Crime Fix with Angenette Levy - 11 Creepy Details About Palisades Fire Suspect

Episode Date: October 9, 2025

More than nine months after the Pacific Palisades fire killed 12 people and destroyed 6,800 homes, federal authorities have charged a man with setting the initial fire that caused it. Jonathan Rinderknecht, 29, faces one count of Destruction of Property By Means of Fire. A federal complaint claims Rinderknecht, an Uber driver, set the fire in an area called the Hidden Buddha clearing just after midnight on New Year's Day. The feds claim Rinderknecht watched a music video where a singer sets fires before igniting it and even offered to help fight the blaze. Law&Crime's Angenette Levy goes through the strange details from the complaint in this episode of Crime Fix — a daily show covering the biggest stories in crime.Host:Angenette Levy  https://twitter.com/Angenette5Producer:Jordan ChaconCRIME FIX PRODUCTION:Head of Social Media, YouTube - Bobby SzokeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinVideo Editing - Daniel CamachoGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. Your first great love story is free when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at audible.ca. slash Wondery. That's audible.ca. slash Wondery. Today, we are announcing the arrest of 29-year-old Jonathan Rindernecked for igniting a fire that ultimately burned down the palisades earlier this year a man is now behind bars accused of setting that massive fire in the pacific palisades that killed people and damaged thousands of homes and buildings and the details are strange and include a music video about setting fires 911 calls chat gbt

at an offer to fight the fire i go through the creepy details that we know about jonathan Rindernecht and the investigation. We have evidence to that that will be addressed in trial, but evil people do evil things. Welcome to Crime Fix. I'm Jeanette Levy. It's been more than nine months since a fire started in the Pacific Palisades that would end up killing 12 people and destroying 6,800 homes. The images from that fire were unbelievable. Thousands of other buildings were torched.

Firefighters battled the fire for days. That area of Los Angeles literally looked like hell on earth when it was all said and done. And that may have been the goal of the person who set the fire. The search for the person who started the fire or possibly people who started it started back in January. But then there were other people who wondered, was this caused by fireworks? wasn't an accident on New Year's Eve or even power lines brought down by winds. Did that spark the fire? The ATF and the U.S. attorney for the Central District of California say, nope, neither of those things started this fire. They say this man, 29-year-old Jonathan Rindernecht set the fire just after midnight on January 1st with a lighter.

The U.S. attorney says that Rindernecht was an Uber driver on New Year's Eve and was in the area where the Lockman fire started. That was the first fire. Here's the acting U.S. attorney Bill Assaley. The allegations in the affidavit are supported by digital evidence, including the defendant's chat chipped-t prompt of a dystopian painting showing in part a burning forest and a crowd fleeing from it. Late last New Year's Eve, Rinderdeck returned to Pacific Palisades after working the evening shift as an Uber driver. Two of his passengers told law enforcement that he appeared agitated and angry that night. After dropping off a passenger in Pacific Palisades, Rinderneck parked his car and tried and failed to contact a former friend. He exited the car, walked up a nearby trail, took iPhone videos at a nearby hilltop, and listened to a rap song whose music video including objects being lit on fire.

Now, the complaint, charging Rinderneck is chock full of details about him and the investigation, so let's dig into it a little bit more, including this music video. At approximately 11.28 p.m., Rindernecht used his iPhone to access YouTube to listen to the song entitled Unzide-on-Ze by the French artist Jossmann. I have reviewed an English translation of the French lyrics for the song, and a theme of the song is despair and bitterness. During his interview on January 24th, 2025, Rinderneck admitted he was fluent in French. He grew up in France. Google Records indicate that Rinderneck had listened to the same song nine times in the previous four days. The music video for the song shows the main character, Joceman, lighting things on fire. Google records indicate that Rindernecht had watched the music video three times in the previous four days.

