CA - Malibu Creek State Park Shooting, Tristan Beaudette, 35, 22 June 2018 *Arrest*

[pocketaccent]

Someone with a massive bullet-point post upthread had some really insightful points. How's this line of thinking, with my embellishments:

-The BIL said he heard only one shot. At 4:45 ish in the am. He finds the victim and calls the police?
-Odd. No one else seems to have heard a shot even though campgrounds are so quiet, sounds are really conspicuous.
-There were camp spots just across the loop road. No one heard anything?
-How is it that someone would hear a shot and jump to the conclusion that a nearby tent should be checked? And the girls didn't cry?
-Where is the evidence (other than from BIL) that the victim was shot at the pre-dawn time? Why not earlier?
-Did the girls know the shooter and that's why they didn't cry?
-They cried but BIL didn't report that, for whatever reason.

There's a lot that doesn't make sense....

----------

I'm reading that the tent had a hole "in the top". I did think this meant the hole was through the roof in the vicinity of the peak. But now I'm thinking it could mean the hole is on that barrel-shaped roof anywhere, even on the side of it. Then the hole could reflect a "horizontal shooting" from average shoulder height.

The thing is we don't know what the BIL or other campers told LE. We don't know when he or others called the police, what were the callers' demeanor, how many shots they heard, if the girls cried or stayed asleep, who discovered TB first, who went inside the tent to check on TB, who got the girls out of the tent, etc etc.

It has been so hard to guess who did this with so very little information available. LE now seems to have a description of the perp that will be released soon. Can't wait to hear any further development.

So far I only know one thing. If the killing was preplanned, the killer knew TB's whereabouts. That's scary.

 

[avalonisland]

Yeah. If the brother is right and the BIL heard shots fired from a distance away, it defies logic that this could be a hit, IMO. Just blindly shooting at a tent from far away? How would that be a targeted assassination?

So they crept up, determined what space he was in by possible names taped to the space post (something I've never seen, BTW, although others have seen that), then determined which tent he was in, then crept away and shot at the tent from a distance?

I'm not sure that seems right.

IMO, it does not defy logic that it could be a hit if the hit happened in "the middle of the night" which imo middle of the night or midst of the night is between 12:01am and 3:45am. Has there been any police confirmation that are bullet holes in the tent and if so, that the bullet holes match the bullet that shot TB in the head.

There may be some family members who have fired a gun so are skilled with like to know if holes are that of bullets or to provide more information can be useful to help with this case. Perhaps shots fired from a distance was not the lethal shot that caused TB to bleed to death. Why would family make statement that TB was shot in middle of night or midst of night? Perhaps TB was shot in the middle of the night which imo would be after midnight but before 3:45am. IMO hearing shots that BIL stated were at a distance and took place around 4:44am could have been illegal fireworks. I wonder what bullets, if any, were found in or around the tent.
I have not read any reports as to TB's last activity but it somes seem like BIL may have been the last person to see TB awake.
There are also trees at campsite, so maybe a bird or lion in a tree was the target.

There are a pair of shoes outside TB tent. The assumption may be they were worn by TB, assumptions are not necessarily what evidence collected will show or not show.

The campsite quiet hours are around 10pm to 6am from what I've read. So, probably not much human activity outside the tents at 4am-5am. Not sure if cars can still enter/exit campsite during quiet hours or if people with bikes or on foot can enter/exit campgounds.

The was video clip of Irvine neighbor saying something like he watched TB load up the car for camping trip. I wonder if all the items neighbor saw being loaded up are at the campsite. ie. is any bike missing or are there extra outside chairs from other visitors at campsite.

 

[avalonisland]

That is the one thing I dislike camping re the site identification . I feel there is no need for last names to be put on the site mini wood pole stating the person's last name. Inviting danger to many things, JMO.

If there are open campsites not reserved, can you change assigned campsite? Also, if campground closes entrance at say quiet hour starting at 10pm and registered camper does not show up to check in, does the campground care if you help yourself to the reserved but not used space. I know when I fly on airplane and say I am on an aisle seat, I have been known to enjoy not just my paid seat but say the middle seat next to me if no one is in it after plane takes off even if it was reserved by a passenger who did not make the flight which the flight attendants don't mind.

