The Sniper

A young father is gunned down in the middle of the night by an unknown attacker at a popular California State Park in Malibu. The shock of his murder sends the community reeling and the person behind the attack turns out to be a serial offender.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  The real cost of a break-in isn't your valuables. It's the feeling that your home stopped being safe. SimpliSafe keeps danger away from your family with three layers of protection. One, smart AI cameras and live US-based agents help stop intruders before they break in. Two, we sound the alarm at points of entry. Three, our agents request emergency response. Plans starting around a dollar a day. Right now, get 60% off your new system with professional monitoring at simplisafe.com/truecrime. Outdoor deterrence plans start at $49.99 a month. Visit simplisafe.com/licenses for alarm license information.

• 0:30Speaker 01

  Hi, park enthusiasts. It's Delia. If you listen to Park Predators, you already know that sometimes the most beautiful places can hide the darkest secrets. But what happens when the danger isn't miles from civilization? It's in your community, and sometimes even in your own backyard. On Crime Junkie, hosts Ashley and Britt dive into real cases every week, from missing persons to unsolved murders, breaking down what we know, what we don't, and the details that still don't sit right. If you care about the stories behind the headlines and the victims at the center of them, you'll want to check out Crime Junkie. Listen now wherever you get your podcasts.

• 1:10Speaker 01

  Hi, park enthusiasts. I'm your host, Delia Deambra, and the case I'm going to tell you about today takes place in Southern California, in and around the well-known beach city of Malibu. If you've ever been there, then you know this place looks like an actual postcard. It's known for surfing and the seemingly endless glittering view of the Pacific Ocean. If you're not a beach person, don't worry, there's plenty of outdoor activities in nearby Malibu Creek State Park. You can hike, swim, camp, all the things. This park is more than 8,000 acres in size and is referred to as the crown jewel of the Santa Monica Mountains. As far as terrain and natural wildlife, it's got a little bit of everything: a volcanic

• 1:51Speaker 01

  rock pool, canyons, mountain lions, rattlesnakes, and depending on how Hollywood is doing, film crews. However, ever since the early morning hours of June 22, 2018, Malibu Creek State Park has been known for something else: a series of shootings that culminated in the murder of a 35-year-old father while he slept alongside his two young daughters. The tragic killing of Tristan Bodett is a case I've wanted to cover for a while on this show, ever since I listened to an eight-part investigative podcast series by New Yorker writer Dana Goodyear. That series is titled Lost Hills, and Tristan's case is covered extensively in season one.

• 2:33Speaker 01

  It's an incredible piece of journalism, so I highly recommend you check it out if you're looking for a new long-form series. You'll hear me refer to it several times throughout this episode because it doesn't just dive deep into what happened to Tristan. It also explores what was really going on behind the scenes at the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department throughout his murder investigation. And that aspect, as you'll soon find out, was one of the many things that fueled a lot of questions in this case. Most notably, how much did law enforcement know or not know about a gun-toting predator in the weeks, months, and years leading up to the murder of Tristan Bodett? This is Park Predators.

• 3:29Speaker 01

  On Thursday, June 21, 2018, 35-year-old Tristan Bodett loaded up his car with camping gear and bikes with a plan in mind. He was going to leave his family's home in Irvine, California, and drive about two hours to a campground in Malibu Creek State Park. His wife, Erica Wu, wasn't joining him and their girls, though. She worked as an OB-GYN and had some upcoming medical exams she needed to study for. The family was planning to make a big move up to Northern California soon, which would take them out of the Irvine area and further away from loved ones. So in addition to this camping trip being a daddy-daughter outing, it was also going to serve as a kind of last hurrah. Along the way, Tristan and his girls had arranged a caravan with Tristan's brother-in-law,

• 4:13Speaker 01

  Scott, and his two kids. Scott told producers with the Lost Hills podcast that staying overnight at Malibu Creek State Park had been on Tristan's bucket list for a while. He said the two of them had gone there years earlier for a mountain biking trip, and they'd been so impressed with the landscape and views that they'd set their sights on eventually coming back to go camping. Scott described Tristan as someone who really loved being in nature. He was always well-prepared. For example, he'd usually make amazing meals and even have ready-made cocktails for the adults. When the group arrived at the state park, they eventually settled into two campsites that were right next to one another: sites 49 and 51. After setting up their stuff, they headed to a nearby beach called Surf Rider Beach,