So let's take a look at that music video. In the official music video on YouTube, the artist Jossman, he does set things on fire. You can see he's burning money at one point. There's another scene of what appears to be some type of trash can burning and some other paper burning. And this is that dystopian image that the acting U.S. attorney referenced. He says Rinderneck crafted it on chat GPT showing a fire in people fleeing. The image was created, they say, on July 11th, 2024, more than five months before the the fire started. The prompt for that photo by Rinderneck, according to the complaint states,

a dystopian painting divided into distinct parts that blend together seamlessly. On the far left, there is a burning forest. Next to it, a crowd of people is running away from the fire leading to the middle. In the middle, hundreds of thousands of people in poverty are trying to get past a gigantic gate with a big dollar sign on it. On the other side of the gate, and the entire wall is a conglomerate of the richest people. They are chilling, watching the world burn down, and watching the people struggle. They are laughing, enjoying themselves, and dancing. The scene is detailed and impactful, highlighting the stark contrast and the direct connection between the different parts of the world. Here's another look at that photo. The area where the U.S. attorney says the fire was initially set

was in a clearing that people call the hidden Buddha because there's an old utility pole there and people leave Buddha trinkets there. That is where after midnight, the U.S. attorney says Rinderneck set the fire and watched it burn for a very short time and then tried to call 911. It took the defendant several tries to contact 911 to report the fire. He fled the scene in his car, but turned around after passing fire engines driving in the opposite direction to fight the fire. While the Lockman fire burned, the defendant walked up the same trail from early. that night to watch the fire and firefighters using his iPhone to take short videos of the scene. So let's go back to the complaint where there is more detail about what the feds are

alleging. They write at approximately 1147 p.m. Rindernecht used his iPhone to take two videos in or near the hidden Buddha clearing. In the videos Rindernecht panned around almost 360 degrees capturing the view from the top of the hill. No fire or fireworks were visible. At approximately 11.54 p.m. Rindernecht used his iPhone to again listen to the song entitled Unzude Anze by the French artist. That's the music video I showed you where Jossmann, the singer, sets things on fire. The complaint states, the first indication of the Lockman fire was captured at 1212.01 a.m. on January 1st, 2025, from a camera approximately 4.7 miles away. Footage taken from that same camera 35 seconds earlier did not

show a fire. A closer camera, approximately two-tenths of a mile away from the hidden Buddha clearing, first captured the glow of the fire at 12-12-21 a.m. The complaint continues. Rinderneck attempted to call 9-1-1 at approximately 12-12-31 a.m. The call did not go through most likely because he was out of cell phone range. The GPS data obtained from Rinderneck's iPhone carrier for that attempted call placed his iPhone slightly below the hidden Buddha clearing. The complaint said, says that RinderNet called 911 more than five times, but those calls were not successful. Interestingly enough, investigators say the University of California, San Diego has camera set up all over to detect wildfires. ATF agents say that this fire spread very quickly.

This image from 12.13 a.m. shows the fire. You can see that bright ball in the upper left hand corner of your screen. They say that is the fire. The complaint says Rindernecht finally connected to 911 at 1217 a.m. By that time, the fire had been burning for at least five minutes. On the call, Rinderneck reported the fire. By that point, a local resident already had reported the fire to 911. During the call, Rinderneck typed a question into the chat GPT app on his iPhone, asking, are you at fault if a fire is lift?

That was a typo. He meant lit because of your cigarettes. Chat GPT's response was, Yes, followed by an explanation. So Rinderneck, according to the ATF, drove away from the Palisades and surveillance cameras actually recorded his vehicle, but then something changed. The complaint states, on his way down Palisades Drive, westbound, he passed fire engines driving up Palisades Drive eastbound, responding to the fire.

