35 Facts About Herbert Mullin

Herbert William Mullin was an American serial killer who killed 13 people in California in the early 1970s.

Herbert Mullin confessed to the killings, which he claimed prevented earthquakes.

Herbert William Mullin was born on April 18,1947, in Salinas, California.

Herbert Mullin had numerous friends at school and was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" when he was 16 by his classmates at San Lorenzo Valley High School, yet he experienced difficulties at this time, largely due to paranoid schizophrenic disorder.

Herbert Mullin built "shrines" to Richardson in his room and became obsessed with the idea of reincarnation.

Herbert Mullin believed that the Vietnam War had produced enough American deaths to forestall earthquakes as a blood sacrifice to nature, but that with American involvement in the war winding down by late 1972, he would need to start killing people in order to have enough deaths to keep a calamitous earthquake away.

On October 13,1972, Herbert Mullin beat 55-year-old vagrant Lawrence "Whitey" White's head with a baseball bat when the transient looked at the engine of his 1958 Chevy station wagon after Herbert Mullin had pretended to have car trouble and pulled over, opening the hood.

Herbert Mullin dragged White's body into the woods, where it was found the next day.

Herbert Mullin soon set out to commit a second murder with the intent to both test his hypothesis that the environment was being rapidly polluted and to follow a command hallucination of his father's voice directing him to make another sacrifice.

On October 24,1972, Herbert Mullin encountered Mary Margaret Guilfoyle, a student from Cabrillo College who was running late for an appointment.

Herbert Mullin offered Guilfoyle a lift and stabbed her in the chest while driving.

Shortly thereafter, Herbert Mullin began having doubts about the hallucinatory instructions he believed were from his father.

Around January 1973, Herbert Mullin applied to join the United States Marine Corps in an attempt to legally conduct what he perceived as his mission but was barred entry when he refused to sign his criminal record.

Herbert Mullin decided to locate Jim Gianera, his former friend from high school who first introduced him to cannabis, and whom Mullin subsequently perceived as the originator of Mullin's eventual heavy drug use.

In early January 1973, Herbert Mullin drove to a remote area of Santa Cruz, recalling Gianera had lived there.

The resident of the first house Herbert Mullin approached was a woman named Kathleen "Kathy" Francis, a close friend of Jim Gianera and his wife Joan; Francis directed Herbert Mullin to Gianera's actual inhabitance.

Herbert Mullin proceeded to Gianera's home, where he demanded to know why Gianera offered him the early taste of cannabis that Herbert Mullin alleged ruined his life.

Herbert Mullin decided that the former friend's answer was unsatisfactory and shot him.

Dying, the man crawled to his bathroom in an attempt to tell his wife to lock the bathroom door, but Herbert Mullin broke down the door and fatally shot her too.

Herbert Mullin then returned to the home of Kathy Francis and shot her and her two children, four-year-old Daemon Francis and nine-year-old David Hughes, to death, then stabbed each victim multiple times after death.

About a month later, on February 10,1973, Herbert Mullin was hiking in the state park in Santa Cruz, where he encountered four teenage boys camping illegally.

Herbert Mullin walked over to them, engaged them in a brief conversation, and claimed to be a park ranger.

Herbert Mullin told them to leave because they were, according to Mullin, "polluting" the forest.

The next day, Herbert Mullin returned and shot all four of them in the head with his.

Herbert Mullin noticed his victim, a 72-year-old retired prizefighter and fishmonger named Fred Abbie Perez, working in his garden in Santa Cruz.

Herbert Mullin did a U-turn, came back down the street, stopped, put the rifle across the hood of his car, and shot Perez once in the heart.

Herbert Mullin committed this killing in full sight of the dead man's neighbor, who got Mullin's license plate.

Herbert Mullin had admitted to all the crimes; therefore, the trial focused on whether he was legally sane.

The fact that he had covered his tracks and shown premeditation in some of his crimes was highlighted by prosecutor Chris Cottle, while the defense argued that Herbert Mullin's delusions made him kill.

Herbert Mullin was convicted of the ten murders at the age of 26.

Herbert Mullin was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Santa Cruz County trial and was denied parole eight times from 1980 on.

Herbert Mullin was incarcerated at Mule Creek State Prison, in Ione, California.

Herbert Mullin was diagnosed by Dr David Marlowe from the University of California at Santa Cruz with schizophrenic reaction, paranoid type.

Herbert Mullin had interactions with Edmund Kemper, another serial killer active in the same area and at the same time as him.

Kemper disliked Herbert Mullin, saying he killed for no good reason.