• 4:58Speaker 01

  where the kids spent the rest of the day playing. That evening, after returning from the beach, the group had a campfire and then the kids went to bed. Scott and Tristan stayed up a little longer, though. The two of them just hung out, drank, and talked for a while before eventually deciding to call it a night. When they parted ways to head to their separate tents, Scott said he gave Tristan a hug and told him he loved him and was going to miss him when his family moved. A few hours later, around 4:40 in the morning, Scott awoke to a loud noise that he later described to Lost Hills podcast as something like a firework going off. The sound was quickly followed by crying coming from inside Tristan and the girls' tent.

• 5:40Speaker 01

  Scott rushed over to go see what was going on, and as soon as he unzipped the flap to his brother-in-law's tent, he found him unresponsive and one of the girls in tears. Unsure what was going on, Scott rolled Tristan over onto his back, but that's when he saw something I'm sure he'll never forget: Tristan was covered in blood and lifeless. Seemingly without hesitation, Scott yelled for help, and a woman in a neighboring tent who heard him eventually called 911. According to coverage by Zach Baron for GQ Magazine, that woman wasn't the only other visitor in the campground at that time, though. There were several other folks staying there, too, but apparently the vast majority of those people didn't wake up when the loud noise Scott heard went off.

• 6:24Speaker 01

  However, a few of them would later say they did hear three to four loud bangs. They just didn't specify what they thought the noises were, meaning they didn't recognize the sounds as gunshots. Anyway, somehow, despite Tristan being mortally wounded, his daughters were physically unharmed. Emergency responders made arrangements to transport the 35-year-old to an area hospital, but it was no use. He died on scene from a gunshot wound to his head. In short order, California State Park Rangers and homicide detectives with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department responded to the scene. Where this crime occurred was within the jurisdiction of park rangers, but because the area as a whole was located in LA County, that's one of the reasons why the sheriff's

• 7:06Speaker 01

  department got involved and assumed the lead role in the investigation. Deputies from a local LASD station known as Malibu Station or the Lost Hills Station were likely some of the first personnel to arrive on scene. And when they did, it's likely they would have spoken with Scott, but according to the source material, he eventually left the campground with his two kids and Tristan's girls. They went from the crime scene to the Lost Hills Sheriff's Station, where they eventually met up with Erica, Tristan's wife. Erica had been back home in Irvine getting ready to take her medical board exam when she heard a knock on her door. It was 6:45 in the morning, and when she answered, she saw her sister standing there, which I imagine probably struck her as odd because her sister lived about an hour and a half away.

• 7:50Speaker 01

  But pretty quickly, Erica learned why her sister was there. She told her that Tristan had been killed, and right away, the two of them got in the car and started driving toward Malibu. Five days after Tristan's death, a spokesman for what was then known as the Los Angeles County Coroner's Office announced preliminary findings from his autopsy. The coroner deputy chief confirmed publicly that Tristan had died from a gunshot wound to the head and that more details on his death would be released once a full medical report was transcribed. It was later revealed in the autopsy Tristan had been shot near his right eye, and that round had remained in his body lodged near his right shoulder blade. When it was recovered, officials concluded it was a copper-jacketed lead bullet.

• 8:34Speaker 01

  The specific make and model of the firearm, though, were unknown. Other than that information, it seems law enforcement didn't have a ton of leads to follow. From the looks of it, the crime appeared to be a random killing, and something that sort of aligned with that theory was the fact that when Tristan and Scott had first arrived at the campground, they'd originally been assigned different campsites than spots 49 and 51. According to coverage by Lost Hills podcast, the first sites they'd been given were positioned on an angle, and Tristan hadn't liked that. So they convinced the park ranger to let them use sites 49 and 51 instead, which were in much flatter areas. So essentially, at the last minute, the men and their kids had changed where they'd

• 9:18Speaker 01

  be camping, meaning if someone had targeted Tristan for whatever reason, the question was, how would they have known which spot he was going to be at that particular night? I guess it's possible the killer or killers could have been watching him and Scott, but if that was the case, then everyone's next question was, why? Tristan was a 35-year-old husband and father of two who'd been married to his wife Erica for about a decade. The two of them were high school sweethearts and from the same city of Fresno, California. Coverage by GQ Magazine explained that Tristan and Erica didn't go to the same schools growing up, but they had met their senior year through a mutual friend. She described him as the smartest person she knew, and to be honest, his resume backed

