California Man Sentenced to Life for Arson Attack on Mother of His Children and Another Victim
Joshua Kaiser, who is 33 years old, was found guilty of setting fires, trying to kill someone, and domestic violence in the attack in San Bernardino County on June 18, 2023.
A man in California was given life in prison for reportedly setting two people on fire in a pickup truck. One of them was his ex-girlfriend, who is also the mother of his children.
Joshua Kaiser, 33, was found guilty of two counts of setting fires, two counts of attempted murder, and one count of domestic violence in the attack in Johnson Valley, San Bernardino County, on June 18, 2023. This was announced in a news release on August 26 by the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office.
The shocking events began on June 18 when the victim, a 29-year-old man, went to clean up a country property in the 52000 block of Cholla Road in Johnson Valley, which is not a city. The press statement says that he went to the five-acre property with a house, trailers, RVs, and outbuildings to help a friend who was not in town.
In the news release, it says, “The male victim borrowed a truck and went out to the property.” “He had no idea that Kaiser, the defendant’s mother, and other people were living on the property.”
Police say the man “knew Kaiser from a previous encounter” and “helped Kaiser with his motorcycle when it ran out of gas months earlier.”
The prosecutors said that Kaiser and his mother left the property to get gas at one time. The man was away when Kaiser’s ex-girlfriend, who is also the mother of his two children, came up to him and asked him to evict her because “she and Kaiser had been arguing earlier in the day.”
Kaiser and his mother came back to the house with a gas can in the end. Prosecutors say that the male victim was at first glad that someone was there and might be able to help him jump-start the truck.
Kaiser allegedly got angry when he saw the two in the truck and told his ex-girlfriend, “You’re not going to like what’s going to happen next.”
Kaiser is said to have left while they were sitting in the truck’s cab and then came back with the gas.
“Without warning, Kaiser doused both victims with gasoline and intentionally struck matches at them,” they said. “Kaiser continued to intentionally light them and the interior of the truck.”
Prosecutors say Kaiser walked over to the truck’s passenger side and said, “Happy Father’s Day” while using bad language. “He kept throwing gasoline at the man victim in a cold, calculated way.”
The officials say that both victims were able to get away and were taken to the hospital to get help. The man was put into a forced coma for 13 days and had burns on almost eighty percent of his body. Kaiser’s ex-girlfriend got burned all over her body.
Kaiser was caught on July 5, 2023, and KTLA 5 said he was found guilty on March 13, 2024.
A judge recently sentenced Rasheed Alexander. According to the Hi-Desert Star, Alexander said, “I believe in mercy, but I’ve got to do what I think is right.” “I don’t like giving that man that long of a prison sentence, but that’s my job if it’s the right thing to do.”
The Star reports that Kaiser’s lawyer, Jason Whiteside, told the judge that he was going to appeal the decision.