Real Crime/Paranormal/Conspiracy Theories Book III

Earthquake Killer: Herbert Mullin

Herbert William Mullin (bornApril 18, 1947) is an American serial killer who killed thirteenpeople in California in the early 1970s. He confessed to thekillings, which he claimed prevented earthquakes. In 1973, after atrial to determine whether he was insane or culpable, he wasconvicted of two murders in the first degree and nine in the second,and sentenced to life imprisonment. As of 2021, he has been deniedparole 11 times and is unlikely to ever be released.

Early life

Mullin was born on April 18, 1947, inSalinas, California, but grew up in Santa Cruz. His father, a WorldWar II veteran, was strict and often spoke of his war service.

Mullin had numerous friends at schooland was voted "Most Likely to Succeed" by hisclassmates. Shortly after graduating from San Lorenzo Valley HighSchool, however, one of his best friends was killed in a caraccident, and Mullin was devastated.

He built a shrine to his deceasedfriend, Dean Richardson (1947–1965) in his bedroom. Later heexpressed fears that he was homosexual, even though he had a longtimegirlfriend at the time.

In 1969, at the age of 21, Mullinallowed his family to commit him to a mental hospital. Over the nextfew years, he entered various institutions, but discharged himselfafter only a short stay. He extinguished cigarettes on his own skin,attempted to enter the priesthood, and was evicted from an apartmentafter he repeatedly pounded on the floor, shouting at people who werenot there.

Many years later, FBI profiler RobertK. Ressler said Mullin had paranoid schizophrenia, manifesting asearly as his senior year of high school, which could have beenaccelerated by the use of LSD or marijuana.

Murder spree

By 1972, Mullin was 25 and had movedback in with his parents in Felton, California, in the Santa CruzMountains. By now he was hearing voices in his head that told him anearthquake was imminent, and that only through human sacrifice couldhe save California. Mullin's birthday, April 18, was the anniversaryof the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, which he thought was verysignificant.

Mullin believed that the Vietnam Warhad produced enough American death to forestall earthquakes as a sortof blood sacrifice to nature, but that with the war winding down bylate 1972, he would need to start killing people in order to haveenough deaths to keep the earthquake away.

On October 13, 1972, Mullin beatLawrence "Whitey" White, a homeless man, to deathwith a baseball bat. White, 55, had been hitchhiking on Highway 9 andMullin struck him down after tricking him into looking at the carengine.

Mullin was to claim later that thevictim was Jonah from the Bible, and that he had sent Mullin atelepathic message saying, "Pick me up and throw me over theboat. Kill me so that others will be saved." White's bodywas found the next day.

His next victim, on October 24, 1972,was Mary Guilfoyle, 24, a Cabrillo College student who was runninglate for an interview and decided to hitchhike. Mullin picked her upand stabbed her through the chest and the back. He then dissected herbody and scattered her remains alongside a hillside road.