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  that characterization up. After graduating from high school, he went on to graduate from the University of California at San Diego with the highest GPA in the college. After that, he got a PhD in chemistry from UC Berkeley. So yeah, he was a really bright man. He eventually took a job working as a scientist for Allergan, which, according to financier worldwide, is a big pharmaceutical company that sold in 2019 for $63 billion. But even with all Tristan's academic and career achievements, it seemed like one thing that made him really happy was being in nature. He loved camping, hiking, bike riding, you name it, all the things.

• 10:43Speaker 01

  Producers for Lost Hills reported that Erica had photos of him in so many breathtaking places—Yosemite National Park, Glacier National Park—and in a lot of those images, he could be seen carrying his daughters while hiking. So, given his sterling life and reputation, it was hard for anyone to understand how such an incredibly smart, straight-laced family man could be gunned down in the middle of a public park. Initially, the LASD didn't share many details about the crime or their investigation with the public, and as a result, speculation ran wild. Lots of theories started to emerge, including one that purported maybe Tristan had been assassinated because of the work he was part of at Allergan that dealt with vaccine development.

• 11:28Speaker 01

  Another theory claimed he might have been shot by a disgruntled park worker who'd taken out their frustration on a camper. There was yet another suggestion, which alleged he'd been killed by operators involved in the illegal cannabis trade that existed in remote stretches of the Malibu wilderness. But with little evidence to back any of those theories up, it was all just speculation. Because there were no concrete answers as to what had happened, the Malibu Creek State Park campground immediately closed to the public while authorities continued to investigate. However, the hiking trails remained open, which, to me, seems odd considering a murder had just occurred. But the LASD's way of reassuring folks the situation was under control was to state that they were increasing patrols in the area.

• 12:12Speaker 01

  Park officials also provided a statement which read, quote, "The safety of park visitors is our top priority. Our hearts go out to the victim and his family during this difficult time," end quote. Within a week or so of the murder, it became clear that among the many wild scenarios that people were suggesting—and, of course, authorities had to at least consider—there was one that stood out more than the rest: the idea that this murder could be the work of a repeat offender. And as it turns out, that suggestion wasn't unfounded. Because, as everyone in LA County was about to learn, Tristan wasn't the first shooting

• 12:52Speaker 01

  victim in Malibu Creek State Park or the greater surrounding area in 2018.

• 13:00Speaker 00

  The real cost of a break-in isn't your valuables, it's the feeling that your home stopped being safe. SimpliSafe keeps danger away from your family with three layers of protection. One, smart AI cameras and live US-based agents help stop intruders before they break in. Two, we sound the alarm at points of entry. Three, our agents request emergency response. Play-in starting around $1 a day. Right now, get 60% off your new system with professional monitoring at simplisafe.com/truecrime. Outdoor deterrence plans start at $49.99 a month. Visit simplisafe.com/licenses for alarm license information.

• 13:31Speaker 01

  One day last year, detectives knocked on the door of a multimillion-dollar mansion in Los Angeles County. Inside, they found a strange scene: a dining area converted into classrooms with children and toddlers seated at rows of desks. The couple that lived there had 21 kids.

• 13:51Speaker 02

  It's a house that looks like a castle, but it's under investigation for being a possible factory—a baby factory.

• 13:58Speaker 01

  Where had these children come from? Almost all of them were born through surrogates. But those surrogates had been deceived.

• 14:06Speaker 03

  Me and my coworker, we named her the surrogate pimp.

• 14:08Speaker 04

  That's the one time that we called the cops, because she was screaming. And then he pulled out a gun.

• 14:13Speaker 05

  I started crying. I was like, what the heck did I just get myself into?

