A San Bernardino County Superior Court judge has sentenced a man to 44 years to life in prison for dousing his ex-girlfriend and another man with gasoline and setting them on fire in Johnson Valley last year, prosecutors announced Monday.
Joshua Adam Kaiser, 33, of Johnson Valley, was sentenced to prison late last month, San Bernardino County court records show.
The “merciless” attack occurred around 1 a.m. on June 19, 2023, in the 52000 block of Cholla Road in Johnson Valley, according to officials with the San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office.
The victims were a then-30-year-old woman, described as Kaiser’s ex-girlfriend, and a then-29-year-old man, described by prosecutors in a written statement as an acquaintance who “just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
After an argument with the female victim, Kaiser walked over to the pickup truck the victims were in and said, “You’re not going to like what happens next.”
Kaiser walked to the truck and when he saw his ex-girlfriend, he said, “You’re not going to like what’s about to happen,” the affidavit said.
“A short time later, he returned to the pickup truck where the victims were still seated. Without warning, Kaiser doused both victims with gasoline and intentionally lit matches in their direction,” the affidavit said.
The victims, who were ‘burned alive’, managed to climb out of the truck and fall to the ground.
“Kaiser walked to the passenger side of the truck and said, ‘Happy Father’s Day,’ in a cold, calculating manner. He continued to pour gasoline on the male victim,” the prosecutor’s statement said.
The seriously injured man tried to run away but quickly fell to the ground again, the statement said. “Keizer mercilessly doused him with gasoline for the third time and continued to beat him with matches.”
The male victim suffered burns covering about 80 percent of his body, officials said. The woman suffered burns to most of the left side of her body.
The badly burned man, who was in a medically induced coma for 13 days and continues to require medical treatment, had met Kaiser only once before, prosecutors said. He had helped Kaiser several months earlier when his motorcycle ran out of gas.
More: Man fatally attacked in Hesperia, suspect jailed on suspicion of murder
Officers arrested Kaiser on July 5, 2023, San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department officials said at the time.
Documents show that a San Bernardino County Superior Court jury found Kaiser guilty in March on two counts of attempted murder, two counts of arson resulting in serious bodily injury and one count of domestic violence.
More: Man and woman arrested in fatal shooting of 19-year-old Hesperia man
The jury also found the allegations of aggravating measures, including inflicting grievous bodily harm, using a deadly weapon and prior felony convictions, to be true.
This article originally appeared in the Victorville Daily Press: Man convicted of setting fire to man and woman in San Bernardino Co.
