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Malibu Creek Murder /// Part 1 /// 337

September 24, 2019 / 53:20

This episode of True Crime Garage covers the Malibu Creek murder of Tristan Beaudette, the investigation into his death, and previous shootings in the area. The hosts, Nick and the Captain, discuss the details of the camping trip, the timeline of events, and the theories surrounding the murder.

On June 21, 2018, Tristan Beaudette went camping with his two daughters and brother-in-law Scott McCurdy at Malibu Creek State Park. Early the next morning, a 911 call reported shots fired, leading to the discovery of Tristan shot in his tent. The girls were unharmed, and the investigation began with no clear motive or suspect.

Tristan was a well-educated scientist with a promising career, and his murder raised questions about potential motives, including theories of targeted hits related to his work. The investigation revealed that there had been multiple shootings in the park prior to Tristan's murder, which had not been widely reported.

As the investigation continued, it became clear that there was a pattern of violence in the area, with several other shootings occurring over the years. The hosts highlight the lack of communication from law enforcement regarding these incidents and the growing fear among residents.

The episode concludes with the ongoing mystery of Tristan's murder, the unanswered questions, and the impact on the community. The hosts reference coverage from the Los Angeles Times and GQ magazine as they piece together the timeline and theories surrounding this tragic event.

TLDR

Tristan Beaudette was murdered while camping with his daughters, raising questions about targeted violence and previous shootings in Malibu Creek State Park.