• 14:18Speaker 01

  I'm Ava Kaufman. The Journey is a new series from In the Dark and The New Yorker. Find it now in the In the Dark feed, wherever you get your podcasts. According to news coverage in this case, starting in early November 2016—so going back a year and a half before Tristan's murder—there had been at least seven shootings in either Malibu Creek State Park or a long Malibu Canyon Road, which is the main road that runs adjacent to the park. But here's what's wild: it seems that the general public had never heard about those incidents. Victims of the shootings would later tell the press that they'd reported being shot

• 15:03Speaker 01

  at to both California State Park officials and the LASD, but nothing ever happened. The victims said that at some of their crime scenes, evidence like shotgun slugs or metal pellets had even been collected, but law enforcement just didn't do anything to follow up. No warnings were issued to campers, and no signs went up at the park's campground letting visitors know to be on alert. In each case, the locations of the shootings differed, but the general circumstances didn't. For example, all the shootings had occurred early in the morning, under the cover of darkness, and shots had been fired at someone who was either sleeping in Malibu Creek State Park or driving down Malibu Canyon Road.

• 15:45Speaker 01

  Now, despite this alarming history and the fact that Tristan Baudet had just been murdered in the park in a very similar fashion, the LASD's official position was that they had no reason to believe any of those prior shootings were connected to his death. In fact, just a few days after Tristan's murder, CBS News shared this statement from an LASD official, who said, quote, "Homicide detectives are aware there have been other shootings near the location in the past. However, there is no evidence that suggests this incident is related to any prior shootings near the location," end quote. I'll go into more detail about some of the prior shootings in just a minute, but for

• 16:25Speaker 01

  now, it's important to note for context that from 2016 to 2018, Malibu was not typically known as a high-crime area, especially when it comes to violent crime. Investigators from the LASD's Lost Hills Station patrol this region, and their day-to-day responsibilities include things like cracking down on traffic control, making arrests for people suspected of driving under the influence, and handling seasonal crowd control at Malibu's beaches. You're probably starting to get the picture. Lost Hills is not an LASD station that sees a lot of shootings. So, the fact that there had been a series of them in the span of 19 months in the same area, and the department took such a hard stance maintaining the incidents were likely

• 17:08Speaker 01

  not connected, was surprising—if not, to some people, a downright illogical position to take. I imagine it felt that way to the victim from the first shooting, which had occurred in early November 2016. That guy was a local wildlife biologist named James Rogers, who told the Lost Hills podcast he'd been sleeping with his headphones on in a hammock in the park when he woke up to a sharp pain in his right arm. Right after feeling the sensation, he fell out of his hammock and hit the ground completely stunned. He then noticed his jacket was ripped and there were what looked like puncture marks in his arm. However, his first thought was that maybe he'd been bitten by an animal or something. Still, though, as a precaution, he decided it was best to just pack up and head home after that.

• 17:53Speaker 01

  A few weeks later, though, a weird thing started to happen. Round metal pellets began falling out of James's arm. He wasn't sure what they were, so after some convincing from his girlfriend, he went to the doctor to get an X-ray to try and figure out what was going on. There, medical staff discovered there were four more pellets embedded so deep in James's arm, he'd need surgery to get them out. And this is when James learned that he had, in fact, not been suffering from an animal bite. He'd actually been shot with a round of birdshot, which, for those of you who are unfamiliar, birdshot is a shotgun round that is packed tightly with very small pellets. According to coverage on this case, James reported what had happened to him to a Malibu Creek State Park employee.

• 18:38Speaker 01

  But that person just told him that there was, quote, "a lot of weird activity," end quote, "happening in the park, to the point where park staff had even been warned not to go there by themselves at night." Which, I don't know what kind of response that is. I would be so troubled if I was James in this situation. Richard Wenton reported for the Los Angeles Times that when James was shot, he'd been sleeping with his arm by his head. James told the publication he thought he'd been attacked at close range. So the obvious question was, had whoever shot him been aiming for his head, but simply missed and only hit his arm? Less than a week after his shooting, another guy who'd been in the state park's campground was shot at. That victim told the Lost Hills Podcast

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  that he'd set up a camp at Campsite 58, which was just a few spots away from where Tristan would eventually camp in Spot 51 in June 2018. This victim said he'd been inside his camper when around 3:30 in the morning, he heard what sounded like an explosion go off outside. And just like James, this man had also made a report with park rangers as well as the LASD. But it doesn't appear that much happened as far as follow-up. A few months later, in early January 2017, a couple who'd been camping in their SUV at Campsite 57 in the park reported they'd woken up around 5:00 a.m. after hearing a loud thump. Unsure what exactly the noise was, they'd gone back to sleep.

