Herbert Mullin - Trial and Imprisonment

Trial and Imprisonment

In custody, Mullin confessed to his crimes, and said that he had been told by voices in his head to kill people in order to prevent an earthquake. He claimed that the reason there had not been an earthquake recently was, in fact, due to his handiwork.

The Santa Cruz County District Attorney's office charged Mullin with 10 murders (the first three took place in other counties), and his trial opened on July 30, 1973. Mullin had admitted to all the crimes and therefore the trial focused on whether he was sane and culpable for his actions. The fact that he had covered his tracks and shown premeditation in some of his crimes was highlighted by prosecutor Christopher Cottle, while the defense argued that the defendant had a history of mental illness, and many believed that he suffered from paranoid schizophrenia. On August 19, 1973, the verdict was delivered. Mullin was declared guilty of first-degree murder in the cases of Jim Gianera and Kathy Francis—because they were premeditated—while for the other eight murders Mullin was found guilty of second-degree murder because they were more impulsive.

The Santa Clara County District Attorney's office charged Mullin for the murder of Henri Tomei, but on the day his trial was to begin, December 11, 1973, Mullin plead guilty to second-degree murder for Tomei's killing after originally pleading not guilty by reason of insanity to first-degree murder for Tomei's slaying.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment in the Santa Cruz County trial and will be eligible for parole in 2025, when he will be 78. He is incarcerated at Mule Creek State Prison, in Ione, California.