Herbert Mullin killed 13 people in California between October 1972 and February 1973. His victims included strangers, a priest, a college student, a family, and a group of teenagers. What made the murders particularly disturbing was not simply their randomness, but the bizarre belief system Mullin later described as his motivation.
Mullin believed that human deaths could prevent a catastrophic earthquake from striking California. As the Vietnam War wound down, he became convinced that the deaths associated with the conflict were no longer sufficient to prevent a disaster. He believed he needed to create additional deaths himself.
He also reported hearing voices and receiving what he interpreted as telepathic messages. Those experiences became intertwined with his ideas about sacrifice, earthquakes, religion, and his supposed responsibility to protect others.
So, why did Herbert Mullin kill?
The answer lies in a deeply distorted belief system in which murder became, in his mind, a way of preventing an even greater catastrophe.
What Was Herbert Mullin's Motive?
Herbert Mullin's stated motive centered on his belief that killing people could prevent a devastating earthquake.
According to accounts of the case, Mullin believed that the enormous number of deaths occurring during the Vietnam War had somehow served as a form of human sacrifice. As American involvement in Vietnam declined, he became concerned that the deaths would no longer be sufficient to prevent a catastrophic earthquake.
Mullin therefore came to believe that he had to provide the deaths himself.
His belief was not based on any scientific evidence. Instead, it became part of a delusional framework in which unrelated events were interpreted as proof that he had a special responsibility to act.
The FBI has used Mullin as an example of a disorganized offender whose killings were driven by psychotic impulses and fantasy rather than a conventional criminal objective such as financial gain or revenge.
Mullin Believed Murder Could Prevent an Earthquake
The earthquake theory became the central explanation Mullin gave for many of his killings.
Mullin was born on April 18, 1947—the same date as the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Accounts of his life describe his fixation on that coincidence and the significance he attached to it.
By 1972, he had developed the belief that another major earthquake could devastate California unless enough people died to prevent it.
The result was a horrifying transformation of an irrational fear into what Mullin apparently perceived as a personal obligation.
He Saw Himself as Preventing a Greater Disaster
Mullin's reasoning appears to have depended on a distorted form of cause and effect.
He did not simply want to kill people. He believed the killings served a purpose beyond the individual victims.
In his mind, the deaths were sacrifices that could protect a much larger population from an earthquake.
That distinction is important when examining Herbert Mullin's motive. His explanation for the murders was not a conventional criminal motive. It was based on beliefs that had become detached from reality.
Why Did Herbert Mullin Believe Human Sacrifice Was Necessary?
The idea of human sacrifice became one of the most disturbing elements of Mullin's belief system.
Accounts of the case describe Mullin as believing that deaths could somehow satisfy a force associated with earthquakes and prevent a larger disaster. He connected this belief to the enormous death toll of the Vietnam War and eventually concluded that he needed to continue the process himself.
The Connection Between Death and Earthquakes
Mullin's theory essentially reversed the normal understanding of cause and effect.
Instead of seeing earthquakes as natural geological events, he interpreted death as something that could prevent them.
This belief helped turn ordinary people he encountered into potential "sacrifices."
The victims did not have to be enemies or people who had wronged him. Many were simply people who happened to cross his path.
An FBI discussion of criminal profiling specifically describes Mullin as an example of an offender who obtained victims by chance and whose killings were based on psychotic impulses and fantasy rather than a consistent victim-selection pattern.
The Vietnam War and Mullin's Theory
Mullin's belief system also incorporated the Vietnam War.
According to accounts of the case, he believed the enormous number of deaths occurring in Vietnam had effectively prevented a catastrophic earthquake. When American involvement in the war began winding down, he became concerned that there would no longer be enough deaths to serve this supposed purpose.
That belief gave his existing earthquake obsession a new and terrifying direction.
If deaths could prevent an earthquake, and the war was producing fewer deaths, Mullin apparently concluded that he needed to make up the difference.
The result was murder.
How Did Herbert Mullin's Beliefs Develop?
Mullin's beliefs did not appear fully formed overnight.
