The man who started the Palisades fire, one of the costliest disasters in U.S. history, was motivated by resentment toward the rich and viewed accused UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione as a Robin Hood-like figure, according to court documents detailing evidence gathered by federal prosecutors.
In a court statement filed last week, authorities say Jonathan Rinderknecht searched for “Free Luigi” and “Reddit Let’s Kill All Billionaires” in December 2024, according to a forensic review of his computer. Rinderknecht, 30, is accused of starting the Lachman Fire in Pacific Palisades on Jan. 1, 2025, which smoldered underground for a week before turning into the deadly Palisades Fire.
According to the brief description, passengers described Rinderknecht as “angry, loud, driving erratically and ‘being angry at the world’ and shouting about Luigi Mangione, capitalism and vigilantism” in the hours before midnight.
“On New Year’s Eve 2024, the defendant was alone again,” federal prosecutors wrote in a 25-page brief of evidence in the trial. She alleged that the relationship with a co-worker had ended earlier that year and that on December 30, 2024, he reprimanded her again, which led to “an internal reaction: She left two frantic voicemails and logged into ChatGPT expressing her extreme displeasure at his treatment of her.”
Authorities alleged in their brief that he was angry because his ex-boyfriend was in the neighborhood and listening to a French rap song, the music video of which evoked images of fire.
Jonathan Rinderknecht was arrested in Florida on October 7, 2025
(U.S. Attorney’s Office)
It may have been much more difficult to piece together all these pieces of circumstantial evidence to build a solid case for Rinderknecht’s prosecution, said former federal prosecutor Nema Rahmani. Rahmani said, “The prosecution will have to persuade the court to accept evidence of her relationships, her dislike of capitalism and her admiration of Luigi Mangione… as persuasive evidence. Unlike her attraction to fire, which the defense is also opposing, the judge may find this other evidence too weak.”
Rahmani said that this case is again highlighting the incident of January 1 after a few days. “The prosecution is relying on ATF experts to establish this, and the defense has nominated its own experts to rebut. This is the most important issue in the case and whoever wins the expert battle will win.”
Prosecutors allege that evidence shows that the Lachman Fire that broke out on Hidden Buddha Hill on January 1 – which authorities thought had been extinguished – burned for several days and flared up again amid hurricane-force winds on January 7. The Palisades fire killed 12 people, destroyed 6,500 structures in the Palisades and Malibu, and cost billions in damages and insurance claims.
Within three weeks of the fire, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives focused on Rinderknecht, who repeatedly called 911 to report the fire. According to the trial brief, investigators seized a BIC barbecue lighter with his DNA on it from Rinderknecht’s car, which he admitted to having with him on the Temescal Canyon Trail.
Investigators got a warrant for his cell phone and a host of electronics after he towed his vehicle to the scene for an Uber, even noting that he had turned back into his vehicle to follow the firefighters.
“On December 29, 2024, just two days before the Lachman Fire, the defendant recorded three videos of fire engines departing from LAFD Station No. 27 in the Hollywood area,” prosecutors wrote. “While recording, the defendant said out loud (apparently to himself), “They’re coming for you brother, I’m telling you, you’ve got to get that mental head in order, and don’t like this craziness, they’re on their way, don’t worry.”
Asked by an investigator on January 24 why someone would set a fire, Rinderknecht said it would be “out of resentment of the rich enjoying their money” and, according to federal prosecutors, compared such an act of ‘desperation’ to Mangione’s murder of a UnitedHealthcare executive on a New York street earlier that year.
Rinderknecht used his iPhone to take video on the clearing and listen to a French rap song “Un Zeder, Un The”, which the affidavit said was about despair and bitterness and showed a trash can set on fire.
“When interviewed by investigators, the defendant falsely claimed that he first saw the fire as he was already halfway down the hill, walking back to his car. Prosecutors said that based on the geolocation data from the defendant’s phone, he was still watching the fire grow in the Buddha Hill Clearing (at the top of the hill) when he called 911.”
Eight months after the fire, Rinderknecht would be arrested. Prosecutors say he opened fire at 12:12 a.m. and remained in the area until 2 a.m.
Rinderknecht’s attorney Steve Haney said the government has no evidence linking his client to the Lachman fire. In court briefing, he argued that the cause of the Palisades fire could be traced to the failure of Los Angeles city fire commanders to properly extinguish an existing smoldering fire – which was not started by his client – ​​despite warnings from crews on the ground that the fire had not been extinguished.
“Critically, the Government has: no eyewitnesses who saw Mr. Rinderknecht set the fire; no physical evidence of accelerants, flammable liquids, or materials associated with intentional arson at the original site; no incriminating statements or admissions by Mr. Rinderknecht; no surveillance video of Mr. Rinderknecht committing any act of arson; and no precise ignition source or first ignition. There is no identification of the specific item of fuel,” Haney wrote.
Aside from cellphone pings placing Rinderknecht in the general area where the fire occurred, Haney and his experts argue that authorities have few specifics from the terabytes of evidence.
In fact, initial search warrants focused on fireworks that residents reported hearing. Haney said the ATF report on the cause does not describe the residents who said they saw fireworks that night, nor the four teenagers who were seen by a security guard or a non-household person in the area.
Federal prosecutors are seeking to sentence Rinderknecht to up to 45 years in prison, saying they will call in ATF experts to refute that the Palisades fire was caused by fireworks, cigarettes or power lines.
“The cause of the fire was the introduction of an open flame (lighter) into a combustible substance, such as vegetation or ordinary combustible material, such as paper,” the ATF report concluded, and it ultimately became the Palisades Fire.
Federal prosecutors allege that after he moved into his sister’s Florida home in April 2025, Rinderknecht “exploded” and threatened to burn down her house, while also yelling things like “Why did you bring me here?”
“The defendant’s fascination with fire dates back to at least 2018,” federal prosecutors wrote, explaining that he drove through the Santa Monica and Winnetka areas with his then-girlfriend to “admire the Woolsey Fire.”
The case will be filed in federal court in Downtown LA on May 11, where a judge will consider both sides’ arguments on evidence to include in the lawsuit.
