Also, regarding the lawsuits...
James Royal's lawsuit agaist the LA Sherriff's Department (LASD) is still ongoing. Royal alleges that they refused to warn the public about the serial killings, and when he pressured them to do so, they transferred him far away to the Santa Clarita station as punihsment.
Sergeant Tui Wright, Royal's supervisor, filed a separate lawsuit.
His was settled in 2020. Wright alleged that they punished him the same way they punished Royal -- by moving him to a station far away, in this case West Hollywood. Wright retired early rather than accept the transfer. It is interesting that this lawsuit was settled, as presumably LASD knew that they really had retaliated against Wright here. Apparently both Wright and Royal were forced to go to a meeting and tell city officials that the Sherriff had determined that these shootings were not serial in nature, which of course turned out to be incorrect.
Finally, sadly the lawsuit of the murder victim's widow
was dismissed in 2021. She claimed he wouldn't have ever gone camping in Malibu, nor taken his kids there, had the public been warned about the shootings. Despite clear evidence that LASD did cover up the danger and seemed obsessed with not declaring it a serial shooting situation, apparently that point is moot. The judge ruled that LASD owes "no duty of care" regarding warning the public in situations like these, and also the victim never attempted to contact LASD before going, regarding the safety of the campsite. Therefore, it was ruled that they did not lie to him or give him incorrect info.
I feel LASD should owe a duty of care to the public to give sufficient warning about a serial killer operating in a public camping area. However, apparently California law does not agree.
Sad!