Bio

Raymond Lee Oyler was born in 1971 in the United States and lived in Beaumont, near the San Gorgonio Pass region of Southern California. He worked as a mechanic and had no publicly documented history of violent felony convictions prior to 2006.

Beginning in the spring of 2006, investigators later determined that Oyler began deliberately setting small roadside wildfires in the Banning Pass area. These early fires were typically ignited using homemade incendiary devices composed of cigarettes and wooden matches. The fires initially remained small, but increased in size and complexity over time.

Fire investigators later concluded that Oyler appeared to be experimenting with fire behavior, terrain alignment, and ignition timing. His fires increasingly exploited slopes, wind exposure, and fuel loading, resulting in progressively larger and more dangerous incidents.

Murder Story

In the spring and summer of 2006, small fires started along the Banning Pass area. On May 16, three small fires were set. Each had a device of about 30 wooden matches attached to a cigarette. More fires followed on May 19 and later in May. Investigators found eleven more fires in the pass during that time. On June 3, a new device with three wooden matches and a cigarette was found. Investigators calculated that device would take four to seven minutes to ignite. Fires grew larger through the summer. On June 14 a fire reached 10 acres. On July 5 a fire reached 62 acres. From May 16 to June 13 the average land ignited per fire was about 0.83 acres. From June 14 to October 26 the average rose to 223 acres per fire.

A large wildfire began on October 26, 2006, in a river wash near Banning, California, west of Palm Springs. The Forest Service incident report suggested Santa Ana winds near 7:00 am caused an area ignition. The fire climbed Cabazon Peak and spread quickly. By October 29 it had burned over 41,173 acres and was 85 percent contained. On October 30 the fire was fully contained. The fire destroyed 34 houses and 20 outbuildings and damaged State Route 243. FEMA announced it would pay 75 percent of the firefighting costs. The estimated damage was more than $9 million.

Five firefighters were killed while defending a vacant house known locally as the Octagon House. Their names were Jason McKay, Jess McLean, Daniel Kurtis Najera, Mark Loutzenhiser, and Pablo Cerda. The fire experienced a sudden blowup after the Santa Ana winds entered two creek drainages. The fire ran up a drainage aimed at the ridge face and moved very fast. Some crews attempted a burnout that later collapsed. Engine crews tried to reach the Octagon House. A radio transmission called for help near the Octagon House. Gearhart, captain of Engine 51, found a firefighter on the ground and then radioed that the people at the Octagon House were dead. Pablo Cerda was found on the road and was severely burned. Mark Loutzenhiser was badly burned and later died on October 26. Pablo Cerda died on October 31. The other three fatalities were found near Engine 57 with no shelter deployments.

A reward of nearly $600,000 was offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the arsonist. Several public and private entities donated to the reward. On October 31, 2006, the Riverside County Sheriff's Central Homicide Unit arrested Raymond Lee Oyler, a mechanic from Beaumont. In his car investigators found a wig, latex gloves, cigarettes, black spray paint, and a partially burned slingshot. DNA from Oyler was found on two cigarette butts used in other nearby wildfires. His girlfriend told police he had bragged about setting fires and said they were not big enough.

The Riverside County Sheriff announced on November 2, 2006, that Oyler was charged in connection with the Esperanza Fire. Prosecutors alleged he set as many as 25 fires during the summer of 2006 in the San Gorgonio Pass. He was charged with almost two dozen counts of arson and 17 counts of setting fires with an incendiary device. On March 6, 2009, a Riverside jury found Oyler guilty of first-degree murder in the deaths of the five firefighters. On June 5, 2009, Oyler was sentenced to death.

Oyler was also named a suspect in the 2003 Old Fire, though another person was later convicted for that fire. On May 9, 2007, the district attorney said he planned to seek the death penalty against Oyler. On May 5, 2025, the Supreme Court of California affirmed Oyler’s conviction and death sentence by a 5-2 vote. Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero wrote the majority opinion. Associate Justice Kelli Evans filed a dissent joined by Associate Justice Goodwin Liu. As of January 2026, Raymond Lee Oyler remained on death row.