Episode

53:20
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[Music] welcome to true crime garage where if you are whatever you are doing thanks
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for listening I'm your host Nick and with me as always is a man who loves guitars Cadillacs and hillbilly music
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he is my friend the captain yeah but beer never broke my heart it's good to be seen and it's good to see you
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thanks for listening thanks for telling your mother today we are sipping on campfire stout from high water brewing
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episodes are exclusively on the stitcher app and that is enough of the beers alright everybody gather round grab a
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chair grab a beer let's talk some true crime I must honestly say after reading the
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Bible and the Holy Koran I started to wonder on the battle of good versus evil on heaven and hell and which many
00:03:10
believe is a spiritual battle within oneself and not an actual physical presence some believe that evil resides
00:03:20
in all people the yin and yang for example certain things happen to me in life that I considered evil yet they
00:03:31
were perpetrated by those who were supposed to be the good guys and role models the things they did are
00:03:39
considered wrong to their own way of thinking so why did these things happen did I do anything to these people no but
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I am crucified while they are accepted and this is taken as a consequence of life so I looked at life in the ruling
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class and the so called powers-that-be I began to read books and studied them keeping
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thoughts to myself until I could no longer keep it in I came across what many would find such as conspiracy
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theories in secret societies but this again crucified me as a paranoid or even worse shouldn't these people be
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suffering a state of hell and not me these are quotes from an e-book titled the Luciferian theory this is true crime
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garage and this is the case of the Malibu Creek murder [Music] on Thursday June 21st 2018
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Tristan Beaudette and his two daughters set out for a weekend camping trip they were accompanied by Tristan's
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brother-in-law Scott mccurdy and Scott's two young sons their destination the Malibu Creek Campground located inside
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Malibu Creek State Park this is a huge park of 8200 acres the park has 15 miles of trails and is
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located in beautiful low-crime Malibu California just 25 miles from Los Angeles the park
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itself is pretty famous it contains the set for the iconic TV show mash and was also the site for filming of the
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original Planet of the Apes and many famous movie stars live in the area Will Smith's 43 million dollar compound is
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nearby and the Kardashians are also not far from here all right configu with it the campground in the park is located
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near Los Virginia's Road which connects Calabasas and Malibu the campground has 63 campsites each with a picnic table
00:06:15
and fire ring rented by the knight to people looking to enjoy the great outdoors in this scenic area yeah so on
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that Thursday morning Tristan and Scott and the kids they headed up to Malibu Creek Park arriving by early afternoon
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they were assigned a campsite at the gate but upon arriving there they decided that they could do better they
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scouted around found a different area that they preferred and requested a change at the gate they set up their
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tent cook dinner and put the kids to bed in their sleeping bags Tristan and Scott
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talked late into the night and according to Scott they then retired in their separate tents where their kids were
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already sleeping there are reports out there that on the night of Thursday June 21st 2018 66 0 of the 63 campsites were
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occupied so the campground is almost full now at 4:40 4:00 a.m. on Friday morning now June
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22nd a 911 call came in to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department reporting shots fired in the 1900 block
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of Los Virginia's Road we don't know who called 911 reports that it was Scott who
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heard the shots then found Tristan bleeding and called the police when the police and paramedics arrived they found
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Tristan Beaudette he had been shot now the early report says he suffered a gunshot wound to his upper torso
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unfortunately there was very little that paramedics could do for him and just a short time later he was pronounced dead
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at the scene at 5:21 a.m. the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department lieutenant Rodney Moore told the media
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that the man who was shot had been inside a tent with his two daughters when he was struck the girls thankfully
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are unharmed they were taken to the Lost Hills sheriff's station in the company of their uncle Scott
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sheriff's deputies woke other campers in the campground inspecting their tents for weapons and asked whether anyone had
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heard or seen anything strange many didn't have anything to report a few reported hearing three or four loud