Perhaps someone at the campground was involved in some way with hiring or helping a hitman. There are 63 campsites from what I've researched. Also, some day hikers park for free off road and hike into Malibu Creek State Park. Also, it seems more park employees work on the weekend vs weekday, so wonder how much staff and security was at the campground on a Thursday to Friday morning.

The hit could have used a silencer, put on a helmet, be in road biking attire and go away completely unnoticed. If there are two adults at a campsite with young kids i.e. 2 year olds to 5 year olds, more than likely in the middle of the night the Adult will be sleeping in the tent not glued to cellphone, no locked doors or security alams, etc. Tent looks as though it could be spacious inside so kids on one end. Possibly travel crib or separate airmat that what TB slept on. Perhaps there was even a night light on.

To me it does not make sense any human would take money to kill someone, but the reality is, some people do. To me it does not make sense any human would fire a gun where people or present, but reality is that it happens.

 

[gitana1]

Wow. That place is very close to Malibu state park. Very close. 1st link shows how close on map on right of link. This could be a good theory. Thinking maybe a rogue past participant of that program.

And from the 2nd link below it is interesting some of the information about it. Some may have either left on their own or been kicked out and mad at society.

"The target population is young adults between 18 and 25."

"This would be a voluntary re-entry program, according to the plan. Any participant could withdraw and simply return home."


Camp David Gonzales

https://chronicleofsocialchange.org...see-second-life-voluntary-job-training-center

It is. I was shocked. Despite the map I had it in my mind on the other side of the road.

Disgruntled worker due to the closing?

 

[Oregonmama]

If there are open campsites not reserved, can you change assigned campsite? Also, if campground closes entrance at say quiet hour starting at 10pm and registered camper does not show up to check in, does the campground care if you help yourself to the reserved but not used space. I know when I fly on airplane and say I am on an aisle seat, I have been known to enjoy not just my paid seat but say the middle seat next to me if no one is in it after plane takes off even if it was reserved by a passenger who did not make the flight which the flight attendants don't mind.

Perhaps someone at the campground was involved in some way with hiring or helping a hitman. There are 63 campsites from what I've researched. Also, some day hikers park for free off road and hike into Malibu Creek State Park. Also, it seems more park employees work on the weekend vs weekday, so wonder how much staff and security was at the campground on a Thursday to Friday morning.

The hit could have used a silencer, put on a helmet, be in road biking attire and go away completely unnoticed. If there are two adults at a campsite with young kids i.e. 2 year olds to 5 year olds, more than likely in the middle of the night the Adult will be sleeping in the tent not glued to cellphone, no locked doors or security alams, etc. Tent looks as though it could be spacious inside so kids on one end. Possibly travel crib or separate airmat that what TB slept on. Perhaps there was even a night light on.

To me it does not make sense any human would take money to kill someone, but the reality is, some people do. To me it does not make sense any human would fire a gun where people or present, but reality is that it happens.

So many cases on WS that a person is paid to kill some one. Sad but true. That is why all angles need to be looked at since we have no inside information pertaining to this case. I am very curious what the sp's pic looks like when LE releases more detail .....

 

[anonypotomous]

The tweet from The Local Malibu was 7 hours ago. Hope we hear something soon.

 

[avalonisland]

If this was a hit, how did the shooter know where TB was sleeping? Especially at a distance. Makes more sense to me that the tent was the target, not the person inside.

If this were a hit, maybe the shooter was told exactly where the person would be sleeping by the person who hired the hit. If this were a hit, maybe the shooter did not shoot from the distance. How many reports to LE about there being sounds of shooting? Was it just whoever called 911. A hitman could fire a shot from silencer up close then sometime later use a shotgun from a distance to fire shots at nothing, so that it appears shots fired from a distance. Does the coroner's report show the time the coroner determined TB started bleeding from lethal shot. Is the time of death stamped when body discovered deceased? I don't know forensics but I think coroner can determine when shot penetrated TB that caused the bleeding to death. Perhaps it was at time or around time of 911 call or was it hours earlier?

Why is 911 call not revealed to public? How many 911 calls were made around 4:30am to 5am?

