Malibu Creek Killer Loses Appeal

Anthony Rauda was convicted of killing a father in the park in 2018.

July 11, 2026

A state appeals court [upheld the conviction](https://mynewsla.com/crime/2026/07/07/mans-conviction-upheld-for-murdering-research-scientist-in-malibu/) of the man who fatally shot a scientist camping with his young daughters in Malibu Creek State Park in 2018.

Anthony Rauda, 49, is serving 119 years to life for the murder of Tristan Beaudette, a 35-year-old research scientist who was [shot as he slept](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/lifestyle/lifestyle-news/inside-malibus-unsolved-murder-mystery-1134596/) in a tent alongside his daughters, then just 2 and 4 years old. The girls weren’t struck.

In the appeal, Rauda's lawyers argued there were errors in the grand jury indictment and his 2023 trial. A three-justice panel rejected those claims Tuesday.

Rauda was [arrested in October 2018](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/anthony-rauda-life-sentence-murder-tristan-beaudette-malibu-creek-state-park/), after police tracking a string of local burglaries followed bootprints to a ravine, where he was found with a rifle in his backpack. Ballistics testing later linked the rifle to the bullet that killed Beaudette. Along with murder, Rauda was convicted of three counts of attempted murder and five counts of burglary.

Rauda has remained violent behind bars, attacking two sheriff's deputies and, last year, a prison doctor. The latter earned him a battery conviction in May, and a potential additional 25 years to life as a third-strike offender.