• 20:07Speaker 01

  But a few hours later, when it was morning time, they realized there was a bullet hole in the back bumper of their vehicle and a shotgun slug rolling around in their trunk. One of them called law enforcement to report the incident, but according to court documents cited by GQ Magazine, the sheriff's department just told them, quote, "Oh, well, that's not our jurisdiction. That's not our problem. Call the state parks guys," end quote. According to that same article, when the victims reported the incident to park staff, employees told them, quote, "This doesn't happen out here," end quote. Still, there was one LASD detective lieutenant who seemed quite concerned about the increased number of shootings. His name was James Royal,

• 20:52Speaker 01

  and he worked for the LASD's Lost Hills Station. In January 2017, he went to his supervisors and asked that the department issue a public safety warning. But his superiors denied that request and told him to just leave it alone, because it was the state park's problem, not theirs. Pretty soon, though, the shootings would become the sheriff's department's problem, because come the spring and summer of 2017, three more incidents occurred. One happened in the state park, and two others occurred on Malibu Canyon Road, which is squarely within the LASD's jurisdiction. Two of the shootings occurred during early morning hours and originated from unknown locations while motorists were driving on the roadway. Following those shootings,

• 21:36Speaker 01

  LASD Detective Lieutenant James Royal once again went to his supervisors and asked them to let the public know what was going on. But just like before, his request was denied. One of his colleagues, a sergeant named Tui Wright, had similar concerns as Royal had. He told the Lost Hills Podcast that as soon as he and Royal realized there was an emerging pattern to the shootings, he became worried that the LASD might have a potential serial shooter on their hands. But then, after the summer of 2017, the shootings just stopped. More, so it seemed. On Monday, June 18, 2018, which was just days before Tristan's murder and just less than a year after the fifth shooting,

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  gunfire erupted near the park once again. This time, the victim was a film production employee who was on his way to work at a movie set. He'd been driving his Tesla down Malibu Canyon Road when he heard a loud noise that sounded as if something had struck his car. Initially, he thought he'd left his coffee mug on the roof or that an acorn had just plopped down too hard on it. But then, after he pulled over to check things out, he noticed there was a hole in the front. It was clear that something had passed through the Tesla's hood, traveled through the front trunk, and then exited near the fender. So on his way home from work, this victim had gone by the Lost Hills Sheriff's Station to report what happened. But the only thing the responding deputy did there

• 23:05Speaker 01

  was take a report and snap a photo of the car's damage. This victim told the Lost Hills Podcast that at that time, no one seemed very concerned with the situation. But that changed just a few days later, after Tristan was found murdered. That's when this guy said his phone started blowing up with calls from park rangers, reporters, deputies, and other investigators from the LASD. In August, public frustration about the fact that no warnings had ever been issued to the public, despite authorities knowing about the prior shootings, reached a fever pitch. A state senator held a town hall meeting to address the situation. But the LASD didn't send a commander or captain as the department's designated representative.

• 23:49Speaker 01

  Instead, the agency sent Detective Lieutenant James Royal, who they had instructed to reemphasize the department's position, that none of the prior shootings were likely related to Tristan's murder. Within a matter of weeks, though, it wasn't just the shootings leading up to Tristan's murder that investigators would be forced to take a closer look at. There were a number of mysterious crimes that were occurring throughout the outskirts of the state park that finally made the LASD realize they were wrong.

• 24:21Speaker 00

  The real cost of a break-in isn't your valuables, it's the feeling that your home stopped being safe. SimpliSafe keeps danger away from your family with three layers of protection. One, smart AI cameras and live US-based agents help stop intruders before they break in. Two, we sound the alarm at points of entry. Three, our agents request emergency response. Plans starting around $1 a day. Right now, get 60% off your new system with professional monitoring at simplisafe.com/truecrime. Outdoor deterrence plans start at $49.99 a month. Visit simplisafe.com/licenses for alarm license information.

• 24:52Speaker 01

  One day last year, detectives knocked on the door of a multimillion-dollar mansion in Los Angeles County. Inside, they found a strange scene. A dining area converted into classrooms with children and toddlers seated at rows of desks. The couple that lived there had 21 kids.

• 25:13Speaker 02

  It's a house that looks like a castle, but it's under investigation for being a possible factory, a baby factory.

