The listing of Mullin’s extensive crimes took seven minutes.Īs he has said in the past, Mullin stated that his family and friends placed him in a state of being naive, immature and gullible. Mullin, the parole board, Santa Cruz District Attorney Jeff Rosell, a prosecutor from the Santa Clara District Attorney’s office Troy Benson, and Mullin’s defense attorney met via a teleconference call Thursday morning. At the time of Mullin’s conviction in 1973, there was no death penalty in the United States consequently, Mullin continues to come up for parole. Four months later, he was convicted of second-degree murder for the killing of Henri Tomei, a Catholic priest, in Los Gatos. Mullin was not tried for his first two killings. Mullin was found guilty of eight counts of second-degree murder and two counts of first-degree murder. Perez’s neighbor, Joan Stagnaro, saw Mullin pull away from the crime scene and reported the murder. Perez was a well-known member of the Santa Cruz Wharf fishing community his ancestors arrived in Santa Cruz in 1796. 13, 1973, Mullin was caught after shooting retired fishmonger, Fred Perez, in broad daylight as Perez filled a pothole on the edge of his property on Gharkey Street in Santa Cruz. Edmund Emil Kemper III murdered six girls and women, before finally killing his mother and her friend and ultimately surrendering. At the same time, Mullin was trying to prevent natural disasters through human sacrifice, another serial killer was operating in Santa Cruz County at the same time.

Frazier’s crimes shocked Santa Cruz and were reported around the world. Mullin’s murder spree came on the heels of John Linley Frazier’s mass murder of the Ohta family and Dorothy Cadwallader in 1970.

His victims included a Catholic priest, four teenage boys and two children. Mullin murdered 12 more times during the next four months. 13, 1972, Mullin acted, ambushing Lawrence White, a 55-year-old transient, along Highway 9 near the Rincon parking lot. As noted by psychiatrists testifying at Mullin’s trial, the loss and Mullin’s LSD abuse sent Mullin spiraling into mental illness.įor weeks, Mullin heard the voices of his parents chiding him to commit murder in order to prevent cataclysmic earthquakes from destroying California. While attending Cabrillo College his longtime friend, Dean Richardson, was killed in an automobile accident on Graham Hill Road. Mullin graduated from San Lorenzo Valley High School in 1965. The parole board ruled Mullin’s next hearing would be in seven years. Herbert Mullin, 73, was convicted in 1973 and will continue to serve his life sentence in Mule Creek Prison in Ione. IONE – -The Santa Cruz serial killer who confessed to the murder of 13 people was denied parole for the 11th time on Thursday.

Santa clara serial killer