 

[Parks]

About the voluntary detention center... the previous shooting dates released, November 3 2016 (birdshot victim,) was a Thursday. The couple in their car is an unknown January date 2017, June 6 2017 was a Tuesday and July 22 2017 was a Saturday, June 18 2018 was a Monday. TB was killed last Friday. What are the check in and out times on Friday and Monday? Depending on time of check out, at least a few of these shootings could be detention center occupants “spending their weekends” in the woods. I’m also not sure how easy it is to check out for an errand or sneak out of this place. Just a thought, considering the closeness of location.

 

[EuTuCroquet?]

As I picture it, though, you'd get the sound at ground level, so quite soon if the shooter was near you. In the meantime, the bullet is traveling far into the heavens and back down again.

It could happen, for sure, depending on how a gun was fired. Not sure how thegunshot sound would carry, or even how far or how fast. Guy might have just been sitting in his tent and a silent bullet hit him “out of nowhere,” so to speak.

But if it’s a “random” bullet, it pretty much excludes a hit or targeted killing. I’m not convinced this was random or accidental.

The falling bullet: myths, legends and terminal velocity | The Forensic Outreach Library

From the link:

“They found that a bullet fired straight up (an almost impossible achievement for a human), will tumble on its return trip and falls at a slower rate due to terminal velocity. In addition, they found that a bullet in this circumstance is therefore less lethal on impact. However, they also discovered that a bullet fired at a non-vertical angle will be able to maintain its speed enough to be very destructive on impact. In determining if the myth was ‘Busted’, ‘Plausible’ or ‘Confirmed’, they proposed that this myth would receive all three ratings at the same time.”

 

[clearskies1]

RSBM

Why is 911 call not revealed to public? How many 911 calls were made around 4:30am to 5am?

I don't think 911 calls are released if they are part of an active investigation.

 

[2ysub2ysur]

The couple in their car is an unknown January date 2017

I believe the date was January 7, so early Saturday morning.

 

[Mountain Misst]

Lots of great sleuthing in this thread - thanks.

" Investigators for Beaudette's death aren't saying from which direction the gunfire came."
After father's mysterious slaying at campsite, stories emerge of past shooting incidents

 

[Harmony 2]

A couple of reminders:
-Please remember to include links for information, tweets, or copied and pasted quotes back to the original source.

-Any information that is against TOS and cannot be discussed out on the open public board can be discussed in private in 'conversations'.

 

[RickshawFan]

If there are open campsites not reserved, can you change assigned campsite? Also, if campground closes entrance at say quiet hour starting at 10pm and registered camper does not show up to check in, does the campground care if you help yourself to the reserved but not used space.

Yes, you can usually change your assigned campsite. The only place where you maybe can't is in a National Park with crazy busy campgrounds, and spots are filling up so fast trying to change is way too complicated an idea.

Most campgrounds don't have gates that close at curfew. Some folks pack up and leave substantially before 6 am; they will often be RV-ers. Even the ones with gates only prevent vehicles from getting by, not bicycles or foot.

If you go to a campground without a reservation, you either pay at the entrance booth or find the board with instructions on how to pay. You pick a site and return to the "iron ranger" (lock box) to deposit your money. The instructions usually tell you how to address the possibility that a site has been reserved. Every campground does this differently (maybe as simply as "don't camp in a site with a tag on the pole"), but the instructions are always near the front of the campground. If you put into a site that has been reserved and has a no-show, you still have to pay.

 

[Confusion]

We have to remember too that with all the valleys and hills around there a shot would echo through the hills.
The echo effect could make it seem like a shot was further away than it really was. Sounds play tricks in the hills.

It could also make it sound like 2 or more shots (to someone who had been sound asleep) when there was only 1.

 

[2ysub2ysur]

Have spent the better part of the day reviewing this thread. Some thoughts: I'm an LA resident and one thing I’ve found: parks like these may have the illusion of being secluded, safe areas, but they are really just an extension of the rest of the city. You can literally have a pizza delivered to Malibu Creek State Park. It's not far removed from the rest of the city at all. This means the shooter could be anyone: a person who lives nearby. A homeless person who camps out in the area. A person who drove up from the city. Or, even another camper (although I'm guessing LE has ruled that out by now).

The campground is easily accessible. It’s basically a stone's throw from the main road, which is the only road in the area that connects Pacific Coast Highway with the 101 freeway. You could park on the road and walk right in if you wanted to (in fact, many people do park up on Mulholland to avoid the $12 parking fee if coming to hike during the day).