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bangs which they thought were from some distance and then going back to sleep investigators closed the park so they
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could conduct a thorough investigation of the events of that early morning they did not have a lot to go on and they
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told reporters that no other information was available to give them at this stage
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they had no suspect and no known motive but one thing they did know this was a homicide
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what a strange set of circumstances here's a father he's 35 years old he's a young father he's camping with his
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daughters and and the fact that he is murdered nobody else in the campsite seems to be affected
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not even an injury as far as we could find yeah it's like what's the motive you there's no signs of robbery doesn't
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make any sense yeah hit so his two girls they were sleeping with him in that same tent
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their ages at the time were two and four but from what I could find their names have not been released to to the public
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or to the media Tristan what we know about him he met his wife Erika whoo when they were in high school in Fresno
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Tristan was clean-cut and solid he loved cooking Ultimate Frisbee I guess he played on a team called the air squids
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which is a pretty cool name mm-hmm he loved nature outdoor activities obviously he's out camping with his
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young daughters he likes snowboarding and biking and science in fact he was a scientist for his profession after high
00:10:24
school he took a year to study in Switzerland and then he matriculated at UC San Diego while erica was at Stanford
00:10:34
well it seemed like I said this seems like a all-around pretty cool guy and then fact that he's taking his
00:10:39
daughter's camping yeah cool guy a good father and smart obviously is what we can see here right once he graduated he
00:10:47
was awarded for the highest GPA in his graduating class that is an award I've not received he was enrolled at the
00:10:57
Graduate School at Berkeley where he received his PhD in chemistry so as you pointed out captain as I pointed out one
00:11:05
bright dude the two got married in 2008 and settled in San Francisco but moved to Irvine Erica began an OBGYN residency
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and Tristan took a job at a pharmaceutical company in June of 2018 so just shortly before this murder
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the couple was one week away from a move back to the San Francisco area this would be so that Erica could begin her
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tenure as a practicing doctor and Tristan actually accepted a job with a Bay Area farm
00:11:41
suitable company so they had plans plans to move Erica all she had to do was pass
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her medical boards and then she was good to go mm-hmm this is the reason why Tristan took the girls camping Erica
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needed to be alone and focused she need to study needed to study for these medical boards Oh with no clear motive
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you gotta think that law enforcement is wondering where where she was during these events and was there any type of
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relationship outside of the marriage well here's what we do know on Friday June 22nd this is at 6:45 a.m.
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so the 9-1-1 call comes in at 4:44 a.m. Tristan is pronounced dead at 5:21 a.m. and this is now 6:45 a.m.
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Erica woo was up and getting ready to go and actually take her boards take the test to her surprise even at this very
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early hour she found her sister Priscilla at her door Priscilla was there as she had the unfortunate job of
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delivering the terrible news right after they spoke Erica and her sister made the
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long drive to Malibu to the Lost Hills sheriff's station this was to retrieve her two daughters
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Erica of course was in a daze she could not wrap her head around what had happened it was just supposed to be a
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short fun camping trip and this wasn't in some remote treacherous or even threatening environment this was a
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public park with some of the priciest residential areas in the world nearby one like you said it was almost
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completely fooled that day yeah 60 of the 63 campsites were occupied to everyone this murder seemed totally
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random and it seemed very bizarre the whole the whole public opinion in theories they were starting to get
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tossed around pretty quickly okay here's what we were thinking in the very beginning one there was a thought
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that this could be an accidental shooting by one of the daughters or a possible suicide mm-hmm now this was a theory but
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this was ruled out almost immediately because the police found no gun inside the tent with the girls in Tristan no
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gun at their campsite really no gun anywhere for that man right another thought was this could be a hunting
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accident there we should note though no hunting is allowed in this area at all right there are some more complicated
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theories that were tossed out there and some of these well we'll go through first was Tristan's murder was somehow
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related to the marijuana growing farms operated by the Mexican cartels in this area this was tossed out there this was