Rinderneck turned around and followed the fire engines to the scene. Rinderneck was driving at what appeared to be a high rate of speed. When Rindernecht arrived back at the base of the hill, firefighters were beginning to respond to the Lachman fire. Rinderneck later told investigators that he offered to help the firefighters fight the fire. Based on my training and experience, that would be highly unusual conduct. Now, let me tell you, that is definitely weird. The best thing anyone can do in a situation like this is to get out of the way and let the professionals handle the firefighting. Rindernecht is innocent until proven guilty, but experts will tell you,

that sometimes a suspect will insert himself or herself into an investigation. Now, after that, the complaint states Rindernecht then walked back up that same trail that he had used to climb up and down the hill earlier that night in order to watch the fire and the firefighters. At approximately 102 a.m., Rindernecht used his iPhone to take four short videos of the fire and firefighters from the same trail. The efforts to put out this fire, dubbed the Lockman fire, were intense. Firefighters' fought the flames from the ground and water was dropped from the air to try to stop the flames. They spent New Year's Day fighting the fire and ultimately believed they had put it out.

They left the fire hoses there just in case the fire rekindled and then collected those hoses the next day on January 2nd. Now, they believed, according to the ATF, that the fire had been extinguished. Now, this is a photo taken from a drone after the Lockman fire. It was included in the complaint charging Jonathan Rinderneck with maliciously starting the fire. The photo shows the damage before the Palisades fire started. This image shows the perimeter of the fire, including where the Lockman fire started, known as the point of origin. The red lines show the perimeter where the firefighters believed they had contained the fire.

But down at the bottom, you see another point, and that is the point of origin for the Palisades Fire, which was first reported on January 7th in the morning sometime around 10.30 a.m. The ATF says the Lockman fire may have been put out above ground, but it was burning underground, smoldering for six days. It practically sounds like what you would think of as hell in a movie. The fire continued to smolder and burn underground within the root structure of the dense vegetation. So that fire started on January 1st, and it smoldered underground for about a week until on January 7th, Heavy winds caused this underground fire to surface and spread above ground, causing what became known as the Palisades fire. One of the most destructive wildfires in Los Angeles City history. Law enforcement got to work and by January 24th had identified and interviewed the defendant.

During his interview, he lied about where he was when he first saw the Lachman fire, claiming he was near the bottom of a hiking. trail. Geolocation data for the 911 call showed that he was standing above the fire in a clearing merely 30 feet from the blaze as it rapidly grew. As the world watched in horror as the palisades fire burned, victims perished in the smoke and flames. Homes were cherished family memories and belongings were turned to rubble in ash. The iconic Pacific Coast Highway along Malibu looked like a war zone. Thousands of people were forced to evacuate. Though homes and businesses cannot be rebuilt, this arrest, we hope, will provide a measure of justice to all those who are impacted.

The damage was unbelievable. As I mentioned earlier, people fled their homes. 6,800 homes were damaged. A thousand buildings were also damaged. And most importantly, 12 people were killed. They lost their lives. The ATF says Jonathan Rinderneck. set that fire on January 1st that eventually led to the Palisades fire.

Through this extraordinary team effort, investigators determined that the Palisades fire reported on January 7th was caused by an intentionally set fire near a viewpoint along the Temescal Ridge Trail into Pegna State Park on January 1st. The fire was a holdover fire, meaning it was deeply seated and dense vegetation and roots and continued to, burn undetected until catastrophic weather ensued, resulting in the Palisades fire. Render Nesh is now charged with setting the January 1 fire. We know this arrest cannot erase the pain or grief or losses endured, but we hope it is a step forward. The complaint outlines how the ATF believes Rindernecks started the fire. It states, video footage from Rinderneck's iPhone time stamped on the afternoon of December 31st,

2004 showed what appears to be a green barbecue-style lighter inside Rindernecks apartment. Investigators found what appears to be the same lighter in the glove compartment of Rendernex car when they searched it on January 24th, 2025. Subsequent laboratory testing confirmed that a sample of DNA found on the lighter from Renderneck's glove compartment matched a sample of Renderneck's DNA. Video footage from Rendernex iPhone on January 1st, 2025 at approximately 1, a.m. showed that Rinderneck's glove compartment was open while he was driving. During his January 24th interview, Rinderneck admitted that he brought a lighter with him when he walked up to the hidden Buddha clearing, but he claimed that he could not remember what kind of lighter that he brought.

