest somebody.

524
00:35:59,496 --> 00:36:03,256
Speaker 2: I think they got the crazy guy.

525
00:36:04,536 --> 00:36:07,196
Speaker 3: They probably want him in custody so that they can

526
00:36:07,216 --> 00:36:08,376
Speaker 3: get the Sakai interest.

527
00:36:08,566 --> 00:36:10,066
Speaker 5: Or somebody can.

528
00:36:11,666 --> 00:36:15,806
Speaker 3: Talk to him and get incriminating stuff. It's the only

529
00:36:15,846 --> 00:36:16,866
Speaker 3: thing they can figure.

530
00:36:17,366 --> 00:36:19,246
Speaker 2: Because if he's not, it's unfair.

531
00:36:20,106 --> 00:36:23,206
Speaker 1: He believes that Rao is a sacrificial lamb, meant to

532
00:36:23,266 --> 00:36:25,286
Speaker 1: appease the agitated Malibu community.

533
00:36:25,306 --> 00:36:29,476
Speaker 2: Anyway, just between you and me. Okay.

534
00:36:40,276 --> 00:36:43,576
Speaker 1: When Tristan Beaudet was killed, shot in Malibu Creek State

535
00:36:43,616 --> 00:36:47,116
Speaker 1: Park in the hour before dawn, I couldn't stop thinking

536
00:36:47,156 --> 00:36:52,666
Speaker 1: about it. Then I found out about all the other shootings, too.

537
00:36:52,686 --> 00:36:56,166
Speaker 1: Now the cops have arrested Anthony Rauta, a homeless guy

538
00:36:56,226 --> 00:36:59,086
Speaker 1: living behind the station, and they seem to want everyone

539
00:36:59,126 --> 00:37:02,726
Speaker 1: to think that it's all his fault, that he's the

540
00:37:02,786 --> 00:37:07,706
Speaker 1: perfect bad guy. A single, efficient explanation for everything that's

541
00:37:07,726 --> 00:37:11,336
Speaker 1: been going on. I don't know what to believe, but

542
00:37:11,356 --> 00:37:15,016
Speaker 1: I know that's not the whole story. Could Anthony Rauta

543
00:37:15,056 --> 00:37:20,216
Speaker 1: have committed all these crimes? What was law enforcement doing

544
00:37:20,256 --> 00:37:25,176
Speaker 1: this whole time? How did Malibu turn into the killing zone?

545
00:37:25,196 --> 00:37:29,676
Speaker 2: The Killing Zone