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a theory though that there's there's just really no evidence to carry this theory any further way are there actual
00:14:58
marijuana fields out there there there are farms that are operated by Mexican cartels in that general area yes the
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other thought was as you kind of hinted towards tristan was killed by a family member or someone he knew well it just
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seems so odd to have three people in a tent and only one of them was murdered I agree and with the thought to that
00:15:26
there's no other injuries no other attacks it seems like this would be a very pinpoint targeted attack one also
00:15:37
seems to like when you think about stranger motive we could assume it's not sexual because he's a he's a male but
00:15:46
then they're they're camping so what are they stealing if the motive is robbery and then there's the other possibility
00:15:55
that I would think that all what he hears this man camping with his daughters that maybe killed the father
00:16:02
and two and kidnapped one of the kids but that didn't happen either well regarding this theory they were
00:16:10
able to prove very quickly in their investigation that Erica his wife was nowhere in the area and at a time and
00:16:20
they were also able to rule out Scott now we know Scott is along on this camping trip but we don't know publicly
00:16:28
they've never stated why they just simply stated Scott did not do this I believe that you got several things one
00:16:35
no evidence that Scott had any type of firearm there's no evidence that he had any kind of gunpowder residue on him
00:16:43
right I think that would be the first test that they would give him and as we said it's believed that Scott was the
00:16:50
one that called 911 found Tristan that that that made life-saving efforts yeah but we've seen in a two hour
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mother-in-law where where somebody's actually responsible for the murder but they're the ones that called 9-1-1
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so that wouldn't rule him out right this other portion is quite complicated and this would be a targeted hit with
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Tristan being the target this theory really started to gain some traction Tristan's work at allergen was thought
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to be a possible motivating factor Tristan I show him as working on a protein based anti-cancer vaccines and
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drug delivery systems mm-hmm people wanted to know could this be why he was killed it was reported that he
00:17:43
held numerous patents as well maybe somebody wanted the rights to his discoveries right or perhaps he was
00:17:52
working on something top-secret you know your mind really starts to wander when you hear these things here because you
00:18:01
could we could be talking about the rights to lucrative medications at stake yeah I understand that and I don't have
00:18:08
the knowledge firsthand but I would assume that if somebody owns a patent on something on something they discovered
00:18:15
that that would go to like next of kin like transfer over you'd think for a time period yeah
00:18:21
you would think maybe even for the amount of the patent itself right so these conspiracy theories were really
00:18:29
making their way around the internet people wanted to know did someone see killing him as a way to personally
00:18:38
benefit mm-hmm the theory here like some of the others that we that we've already
00:18:45
discussed is not ironclad obviously we mentioned several different versions of the same theory but one major problem is
00:18:54
something we've already pointed out in this story with with it being a targeted hit right the fact that the brothers the
00:19:03
brother-in-law's together they switched assigned campsites at the guard station it doesn't really build in well then I
00:19:11
guess you could look at it on the other side was there somebody out to kill Scott and they've got the wrong guy no
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they I don't mean that they switched with each other they switched completely to a whole nother campsite okay
00:19:26
so what I'm getting at is for this to be a targeted hit a couple things would had
00:19:31
to take in place one the offender would need to know that they were in fact going camping would then need to know
00:19:41
that they switched campsites basically what I'm saying is if somebody I think the better word has moved camps moved
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thank you you're correct if somebody if this were to be a targeted hit everything to me points to
00:19:58
that somebody would have had to have been watching him watching his movements talking Tristan down I'm no professional
00:20:05
but I think - it doesn't make a lot of sense if you're gonna have a hit to play it out this way I mean I understand that
00:20:15
the park might make a little more sense to carry out a hit but being with his daughters and being with you know his
00:20:23
brother I mean that doesn't make a lot of sense so as the investigation into Tristan's murder continued there was
00:20:30
more information that was coming out Tristan's brother Dyl Beaudette was named by la's KCBS TV news
00:20:39
as the source for its report that Tristan's tent was found to have two holes in it one on the top of the tent
00:20:48
and the other on the side of the tent police would not publicly acknowledge that these were bullet holes but that's
00:20:59
where your mind goes right captain yeah so here is where I start going well maybe there is something to this
00:21:07
targeted hit theory if someone I knew he was going camping it wouldn't be difficult to watch him this is an area
00:21:15
where mm-hmm you you could probably blend in I don't know how you're staying there without the without bringing the
00:21:23
proper equipment with you in advance or remaining to blend in even late into the
00:21:28
night possibly having Rangers there you know knowing that you shouldn't be on the property yeah and so the thing is
00:21:35
with these holes with the bullet holes well they're not saying that they're below holes there are two holes in the
00:21:43
tent one on top one on the side you think if somebody is trying to hit a target from any kind of distance that it
00:21:53
becomes very tricky to actually hit your target when you have three people inside
00:21:58
of a enclosed tent you mate you're not gonna be able to see your target you're not gonna be able to distinguish your
00:22:05
target from the other two people in this tent so so any shot from a distance seems very strange and it makes it seem
