ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — A federal judge in Florida ordered the man charged in California’s deadly Palisades Fire to remain jailed Thursday after a prosecutor said he had traits of an arsonist and his family had worried about his declining mental state.
In ordering Jonathan Rinderknecht to be kept in detention, U.S. Magistrate Judge Nathan Hill said he had concerns about the suspect’s mental health and his ability to get to California for future court hearings.
Federal officials have said Rinderknecht, who lived in Southern California at the time, started a small fire on New Year’s Day that smoldered underground before reigniting nearly a week later on Jan. 7 and roaring through coastal Pacific Palisades and Malibu.
The fire, which left 12 dead in hillside neighborhoods, was one of two huge