Herbert Mullin murdered thirteen people across Santa Cruz County in less than five months, convinced that each killing would prevent a catastrophic earthquake.
Mullin’s crimes unfolded against the backdrop of a counterculture community already unsettled by the recent activities of another killer in the same area. His victims ranged in age from four to seventy-three, and the attacks showed no consistent pattern beyond the killer’s internal logic. Authorities initially treated several deaths as unrelated incidents, which delayed recognition of a single perpetrator.
The case highlights how severe untreated mental illness can intersect with local law enforcement challenges during a period of social upheaval. Mullin’s eventual capture came only after he shifted his method in a way that drew immediate attention from patrol officers.
Background
Herbert William Mullin was born on 18 April 1947 in Salinas, California. His family moved to Santa Cruz while he was still a child, and he attended local schools without notable incident until adolescence. Teachers described him as intelligent yet increasingly withdrawn after the death of a close friend in a car accident.
By his late teens Mullin began experiencing auditory hallucinations. He dropped out of community college and spent time in several psychiatric facilities, receiving diagnoses that included paranoid schizophrenia. Medication provided temporary relief, but he often discontinued treatment. Drafted into the army in 1969, he received a medical discharge after six months.
The Crimes
Mullin’s first confirmed killing occurred on 13 October 1972, when he beat a homeless man to death in a remote area near Ben Lomond. Over the following weeks he struck again, stabbing a woman in her home and later shooting a priest inside a church confessional. Each attack appeared random to investigators at the time.
By early 1973 the pace accelerated. Mullin killed a young couple and their infant child during a camping trip, then murdered four teenage boys who had accepted a lift in his car. He also killed an elderly neighbour and two further victims encountered while hiking. In every instance he later claimed the deaths served to balance seismic forces.
Methods and Victim Selection
Mullin used firearms, knives and blunt objects depending on opportunity. Victims were chosen largely by chance, though he later stated that certain individuals “volunteered” through telepathic signals. No sexual motive was ever established, and robbery occurred only incidentally.
Investigation
Santa Cruz detectives initially linked only a few of the deaths. The area had already seen multiple unsolved homicides attributed to Edmund Kemper, complicating pattern recognition. Ballistics evidence eventually connected several shootings, yet the absence of a clear signature kept the cases fragmented.
Public concern grew after the discovery of the four teenagers’ bodies. Roadblocks and increased patrols were instituted, but Mullin continued to move freely within the county.
Capture
On 13 February 1973 a highway patrol officer stopped Mullin for erratic driving. A bloodstained knife lay in plain view on the passenger seat. Further search of the vehicle uncovered items belonging to recent victims. Mullin offered no resistance and immediately confessed to multiple murders.
Trial and Conviction
Mullin stood trial in August 1973 on ten counts of murder. The defence argued diminished capacity due to schizophrenia, presenting extensive psychiatric records. The prosecution countered that Mullin had planned some attacks and attempted to conceal evidence, demonstrating awareness of wrongdoing.
The jury rejected the insanity defence and convicted him on all counts. He received a sentence of life imprisonment with the possibility of parole. Subsequent appeals focusing on competency issues were denied.
Psychological Profile
Court-appointed psychiatrists described Mullin’s belief system as a fixed delusion centred on earthquake prevention. He maintained that voices, sometimes attributed to his father or historical figures, directed the killings. Psychological testing placed his intelligence in the average range, yet his thought processes showed marked disorganisation once medication lapsed.
Experts noted that Mullin retained the ability to function in daily tasks between episodes, which contributed to the jury’s finding that he understood the nature of his acts.
Legacy
The Mullin case prompted renewed scrutiny of mental-health services in California during the era of deinstitutionalisation. Local law enforcement later adopted improved inter-agency communication protocols for serial investigations. Mullin remains incarcerated at Mule Creek State Prison, where he has participated in no public interviews since the 1970s.
Conclusion
Herbert Mullin’s crimes stand as a stark record of untreated psychosis intersecting with opportunity. The thirteen victims left families who continue to mark their absence decades later. The case remains a reference point for discussions on mental-health intervention and the limits of legal defences in capital matters.
Bibliography
Bugliosi, V. and Gentry, C. (1974) Helter Skelter. New York: W.W. Norton.
Douglas, J. and Olshaker, M. (1995) Mindhunter. New York: Scribner.
Ressler, R.K. and Schachtman, T. (1992) Whoever Fights Monsters. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
Santa Cruz Sentinel (1973) ‘Man Held in Series of County Slayings’, 14 February.
Schechter, H. (2003) The Serial Killer Files. New York: Ballantine Books.
State of California v. Mullin (1973) Superior Court transcripts, Santa Cruz County.
Vronsky, P. (2004) Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters. New York: Berkley Books.
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