IMO, we can rule out an accidental shooting by an illegal hunter. Although a mountain lion was poached nearby in the Santa Monica mountains earlier in the decade, I think it’s highly unlikely that anyone illegally hunting would be so careless as to shoot into a major campground.

The fact that the campground has been closed indefinitely “to ensure public safety” (as per MCSP’s website) leads me to believe this WASN'T a targeted hit job.

Very happy to hear there is more information that is going to be released soon.

 

[keeleydoll]

The hit could have used a silencer, put on a helmet, be in road biking attire and go away completely unnoticed.

A silencer/suppressor will reduce the sound a bit but it would certainly still have been heard by those at the campground.

Gun "Silencers" Don't Make Them Anywhere Near Silent

“Modern day silencers typically can reduce the noise about 14.3-43 decibels, depending on a variety of factors, such as whether it’s a subsonic bullet or not; length of the barrel/silencer; etc. The average suppression level, according to independent tests done on a variety of commercially available suppressors, is around 30 dB, which is around the same reduction level of typical ear protection gear often used when firing guns.

That’s actually pretty significant considering the decibel system is a logarithmic scale; so, for example, 200 dB is 1000 times louder than 100 dB, not double, and a reduction of 40 dB is more like 1/100th of the original sound. However, for most commercially available fire arms and cartridges, this ends up only reducing the noise level to somewhere in the range of 130-150-ish dB for a supersonic cartridge and 117-130-ish dB for a subsonic cartridge. For reference on just how loud that is, an ambulance or police siren is typically between 100-140 dB. So this isn’t exactly the “whoosh” sound Hollywood depicts. Given that hearing loss can occur as low as 85 dB, it’s typically recommended that even with a silencer on a fire arm, that the shooter still wears some sort of hearing protection.”

 

[gitana1]

I'd be surprised if a shotgun was used.
The buckshot would have scattered and a slug would take some knowledge how to hit a man in the head from a distance.

I was thinking more in terms of a long range rifle where you can pretty well pinpoint your target. An accident he just happened to shoot TB in the head?
Maybe, but I've having a difficult time imagining that.

Not sure why the bro felt compelled to chime in on his theory, especially since he's only heard of it through the BIL who witnessed the aftermath.

He'd do well to keep silent until police come out with what they think may have happened. Jmo, though.

When something like this happens news agencies hound you for info. And if you want something from the public- like help with info- you will talk.

 

[gitana1]

JMO
I am bothered by the fact it seems it took the public and the news articles to get LE to really start looking for a possible link between all the shootings.

My first thought whenever there is a 2nd or 3rd shooting in the same area is that they can be connected. In this area, we have no less than 5 similar shootings now in past couple years.

The rule of thumb I tend to use is they are related until proven otherwise. Always seems to me that LE takes the opposite approach and I find that upsetting.

Or it could be they know more than they are letting out and did not want to scare campers away from the area. That is always a possibility too.

No matter how it turns out I sure wish them luck in their investigation. This needs solved badly.

Or they are keeping it super quiet so they don't spook the creep.

I'm hopeful they're working every angel we are discussing on here and more.

 

[gitana1]

Someone with a massive bullet-point post upthread had some really insightful points. How's this line of thinking, with my embellishments:

-The BIL said he heard only one shot. At 4:45 ish in the am. He finds the victim and calls the police?
-Odd. No one else seems to have heard a shot even though campgrounds are so quiet, sounds are really conspicuous.
-There were camp spots just across the loop road. No one heard anything?
-How is it that someone would hear a shot and jump to the conclusion that a nearby tent should be checked? And the girls didn't cry?
-Where is the evidence (other than from BIL) that the victim was shot at the pre-dawn time? Why not earlier?
-Did the girls know the shooter and that's why they didn't cry?
-They cried but BIL didn't report that, for whatever reason.

There's a lot that doesn't make sense....

----------

I'm reading that the tent had a hole "in the top". I did think this meant the hole was through the roof in the vicinity of the peak. But now I'm thinking it could mean the hole is on that barrel-shaped roof anywhere, even on the side of it. Then the hole could reflect a "horizontal shooting" from average shoulder height.

But how do we know other people didn't call?