• 25:20Speaker 01

  Where had these children come from? Almost all of them were born through surrogates. But those surrogates had been deceived.

• 25:28Speaker 03

  Me and my coworker, we named her the surrogate pimp.

• 25:30Speaker 04

  That's the one time that we called the cops, because she was screaming. And then he pulled out a gun.

• 25:35Speaker 05

  I started crying. I was like, what the heck did I just get myself into?

• 25:40Speaker 01

  I'm Ava Kaufman. The Journey is a new series from In the Dark and The New Yorker. Find it now in the In the Dark feed, wherever you get your podcasts.

• 25:57Speaker 01

  Between July and early October 2018, while LASD detectives were trying to piece together everything they could in Tristan's murder case, they learned that there had been a rash of burglaries plaguing commercial businesses and buildings around Malibu Creek State Park. These facilities included a community center and two wastewater treatment plants. And at each location, victims had reported being burglarized, but only things like food had been taken. In one incident, someone had used a rock to break a glass door and, once inside, had busted open a vending machine. Thankfully, surveillance footage from one of the break-ins showed the man who authorities suspected was likely responsible. According to coverage by the Lost Hills Podcast,

• 26:41Speaker 01

  the guy was wearing all black and had his pants tucked into his boots. He was sporting a balaclava, which is one of those face ski masks that only shows a person's eyes. And he was also carrying a backpack and what appeared to be a rifle. It's unclear from the source material if or when investigators publicized photos of this suspect. But I think at some point, they did get an image of him out there to the media, because according to Zach Barron's reporting for GQ Magazine, around the same time the LASD learned about balaclava guy, they received a report from a maintenance worker who claimed he'd been driving through Malibu Creek State Park recently and was approached by a stranger who'd asked for a ride. He said the hitchhiker bore a similar resemblance

• 27:25Speaker 01

  to the burglary suspect from the recent spate of break-ins. So he declined to pick the guy up. Thankfully, the LASD didn't shirk this report off and decided to conduct a widespread search to hopefully find the mystery man. Those efforts continued for just under a week and utilized helicopters, SWAT team members, and search and rescue deputies and tracking dogs. Finally, on October 10, 2018, while at a recent burglary call in the area, officials discovered boot prints that led away from the crime scene they were at and into a nearby canyon. When they got to the end of those tracks, they encountered a 42-year-old man named Anthony Rowde, who was wearing all black and carrying a rifle.

• 28:08Speaker 01

  Based on everything deputies saw, Anthony was a dead ringer for the man who'd been seen on surveillance footage at one of the previous burglaries. They learned that he was a survivalist and convicted felon who lived a transient lifestyle and had been living in the Malibu Hills on and off for quite some time. It seems because of his close resemblance to the suspect picture and the fact that he had a prior criminal history dating back decades, that's what allowed officials to arrest him on suspicion of burglary and keep him in custody for a felony probation violation, since he was a felon in possession of a firearm. After his arrest, the LASD held a press conference where the sheriff at the time, this guy named Jim McDonnell, told reporters

• 28:52Speaker 01

  that even though the department had no evidence officially linking Anthony to Tristan's murder or the other shootings, it wasn't off the table as a possibility. He emphasized that homicide detectives were working closely with investigators on the other cases to determine if any possible connections existed. For the next few months, Anthony remained in jail under suspicion of burglary and for violating his probation. Then, in early January 2019, the hammer dropped. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office formally charged Anthony with Tristan's murder, all of the other shootings, and the rash of burglaries between the previous July and October. After his first appearance, his bail was set at $1.1 million,

• 29:37Speaker 01

  but then later increased to a whopping $10 million. So he remained behind bars pending trial. And you're probably wondering, just like I was, who the heck was Anthony Rouda? And how did LASD investigators zero in on him as the suspect allegedly responsible for all these crimes? Well, part of the answer, at least in Tristan's case, was that by that point, investigators had ballistically linked guns associated with Anthony to the murder weapon, as well as at least one of the other shootings in the park from earlier in 2018. Anthony's swift arrest likely also had to do with the fact of who he is, or was, in the years leading up to 2018.

