Man sets ex and man she asked for a ride on fire, CA officials say. He’s sentenced
At the request of a friend, a man drove a borrowed truck to a home in rural California on Father’s Day in 2023.
He was there to clean up the 5-acre parcel in the community of Johnson Valley while his friend was away for several months, the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office said in an Aug. 26 news release.
Later that day, a woman asked him for a ride off the property, according to prosecutors, and “a series of ill-fated misfortunes” followed.
As the man sat with the woman in the truck, her ex-boyfriend and father of her two children, Joshua Adam Kaiser, doused them in gasoline and set them ablaze, prosecutors said.
The attack left the man with third-degree burns covering nearly 80% of his body, while the woman’s left side was mostly covered in burns, according to prosecutors.
Now, more than a year after the attack, Kaiser has been sentenced to life in prison, prosecutors said.
“This court — I as a human being — I believe in mercy, but I’ve got to do what I think is right. … I don’t like sentencing a man to that amount of time in prison, but that’s my job if it’s what is appropriate,” Judge Rasheed Alexander said during sentencing, the Hi-Desert Star reported.
Kaiser’s attorney didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment on Aug. 27.
Kaiser’s lawyer told Alexander that he plans to appeal, the Hi-Desert Star reported.
Father’s Day 2023
After borrowing a truck on June 18, 2023, the man headed to the rural property, prosecutors said.
However, unbeknownst to the man, several people were living there, including Kaiser and his mother, prosecutors said.
The generator powering the main home was out of gasoline, so Kaiser told the man he and his mother were going to get some gasoline, prosecutors said.
While the pair were away, the man’s cellphone ran out of battery.
“With no way to charge it, he decided to leave,” but his truck wouldn’t start, prosecutors said.
As night set in, a woman left the home and approached the stranded man. She told him she and her ex-boyfriend, Kaiser, “had been arguing earlier in the day,” according to prosecutors.
The woman asked the man for a ride, and he told her the truck would not start, prosecutors said.
Kaiser returned with his mother, “carrying a gas can and a bag of dog food,” and saw the pair sitting inside the truck, according to prosecutors.
At first, the man was “relieved that someone was there that could possibly help him jump start the truck,” prosecutors said.
However, Kaiser is accused of walking toward the truck and telling his ex-girlfriend, “You’re not going to like what’s going to happen next.”
He walked away, went inside the home and spoke with his mother about “how mad he was,” prosecutors said.
The attack
Kaiser soon returned and, “without warning,” he doused the pair in gasoline and began striking matches at them, prosecutors said.
“For a moment, both victims were pinned inside the truck burning alive,” prosecutors said.
As the man pushed toward the passenger side, the woman opened the truck door, prosecutors said.
After exiting, both dropped to the dirt and tried “to put out the flames,” according to prosecutors.
Kaiser circled around to the passenger side, using expletives and saying “Happy Father’s Day,” prosecutors said.
He continued to throw gasoline on the man, prosecutors said.
The man tried to run, however, it only made the flames grow, prosecutors said. Again, the man dropped to the ground and rolled in the dirt.
Kaiser did not stop and doused the man in gasoline for a third time and “continued to strike him with matches,” according to prosecutors. The man hid in nearby bushes.
Deputies called
When the man heard Kaiser drive away on his motorcycle, he came out of hiding and walked toward the home, where others were helping the woman, prosecutors said. A witness took the man to a local market to meet rescuers, and the woman’s boyfriend took her to a nearby hospital.
While she was at the hospital, the woman told staff she and the man were attacked by her Kaiser, prompting them to call deputies, according to prosecutors.
The man, who was in a coma for nearly two weeks and in the intensive care unit for three weeks, is still receiving “medical treatment for his severe scarring and increased susceptibility to infection,” prosecutors said.
Jury finds Kaiser guilty
A jury found Kaiser guilty of multiple counts in March, including willful, deliberated, premeditated attempted murder, arson causing great bodily injury and domestic violence, according to prosecutors.
He has since been sentenced to 20 years in prison, followed by two consecutive life sentences of 14 years to life, prosecutors said.
Johnson Valley is about a 120-mile drive northeast from Los Angeles.
This story was originally published August 27, 2024 at 2:56 PM with the headline "Man sets ex and man she asked for a ride on fire, CA officials say. He’s sentenced."
