<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-0"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Federal prosecutors say the man accused of starting one of the most destructive fires in California history was fascinated by fire and by <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/09/nyregion/united-healthcare-ceo-shooting-luigi-mangione.html" title="">Luigi Mangione</a>, who became a populist hero to some after he was charged with murdering a health insurance executive.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0"><a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/08/us/palisades-fire-arrest-jonathan-rinderknecht.html" title="">Jonathan Rinderknecht</a>, 30, is accused of intentionally setting a fire in the Santa Monica Mountains that later exploded into the Palisades fire, which killed 12 people and destroyed thousands of homes across the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles in January last year.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">A trial memorandum released by federal prosecutors last week paints a portrait of Mr. Rinderknecht in the weeks before the fire as a lonely and erratic man who was angry at the world, particularly the rich.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">Federal prosecutors say that in December 2024, the month before the fire, Mr. Rinderknecht had been living alone in an apartment in North Hollywood and working as an Uber driver.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-1"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-1"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">He seemed to have followed the case of Mr. Mangione, who is charged with fatally shooting <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/12/06/nyregion/unitedhealthcare-brian-thompson-shooting.html" title="">Brian Thompson</a>, the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, in New York City on Dec. 4, 2024.</p><p class="css-ac37hb evys1bk0">In the wake of the shooting, Mr. Mangione became a folk hero to some people, who saw him as striking a blow against the health insurance industry and its profits. (Mr. Mangione is set to stand trial on a second-degree murder charge in September.)</p><div class="css-kbghgg"><div class="css-121kum4"><div class="css-171d1bw"></div><div class="css-asuuk5"><noscript><div class="css-7axq9l" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="css-1b5b8u1" data-tpl="i" height="24" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="24"><path clip-rule="evenodd" d="M2.5 12a9.5 9.5 0 1 1 19 0 9.5 9.5 0 0 1-19 0Zm8.5 1.75v-7.5h2v7.5h-2Zm0 2v2h2v-2h-2Z" fill="currentColor" fill-rule="evenodd"></path></svg><div class="css-6yo1no" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript-message"><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.</p><p class="css-3kpklk" data-tpl="t">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.</p></div></div></noscript><div class="css-1dv1kvn" id="optimistic-truncator-a11y" tabindex="-1"><hr/><p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. 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