00:22:14
like it's a random act that it's not a targeted hit the other problem though is when we see the hole on top of the tent
00:22:23
that to me looks like it could be a targeted event I don't know the specifics the the very details of this
00:22:33
tent but I just thinking about tents I've owned in the past there are some that have like mesh tops right or or an
00:22:41
opening up at the top if this were a smaller tent you could walk up down inside in aim at your target
00:22:52
especially even if at night you could you could use a flashlight to assist you in this well I I think if these holes
00:23:00
will say you they're bullet holes if they're coming from similar directions I could see maybe the idea of you know an
00:23:11
accidental shooting right or a hunting accident or even maybe a crazed hunter that decided to shoot into tents but the
00:23:22
fact that they're coming in from different angles that's strange to me well and I think that's why it's
00:23:29
important that police did not publicly say that these were bullet holes we don't know for certain that that they
00:23:38
were we're assuming that one of them had to be unless he was shot from inside the
00:23:43
tent but the the issue here being that we don't know exactly how fast Scott responded to what he heard but it
00:23:54
sounds like he acted very quickly after hearing the noise he found Tristan very quickly we don't have him as seeing
00:24:03
anybody fleeing from Tristan's tent so again this is it's just a very weird situation in a weird investigation and I
00:24:14
don't want to go to see CSI on everybody but you would think they would be able to do ballistic tests to see if the
00:24:22
roughly what range possibly the the bullet went through the tent yeah well and I believe they would be able to
00:24:29
determine that they were in fact bullet holes or if only one of them was that that that would be the case so this is
00:24:37
this is a perfect way to lead us into some more information that would come out and this was big for the case this
00:24:46
came directly from the LA County coroner's office from assistant Chief Ed winter he said Tristan was killed by a
00:24:55
single gunshot so if the holes are thought to be bullet holes unless one missed there
00:25:02
mark only one could actually be a bullet hole the twist in the story here captain
00:25:07
is the assistant chief winter says the single shot was to the head not the torso as was previously reported native
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better help calm / garage all right we're back Cheers they maintain shears - you can stand
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cheers to everybody out there listening I do want to point out before we get too
00:29:59
far along that really great coverage for this case was conducted by the Los Angeles Times and by a long-form article
00:30:06
in GQ magazine by Zack Barron we have relied heavily on these sources and putting together this week's case now
00:30:16
everyone agreed everyone publicly agreed that Tristan's murder was a bizarre incident not easily explained
00:30:24
and early on thought to be an isolated incident but just five days after the murder that was going to change because
00:30:33
on June 27th 2018 a story in the Los Angeles Times by Richard Winton would change everything
00:30:41
the B one-page article headline was 5 Park shootings in two years but no warning the article cites five separate
00:30:53
shootings all in the Malibu Creek State Park in just a two-year time period all before Tristan was shot and killed of
00:31:03
course yeah the other shootings in which at least one person was injured got little publicity at the time but now
00:31:12
prompted fears that they might somehow all be connected and the story got worse on June 30th The Times reported that
00:31:23
there were even more shootings and then again this information was largely unreported to the public mm-hmm the Los
00:31:31
Angeles Sheriff's Department the the paper said had identified seven other shootings in the Malibu Creek State Park
00:31:38
area since 2016 three of the seven were in Los Angeles sheriff department's jurisdiction and the remainder were in
00:31:49
the state parks jurisdiction a la SD spokesperson issued a statement saying quote homicide detectives are aware that
00:31:59
there have been other shootings near the location in the past however there is no
00:32:05
evidence that suggests this incident is related to any prior shootings and quote
00:32:12
The Times stated that the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department acknowledged these previous shootings only after the Times
00:32:21
went ahead and published stories regarding two of the shootings the Sheriff's Department announced that the
00:32:28
campground area would be closed indefinitely for a safety precaution sounds like they were a little late to
00:32:37
the game and closing the park right and yeah and they just it seems like they kept this quiet because of the area it's
00:32:44
in it's an area that people have some power it's area where people have some money especially with so many being
00:32:54
inside the part of a thing there would be some kind of warning to the public that this is happening be on the lookout
00:33:03
a swim at your own risk kind of situation at the very least and there's not like you said there's not a
00:33:10
lot of injuries right there was at least one injury well we're gonna go through these okay so we can try to determine
00:33:19
actually what's going on here you know is there a sniper hiding in the hills taking aim at unsuspecting park goers so
00:33:28
the dates of the previous shootings were published by the LA Times and are as follows November 3rd 2016 then through
00:33:38
then six days later November 9th 2016 January 1st 2017 June 8th 2017 July 22nd 2017 July 30th
00:33:52
2017 June 18 2008 team this last one June 18th just four days before Tristan was shot
00:34:03
and killed yeah the tricky thing here for me captain is I understand that this falls into two different jurisdictions
00:34:11
but some of these are so close together in time frame that it's hard to believe that that somebody wouldn't have
00:34:18
recognized that there's a problem here that there's a very big underlining we don't understand what's going on problem
00:34:26
here no let's go through the ones that we have detailed information on the the first incident was on November 3rd 2016
00:34:35
this is when a young wildlife biologist James Rogers was sleeping in his camping
00:34:42
hammock in the nearby Tapia Park area this is not a campground it's about 200 yards from Malibu Canyon Road he says he
00:34:56
quote heard a loud bang and then felt a burning sensation in his arm this is quoted in the LA Times he didn't
