Herbert Mullin was an infamous serial killer in California in the 1970s. No one suspected him of being a serial killer at that time because of his soft-spoken behavior, but he was later found to be experiencing delusions and hallucinations.
Mullin killed thirteen people of different age groups, believing it was the right thing to do after what he claimed were divine messages. As a result, he did not show any regret for his actions. At first, Mullin showed no signs of violent behavior in his teenage years, but the death of a friend in a car accident shook him to the core. He ended up creating a shrine for the friend in his home.
Serial killer Herbert Mullin is arrested in Santa Cruz, California, and charged with the murders of 13 victims over four months. pic.twitter.com/QmrL2Yv7al
— 1975 Live (@50YearsAgoLive) February 13, 2023
After this, he became more paranoid and moved away from reality. By his early 20s, Mullin was seeing visual messages and experiencing auditory hallucinations. Moreover, he thought natural disasters like earthquakes were a way to kill people who had overpopulated the region. According to his distorted belief, California was on “borrowed time.”
His paranoia was linked to schizophrenia symptoms that made him fearful of everything. When he started murdering people, it was random and based on the phone calls he received from his deceased father. His victims included travelers, priests, teenagers, and elderly people.
His first murder victim was a man who asked him for help in fixing his car. He beat him to death with a baseball bat. He stabbed and shot his other victims, such as hitchhikers and teenage boys. His method of killing was unpredictable and dependent on the situation.
There was no pattern for his killings. During that time, another serial killer, Edmund Kemper, was also active. This prevented the police from finding him sooner. Mullin had killed a friend and his family, including two young kids (4 and 9 years old). He blamed him for making him use narcotics and pushing him out of control.
Serial killer Edmund Kemper was incarcerated in the same prison block at the California Medical Facility as serial killer Herbert Mullin.
Kemper strongly disliked Mullin and said he was “just a cold-blooded killer…killing everybody he saw for no good reason”.
Kemper also… pic.twitter.com/tPe5tkmkXz
— Fascinating (@fasc1nate) March 22, 2024
For a long time, he wasn’t caught, and that encouraged his delusions. Then he was captured in 1973 when he shot a 72-year-old man in a local park. During the questioning, he showed no regret and was calm. He explained his narrative and reasons for murder, further confirming his delusional state. Mullin was sentenced to serve life in prison, dismissing his insanity plea.
As the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation confirmed, he passed away from natural causes on Aug. 18, 2022, at 75.