• 30:19Speaker 01

  According to court records, his criminal history in LA County started all the way back in 2001. In the years after that, he was a defendant in at least nine criminal cases, some of which included offenses like burglary, receiving stolen property, and driving under the influence. Others involved firearms and explosive materials, as well as arson and charges for resisting arrest. Dana Goodyear, who reported for the Lost Hills podcast, corresponded with Anthony while he was in jail awaiting trial for Tristan's murder. And she uncovered that his criminal history actually started even earlier than what was reflected in LA County records. He began getting into trouble as a teen in Tampa, Florida.

• 31:03Speaker 01

  He was originally from Los Angeles, but had moved to the Sunshine State with his mom when he was about 10 years old. His parents had gotten divorced, and his mother chose to relocate to the East Coast. Eventually, he dropped out of high school during his senior year and joined the Army. Anthony said he attended basic training for a few months, but then ultimately quit that, too. In some of his online profiles, he described himself as an artist and even used a music alias, which he published rap music under. By all accounts, Anthony seemed to like the lifestyle of being transient. He told Dana Goodyear that he preferred a life away from people, living off the grid where he didn't have to work. A life where he could spend his time drawing, reading books about anarchy and survivalism,

• 31:48Speaker 01

  and writing, not one, but two, online manifestos. Even though he'd been charged with 16 crimes in January 2019, it wasn't until October of that year that an LA County grand jury formally indicted him for those offenses. The breakdown of the charges were as follows. One count of murder for Tristan Bodett's death. 10 counts of attempted murder on behalf of Tristan's daughters and the other shooting victims. And five counts of second-degree commercial burglary for the break-ins where he'd stolen food and other random supplies. As his case wound its way through the criminal justice system, Anthony kept firing his public defenders, often in rants laced with profanities.

• 32:33Speaker 01

  Several times, he asked the judge in his case to allow him to represent himself, but that request was repeatedly denied. And over time, rapport between him and the judge never really got better. At one point, Anthony became so upset in court that he actually punched a sheriff's deputy, and then he later attacked another one with a pencil while in jail. Eventually, the court ordered him to be restrained in a chair with a mesh hood over his head so that he couldn't spit on people, which, by the way, was something he'd already done numerous times in court during other hearings related to his probation violation and burglary charges. To make matters even more complicated, his criminal case wasn't the only court case

• 33:16Speaker 01

  happening in the LA County court system at that time, not by a long shot. Just a few months after he'd been arrested, Tristan's wife Erica filed a $90 million wrongful death lawsuit against the Sheriff's Department and subsidiaries of the California Department of Parks and Recreation. The suit alleged that the entities had operated with negligence and inflicted emotional distress to the point where they should be held liable for damages they'd caused. One of the complaints listed in the lawsuit stated that both state parks and the LASD were aware there had been similar shootings leading up to Tristan's murder, and yet they chosen not to do anything about it or warn the public.

• 34:00Speaker 01

  Erica's civil suit had a twofold purpose, though. It was definitely intended to hold the entities accountable and seek damages, but it also brought to light all the internal politics and mudslinging that had been going on inside the Sheriff's Department. Suddenly, the LASD's work came under the microscope, and in response, the agency fought back, but not against Erica, against two of their own: Detective Lieutenant James Royal and his colleague Sergeant Tui Wright. Yeah, remember them? Those were the guys who'd seen a suspicious pattern of shootings in their jurisdiction and tried to sound the alarm, but got no help from their superiors.

• 34:41Speaker 01

  Well, come 2019, after Erica filed her civil suit, those two men were transferred out of the Lost Hills station and assigned to areas much further away from where they lived. They also claimed they were ostracized by their coworkers and subjected to what they claimed were unjustified Internal Affairs investigations launched by the LASD. In response, James Royal filed his own civil lawsuit against the Sheriff's Department, in which he claimed the LASD was retaliating against him. That suit was followed five months later by one from Sergeant Tui Wright. So by the end of 2019, there were four legal cases, all somewhat intertwined, working their way through the court system.