00:35:05
see anyone around but his arm was wounded and after a time pellets started leaking out of the wound Oh God
00:35:14
James noted that when his hammock he you know he when he's in his hammock he sleeps with his arm or arms up over his
00:35:23
head yeah if if he hadn't been positioned this way he would have been shot in the head or
00:35:32
the face the face yeah in the face he required surgery to remove the many pellets embedded in his arm then just
00:35:41
two months later in January of 2017 a woman named melis to tangelo she was camping with her boyfriend in her Honda
00:35:51
SUV inside the Malibu Creek State Park the two were asleep in the vehicle when she heard a loud noise this is around
00:36:00
5:00 a.m. they stayed inside the vehicle but later got up around 6:00 a.m. they're going to go out and get some
00:36:08
coffee take a drive while they're driving they can hear something rattling around in the back of
00:36:15
the vehicle when they got out they found a hole through the back hatch of the vehicle someone fired a shot at the SUV
00:36:25
and part of a shotgun shell was in the back of the car right near where she was sleeping that night Wow heavy heavy
00:36:34
sleepers malece she said that if the bullet had been an inch or two higher than she
00:36:42
would have been hit the campground host said that others reported what sounded like a gunshot sound around 5:00 a.m.
00:36:51
now the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department deputies they guess that the shot was fired from about 20 feet away from the
00:36:59
vehicle police later told GQ magazine that the Sheriff's Department deputies were called to the scene of her shooting
00:37:07
they didn't really pay any regard to forensic evidence they were walking all over the place on potential footprint
00:37:18
evidence they didn't take any photos they weren't wearing gloves she never heard from any of those deputies again
00:37:25
after filing the report that's pretty ridiculous she says and it seems this way to me that no one was really
00:37:36
interested in her story until after Tristan's murder four other shootings occurred now there's less information
00:37:45
available regarding these but we'll go through what we have according to the times on November 9th 2016 this is just
00:37:54
six days after James Rogers shooting someone shot at a person sleeping inside a car at the Malibu Creek State Park
00:38:03
Campground six months after that On June 8th 2017 a car driving down Malibu Canyon Road was struck by a bullet
00:38:15
another car was hit on July 22nd then on July 30th The Times reported quote deputies investigated another
00:38:24
report of shots fired but were unable to determine what happened and quote then on June 18 2018 a Tesla driving
00:38:34
traveling along Malibu Canyon Road around 4:30 a.m. was hit someone shot at the car no one was injured
00:38:44
Tristan Beaudette brought his daughters to that campground just three days later
00:38:51
the troubling thing here captain for me is not only are we seeing some of these occurring some of these shots fired
00:38:58
occurrences within a relatively quick succession a time period that you should be able to realize that there is
00:39:07
something bad going on here something very dangerous to the public going on here but we also have similar
00:39:14
occurrences right we have people that say I'm I was sleeping and I was shot at or I'm driving my car down this same
00:39:24
road that somebody else was driving their car down and they were shot a couple things that we can assume is that
00:39:33
if it is the same person this person knows the area pretty well it's not that afraid to get that close to the victim
00:39:44
you know some of the shots only being where they say 20 feet away do it yeah the one that we have evidence of public
00:39:52
statements of would be 20 feet from the vehicle itself you're you're almost close enough especially if the shooter
00:39:59
walked past the vehicle the shooter very likely knew somebody was inside the SUV
00:40:05
right it might might a crept up to the vehicle or a tent and then backed away from it but this person also hates naps
00:40:17
and cars hates naps and cars yeah well and this is to put it very lightly needless to say residents in the area
00:40:28
were super troubled by the notion that it appeared that there was a random shooter stalking around the park based
00:40:37
on what I know unlike the we had a 270 shooter here yeah which 270 is our outer about around Columbus and so to me there
00:40:46
there's a there's a mental thing going on here there's mental illness possibly and so that's what that's what's scary
00:40:55
well we can somewhat understand what the people in the area were were going through and what they were feeling yeah
00:41:04
because you know these people are telling the press once they figure this all out once it's all reported that
00:41:10
they're afraid to hike there in the area they're afraid to go to the park they're
00:41:14
afraid to ride horses they say some of them saying they felt like sitting ducks now we felt similar when there were
00:41:24
shots being fired at random cars on 270 here in Columbus when you're traveling along and you're in your vehicle there
00:41:32
were there were injuries there was at least one murder that I can remember yeah what was interesting was he had all
00:41:39
these shootings going around 270 but it's mainly the southwest side and all those exits are the exits that I would
00:41:48
take to go to friends house go to work come home so is very scary and and then there was several I think it's shootings
00:42:00
that happen when people are going on the on-ramps so you want to talk about going
00:42:09
you have to take this exit and as you got on that on-ramp than your your nerves were shot you know you'd be
00:42:17
sweating well and I remember when that was going on people would jokingly say to one another all don't go on to 70 or
00:42:25
oh I stay off a to 70 but in reality even though they're trying to put on a hard shell for everybody they were
00:42:32
avoiding 270 they were avoiding these areas yeah one point there was they believe like a cross section and a
00:42:41
little bit before they caught the guy but it was 270 and State Route 23 and I remember me missing my exit one
00:42:50
time and having to take that we worked right in that area yeah and so I was I was
00:42:56
going a different way home and you know to and from work I was going a different way because they said
00:43:02
here's this cross-section so it was just like one why take the chance right yeah and so I was going a
00:43:08
different way and I but I mixed I yeah what would they call it your your muscle reflex like I it just wasn't paying
