Exclusive | NBA legend Chris Bosh tied to Palisades arsonist case as mysterious alleged clue found at home
An $11 million mansion owned by NBA legend Chris Bosh has been dragged into the Palisades Fire arson case, with the defense seeking testimony about a firework allegedly launched from Bosh’s property near where the Lachman Fire ignited that same night.Jonathan Rinderknecht is being retried on charges he sparked the Jan.1, 2025, Lachman Fire by igniting vegetation with a lighter.
His defense denies the allegations, pointing to witness accounts of fireworks in the area as a possible cause.Investigators believe the Lachman Fire smoldered underground for six days before reigniting as the deadly Palisades Fire.Rinderknecht’s defense is seeking to introduce testimony from Michael T.Cole, a retired Cal Fire investigator who spent 18 years in the agency’s arson unit, according to court documents obtained by the California Post.“Mr.
Cole is expected to testify that during his 2025 investigation of the Palisades Fire he observed and documented a mark and an associated burn and smoke trail on the driveway and rear patio area of the residence at (redacted), and that, based on his training and experience, those marksare physical evidence of a launched firework,” the filing from Rinderknecht’s attorney, Steve Haney, said.The residence identified in Haney’s court filings is owned by Chris Bosh, the two-time NBA champion who formed the Miami Heat’s famed “Big Three” alongside LeBron James and Dwyane Wade.The former NBA big man played his final game with the Heat in 2016 and retired from basketball in February 2019 due to a blood-clotting issue.
He began his career with the Toronto Raptors in 2003 and was enshrined in the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021.Bosh was renting out the house when the devastating fire broke out, The Post learned.A rep for Bosh could not be contacted.Prosecutors fired back in their own filing, seeking to disqualify Cole as a witness and arguing he has “zero qualifications, training, or experience” to link brownish driveway marks fou...