A California man has been sentenced to life in prison after covering his ex-girlfriend and an unrelated male in gasoline and then setting them on fire as they sat in a pickup truck .
Joshua Adam Kaiser, 33, was found guilty of two counts of premeditated attempted murder , arson causing great bodily injury, and domestic violence. The alarm was raised when hospital staff at Hi-Desert Medical Center in Joshua Tree, San Bernardino County, called cops at around 1am on June 19, 2023, to report that a man and a woman had showed up to the facility with severe burns.
While both of them survived, the man suffered burns to 80 per cent of his body, and the woman had burns covering the left side of her body. The woman told hospital staff that her ex-boyfriend, whom she shares two children with, threw gas on them and set them on fire while they were sitting in a pickup truck.
A probe was then launched involving multiple detectives and deputies from the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, arson investigators from the San Bernardino County Fire Department and specialists from the Sheriff Department's Arson / Bomb Detail. Investigators found that in the afternoon of June 18, 2023, the male victim went to a residence in the unincorporated community of Johnson Valley.
The property has one main fixed residence and a slew of inhabited trailers, RVs, and outbuildings. Since there is no electricity at the property, residents rely on a series of gas-powered generators for it, the San Bernardino County District Attorney said.
Police said the male victim was at the property to clean the home of a friend who was away for months. He didn't know anyone else at the property but recognized Kaiser from an encounter months earlier as he had helped him with his motorcycle when it ran out of gas.
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Later in the afternoon, the male victim was told by Kaiser and his mother that they were leaving to get gas as the generator powering the main house was empty. Since his wireless phone ran out of battery power and there was no electricity to power it, he decided to leave, however, he was stranded since the pickup truck he had borrowed would not start, detectives said.
The district attorney added that in the meantime, it became dark and the female victim walked out of the main house, towards the pickup truck, asking the man to give her a ride away from the property since she and Kaiser had been arguing earlier in the day. However, he told her the pickup truck couldn't get started.
But as Kaiser and his mother returned to the residence, with him carrying a gas can and a bag of dog food, he became threatening towards the victim and, when he saw his ex-girlfriend with the male victim, he said: "You're not going to like what's going to happen next."
Kaiser briefly returned to the main house, telling his mother how mad he was, before returning to the pickup truck in an "inexplicable rage" and dousing both victims with gasoline. Prosecutors say he struck matches at them, igniting the vehicle and setting them ablaze. The district attorney's office said that as he poured gasoline on the two victims, Kaiser said: "Happy Father's Day."
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Eventually, the victims managed to exit the vehicle and tried to roll in the dirt to put out the flame. But as the man tried to run away, Kaiser followed him, covering him with gas and lighting him on fire a second and third time. The assailant then fled on a motorcycle.
The two victims eventually met first responders at a local market before the woman had her boyfriend take her to Hi-Desert Medical Center. The male victim spent three weeks in intensive care, including 13 days in an induced coma.
When he saw him at the hospital, the attending ER physician said in his assessment that the victim "had a high probability of imminent or life-threatening deterioration which required [his] direct attention, intervention and personal management." He now remains under medical treatment for his severe scarring and increased susceptibility to infection, the district attorney's office said.
Kaiser was arrested a few weeks later and pleaded not guilty in October 2023, but in March this year a jury found him guilty on all counts. He was sentenced to 20 years state prison to be followed by two consecutive life sentences of 14 years to life for each victim.
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