00:43:18
attention and and didn't go my alternate way that day and I remember driving down
00:43:25
to 23 and just like sweating going oh my god am I going to get shot and and then
00:43:31
I could just see the interview I was taking a different way and I just forgot that day and then that's when I was shot
00:43:38
right so I mean we know firsthand what what the public the general public hear what their fears were but their fears in
00:43:45
this situation we're only going to get worse because after Tristan's murder the shootings that the public is now aware
00:43:53
of they continued media reports emerged that in mid-july so this is just a this is a month after Tristan was killed
00:44:03
there were at least two reports of shots fired in the area on July 9th and then again on July 12 both occurring at night
00:44:13
and since June 22nd there had been several other reports of possible shootings according to the Malibu times
00:44:20
as many as nine reports of gunfire but sheriff's lieutenant James royal said deputies did not find any proof
00:44:30
that those were actual shootings three of the reports turned out to be something other than gun fire including
00:44:37
a backfire one was a transformer explosion but at least you have people on the alert now right right which which
00:44:46
you didn't afford the public that that safety net before right and now they're on high alert some of these were in fact
00:44:54
shootings but this is how aware everyone is now any loud noise could be a shot yeah and don't fall asleep and don't
00:45:04
take now and my clap there was not very loud that was supposed to be much more theatrical in that it sounded like a
00:45:11
finger snap and every time you hear a loud noise lieutenant royal emphasized that the
00:45:18
public needed to stay vigilant saying quote I strongly encourage you to trust your instincts he said this at a
00:45:27
town-hall meeting that took place in August saying that if you see something that doesn't feel right if you have a
00:45:35
gut feeling please trust it the Malibu City Council advised residents to avoid the area in the early
00:45:44
hours of the morning since it seemed the shootings were occurring in the hours between midnight and Dawn right
00:45:51
complicating things further was the discovery of two additional bodies in the park area on May 16th 2018 the body
00:46:00
of Francisco Reynaldo Cruz aged 52 turned up in a ditch on Los Virginia's Road this is near the campground close
00:46:11
to the malibu hindu temple he died of blunt force trauma to the head and sharp force injuries to the neck and chest
00:46:21
according to sources who spoke with The Hollywood Reporter Cruz's body showed signs of torture in the form of drill
00:46:30
marks then on July 27th never were the drill marks I don't know say Wow well we do know that the report states that
00:46:42
there was sharp force injuries to the neck in the chest drill marks on the neck in the chest
00:46:48
that's so that would be my guess yeah Wow on July 27th 19 year-old Roger Shabbos Barajas his decomposed body was
00:46:59
recovered on an embankment in the 24,000 block of Puma road he died of multiple gunshot wounds the Sheriff's Department
00:47:09
representatives said that these homicides after their investigation were gang-related and were not were not
00:47:17
connected to Tristan's murder officials specified that the remote canyon roads unfortunately have been dumping grounds
00:47:27
for bodies for a very long period of time but keep in mind people in the area you're not very trusting of your public
00:47:39
servants right now are you yeah you weren't you don't feel that you were adequately warned about safety potential
00:47:48
injury or homicide due to flying bullets in the park or campgrounds so you can imagine that these people are not gonna
00:47:58
feel super great about you coming forward and going well there this is not connected yeah don't worry guys
00:48:04
don't worry it's it's gang-related don't you have nothing to worry about basically what you have here is hysteria
00:48:11
in the area at least as far as some media sources were concerned in touch which is a weekly gossip magazine
00:48:22
questioned quote is there a new serial killer terrorizing the affluent community of Malibu Canyon another
00:48:31
mainstream media pointed out that a 21 year old man named Matthew Weaver had vanished on August 10th 2018 this is not
00:48:41
far away in Malibu his four-door BMW was found quote hanging off the edge of the
00:48:50
Topanga Mountain motorway another disturbing case was the 2017 disappearance of Elaine Park the 20 year
00:48:59
old was last seen leaving her boyfriend's home in Calabasas and her car and personal belongings were found
00:49:05
on the Pacific Coast Highway near coral Canyon Road in Malibu and of course one of the area's most well known unsolved
00:49:15
deaths was still fresh in the residents minds this is of mitrice richardson in 2009
00:49:23
right mitrice as you might recall was a case we covered in episodes 75 and 76 she was detained at the
00:49:32
Lost Hills sheriff's station only to be released into the night with no car no purse no phone and was never seen alive
00:49:40
again right so another example of the incompetence of law enforcement in this area her body was found seven miles away
00:49:49
down a wooded hillside her cause of death could not be determined in August of 2018 officials from five different
00:50:00
law enforcement agencies held a town meeting of sorts lieutenant Moore acknowledged that they had no theory no
00:50:09
suspect or answers regarding Tristan's murder the thirty-five thousand dollar reward for information did not serve to
00:50:17
bring anyone forward the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department would not even address whether they believed that the
00:50:24
shooting of Tristan Beaudette was targeted or random or whether there were any perceived patterns to the shooting
00:50:33
crimes themselves the autopsy results were sealed and detectives would not disclose whether any of the other
00:50:41
shootings involved the same type of weapon they would not discuss ballistics at all they stated that they didn't see
00:50:49
any connection between these crimes and the mitrice richardson and alain park cases sheriff Jim McDonald told the San
00:50:58
Francisco Chronicle that the pattern at this point certainly is not clear if there is one at all after all
00:51:06
close-range shootings like melis and Tristan are quite different from Tesla's being shot on Canyon Road and that in
00:51:16
turn is quite different from missing persons and drug cartel hits [Music] whatever struggles you are facing from
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[Music]