Now, there have been many, many complaints about a lack of resources contributing to the spread of the Palisades fire and it raging for days and days on end. But this charge that Jonathan Rinderneck faces is ultimately about what sparked the Lockman fire on January 1st. Here's another look at that CHAPT artwork. The feds say that Renderneck created of the city on fire and the people fleeing. This was in July of 2024. Now at some point, Jonathan Rinderneck moved to Florida. He's in custody in Orlando, but will be extradited to California to face this charge. And additional charges could be added at grand jury. The head of the ATF talked about how they could be so certain of how and when the fire started. So I know there's been speculation of other

ignition sources. And I just want to assure, well, sure everyone, ATF did not identify this suspect and focus specifically on the suspect. We still utilized our scientific process. And part of the lengthy time that it took to go over the thousands of acres that were burn is we literally had agents with our partners on their hands and knees crawling through fire debris they're observing fire behavior patterns they're flagging patterns an example of that fire will cause natural debris to twist and freeze in a position pointing to the origin so looking at all those fire patterns flagging those ATF was able to zone to specifically get into the origin of where

that fire started from once they dialed into the origin using all the investigative techniques that they have then they start really dialing into that very specific spot that that fire was created an example of a fire research lab they collected buckets and buckets of debris flammable materials natural and otherwise found it with that area sent it off to a fire research lab and that's where 500 tests were conducted at that lab that review process is then looked at by a panel of our experts in a peer review process to see if the science matches up with the

theory and the in the actual evidence that was collected I know it was also broadcast we broadcast it as a public safety announcement back in spring we up and recreated a fire very safely with our partners with a LA fire using butane and scientific process to create the fire behavior to see and I'll tell you to the extent of the scientific expertise that we went through we recreated it in the exact lunar time that the fire started meaning the exact size the moon was and as close to the starlit environment that that fire started. So we could recreate scientifically a fire and see how fixed surveillance points saw that fire as it developed from other evidence that we collected, both from witnesses'

phones, fixed surveillance points, and other data. We were able to see how that fire behaved, how it grew, the size of that behavior of that fire, and the size that it would be for witnesses to see it reported. We went through exhaustive effort. efforts to look at potential ignition sources, whether they were fireworks, whether down power lines, or any other source of ignition. They went down those investigative paths with exhaustive length to either rule them in or rule them out. With clarity, we know this is incinerary fire and that the subject that we arrested started in. Would you say that this subject was obsessed with fire? What do those images prior?

Once again, that speaks to motive. That's not an element that we need to meet. That will be addressed in the trial. And we do have evidence of that for trial. I'm not going to go into those specifics. I'll just highlight. We're not making a probable cause arrest. This team up here feels that we have met beyond a reasonable doubt.

We are confident that the brinked, burden approved by the government on this presumed innocent person will be met in trial. Based on the AI images that you did show, what is it his intent to cause as much destruction to a town? You show the AI images for a reason, so it definitely leads to that impression, and I would just like that on the record. I wish we could get into somebody's head, but we can't. The complaint states that investigators determined that the ignition area for the Lockman fire was an area located approximately 30 feet south of the hidden Buddha feature. The overall area for the ignition area was approximately 20 feet by 20 feet. The area does not include any hiking trails, but was accessible

via a small depression slash gully running downhill from the hidden Buddha clearing. The ATF, they say this investigation is ongoing. And if convicted of this one charge, Jonathan Rindernet could face a minimum of five years behind bars in federal prison or a maximum sentence of 20 years behind bars. We'll keep an eye on it for you. And that's it for this edition of Crime Fix. I'm Anjanette Levy. Thanks so much for being with me. I'll see you back here next time.