• 35:24Speaker 01

  There was the criminal case against Anthony Rouda, Erica Wu's lawsuit against the state parks and LASD, and the two suits filed by Royal and Wright. And things would only get more complicated due to the COVID-19 pandemic, because, as we all know, in March 2020, as the world was forced into lockdown, many court proceedings grinded to a halt because courthouses were forced to quickly implement brand-new safety protocols. Finally, though, after five years of delays, Anthony's case moved forward to a jury trial. On May 5, 2023, prosecutors kicked things off with a three-hour opening statement. They outlined in detail what they claimed connected Anthony to the crimes he was charged

• 36:09Speaker 01

  with, which included firearm evidence, as well as electronic data authorities had found on his devices at his camp. Turns out, information recovered from his cellphone confirmed it had pinged on the public Wi-Fi network at the state park around the same time as some of the crimes. There were also internet searches for subjects related to what would happen if a bullet hit a car's gas tank. Even more damning was one specific search that Anthony had made on the morning of June 22, not long after Tristan's murder. And that search looked for breaking news headlines. The state claimed that Anthony's Ruger PC 9mm rifle had been ballistically linked

• 36:52Speaker 01

  to both Tristan's murder and the other shooting from just a few days prior to that, where the Tesla owner's car had been struck. By the end of the three-week trial, the evidence seemed overwhelming against Anthony. And it hadn't helped matters that he'd refused to be present in court for any of the trial. So when the jury returned with their verdict, they found him guilty of one count of second-degree murder for Tristan's death, three counts of attempted murder on behalf of his daughters and the motorist who'd been in the Tesla, and five counts of second-degree commercial burglary for the other incidents in the summer and fall of 2018. He was acquitted on all the other attempted murder charges related to the other shootings,

• 37:34Speaker 01

  mostly because there were no eyewitnesses to those incidents, and they involved a different type of ammunition and weapon than the rifle that had been linked to Tristan and the Tesla owner's cases. For the crimes he was convicted of, Anthony was sentenced to 119 years in prison. At his sentencing, the judge used the words "violent," "cold-blooded," and "chilling" to describe what he'd done. She said it appeared Anthony had absolutely no remorse for what he'd done, and that his only motive that day was to kill. Anthony appealed his conviction, but California's Second District Court of Appeal denied his request in July 2026. According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, he's in his

• 38:18Speaker 01

  50s and will not be eligible to be considered for parole until the year 2038. As far as all the related civil lawsuits are concerned, here's where things stand as of this recording. Erica Wu's suit against California State Parks and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department is still ongoing. After an initial dismissal in 2021, her complaint went through many rounds of amendments, judge reassignments, legal volleys, and seven years of additional filings. Currently, the case is scheduled for mediation in June 2027. And if no settlement is reached, it will have a tentative trial date of December 2027. James Royal, who claimed his department retaliated against him for wanting to warn the public

• 39:02Speaker 01

  about the series of shootings, is also still embroiled in litigation. A judge initially ruled against him and ordered he pay LA County's legal fees, but in August 2025, he requested that judgment be set aside, citing, quote, "irregularities in the proceedings caused by the defendant and errors in law." He's now pushing for a jury trial. According to an article in The Thousand Oaks Acorn, in June 2020, his colleague Tui Wright had his civil lawsuit end with an undisclosed settlement. It doesn't appear that Anthony Rouda's unruly behavior has changed much while he's been incarcerated. According to a Facebook post from the Kern County District Attorney's Office from September

• 39:43Speaker 01

  2024, "In May of that year, Anthony attacked a prison doctor when that physician delivered news he didn't like. As a result of that incident, he was recently convicted of a felony battery charge." Erica Wu told the Lost Hills podcast that "in the aftermath of her husband's murder, she and their girls did eventually move to Northern California. They continued to celebrate special events like Tristan's birthday, and every year on that day, they honor him by doing something he would have loved." She said they make a list of his favorite things, like exploring nature, reading books, hiking, being kind to one another. And then they pick one of those things and just enjoy being together, which I suspect

• 40:26Speaker 01

  is something Tristan would be very proud of. Park Predators is an AudioChuck production. You can view a list of all the source material for this episode on our website, parkpredators.com. And you can also follow Park Predators on Instagram, @parkpredators. I think Chuck would approve. In the dark, even the most familiar trail can feel like it leads somewhere else. Every rustle becomes a warning, every shadow a doorway. In Full Body Chills, those doorways open into worlds pulled straight from your nightmares.

• 41:09Speaker 01

  This spooky season classic returns with chilling new tales, immersive sound, and no promise that you'll find your way back. So step off the familiar path if you dare. Listen to new episodes of Full Body Chills every week, wherever you get your podcasts.