Badges

This episode stands out for the following:

  • 90
    Most heartbreaking
  • 80
    Most shocking
  • 80
    Biggest twist
  • 75
    Most intense

Episode Highlights

  • A Father's Love
    Tristan was a devoted father, camping with his daughters just before tragedy struck.
    “Beer never broke my heart.”
    @ 00m 54s
    September 24, 2019
  • The Malibu Creek Murder
    Tristan Beaudette was shot while camping with his daughters in Malibu Creek State Park.
    “What a strange set of circumstances.”
    @ 09m 12s
    September 24, 2019
  • Unexpected Tragedy
    A family camping trip turns deadly when Tristan is shot in the night.
    “This wasn't supposed to be a short fun camping trip.”
    @ 13m 14s
    September 24, 2019
  • Native Deodorant
    Native offers a natural deodorant that doesn't compromise on odor protection. 'There's a reason why it has over 8,000 five-star reviews.'
    @ 26m 19s
    September 24, 2019
  • LightStream Loans
    Refinancing credit card balances can save you money with rates as low as 5.95% APR. 'You could save thousands of dollars in interest.'
    @ 27m 39s
    September 24, 2019
  • BetterHelp Counseling
    BetterHelp offers online counseling with licensed professionals for various issues. 'Our listeners even get 10% off your first month.'
    @ 29m 21s
    September 24, 2019
  • Malibu Park Shootings
    A series of shootings in Malibu Creek State Park raised public safety concerns. 'Residents were super troubled by the notion of a random shooter stalking around the park.'
    @ 40m 31s
    September 24, 2019
  • Mental Health Support
    BetterHelp connects you with professional counselors for various struggles like depression and anxiety.
    “Whatever struggles you are facing, BetterHelp can connect you with a professional counselor.”
    @ 51m 30s
    September 24, 2019
  • Convenient Therapy Options
    Schedule secure video or phone sessions with your therapist, making it easy to get help.
    “It's so convenient, you can schedule secure video or phone sessions.”
    @ 51m 42s
    September 24, 2019
  • Affordable Counseling
    Get 10% off your first month with BetterHelp, making mental health care accessible.
    “Best of all, it's a truly affordable option!”
    @ 51m 53s
    September 24, 2019

Episode Quotes

  • Beer never broke my heart.
    Malibu Creek Murder /// Part 1 /// 337
  • This was a public park with some of the priciest residential areas nearby.
    Malibu Creek Murder /// Part 1 /// 337
  • You're putting this directly on your body, so use a product that's not harmful.
    Malibu Creek Murder /// Part 1 /// 337
  • If you see something that doesn't feel right, please trust it.
    Malibu Creek Murder /// Part 1 /// 337
  • Whatever struggles you are facing, BetterHelp can connect you with a professional counselor.
    Malibu Creek Murder /// Part 1 /// 337
  • It's so convenient, you can schedule secure video or phone sessions.
    Malibu Creek Murder /// Part 1 /// 337

Key Moments

  • Murder Investigation09:11
  • Bizarre Circumstances09:12
  • Tragic News12:43
  • Family Tragedy13:14
  • Loan Savings27:31
  • Online Counseling28:42
  • Mental Health51:30
  • Affordability51:53

Words per Minute Over Time

Vibes Breakdown