Accounts of his life describe increasing psychological instability, substance use, periods of psychiatric treatment, and experiences he described as voices or other unusual communications. By 1972, those experiences had become connected to his fear of earthquakes and his belief that he had a special purpose.
Mullin's Obsession With Earthquakes
His birthday was one of the details that became significant in his thinking.
Mullin was born on April 18, the anniversary of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. The coincidence appears to have taken on an extraordinary importance for him.
For most people, a birthday sharing a date with a historical disaster would simply be an interesting coincidence.
For Mullin, it became part of a much larger system of beliefs.
He increasingly interpreted events around him as having special meaning, reinforcing his perception that he had a role to play in preventing another disaster.
His Beliefs Became Increasingly Apocalyptic
By the time Mullin began killing, the earthquake belief was no longer an isolated fear.
It had become connected to ideas about sacrifice, voices, religion, Vietnam, and his own supposed responsibility.
This created a dangerous feedback loop.
An earthquake did not occur, which could potentially be interpreted as evidence that the supposed sacrifices were working. When he believed another sacrifice was necessary, the absence of an earthquake could then be used to reinforce the same belief.
There was no scientific mechanism behind the theory. The significance existed entirely within Mullin's distorted interpretation of events.
Did Herbert Mullin Hear Voices Telling Him to Kill?
Yes. Accounts of Mullin's case describe him reporting voices and telepathic communications that he interpreted as instructions.
Educational material from Radford University, for example, describes Mullin as a "visionary" offender and states that voices told him to kill in order to prevent a catastrophic earthquake.
The Alleged Telepathic Messages
Mullin also claimed that his father communicated with him telepathically and instructed him to take lives. His interpretation of these experiences became intertwined with his earthquake theory.
It is important to distinguish between what Mullin claimed to experience and what can independently be established as fact.
There is no evidence that his father or any supernatural force actually communicated with him.
What is documented is that Mullin described these experiences and that they formed part of the explanation surrounding his crimes.
The Voices and the Idea of Sacrifice
The alleged voices appear to have reinforced an existing belief rather than providing a simple, isolated explanation for every murder.
Mullin's actions did not follow one perfectly consistent pattern.
Some killings were connected in his mind to sacrifice and preventing an earthquake, while other killings appear to have involved different personal beliefs and grievances.
That is why describing every murder simply as an "earthquake sacrifice" can oversimplify the case.
Did Herbert Mullin Think His Victims Were Willing Sacrifices?
One of the most disturbing aspects of Mullin's belief system was his apparent tendency to reinterpret the behavior of his victims as confirmation that they were supposed to die.
This is particularly evident in accounts surrounding his first victims.
Lawrence White and the Biblical Jonah
Mullin's first known victim was 55-year-old Lawrence "Whitey" White, whom he killed on October 13, 1972.
Later accounts state that Mullin claimed White was connected in his mind to the biblical figure Jonah and had effectively communicated that he should be sacrificed to save others.
There is no evidence that White actually communicated any such message.
The significance lies in how Mullin interpreted the encounter.
An ordinary interaction was transformed inside his belief system into evidence that the victim had somehow volunteered for sacrifice.
That interpretation helped Mullin rationalize the killing.
Father Henri Tomei
Another disturbing example involved Father Henri Tomei.
Mullin went to St. Mary's Church in Los Gatos to confess his sins. According to accounts of the case, Mullin then interpreted the priest's words or behavior through the lens of his sacrifice beliefs and killed him inside the church.
Again, the important distinction is between what Mullin believed and what actually happened.
The priest did not objectively volunteer to be murdered. Mullin interpreted the situation as confirmation of his existing beliefs.
Was Religion Part of Herbert Mullin's Motive?
Religion was part of Mullin's belief system, but describing his motive simply as "religious" would be misleading.
Mullin incorporated religious imagery and ideas into a much broader collection of beliefs involving earthquakes, sacrifice, telepathic communication, and his supposed personal mission.
The Bible and Mullin's Beliefs
The story of Jonah appears in accounts of Mullin's interpretation of his first murder.
He also went to confession before killing Father Tomei, demonstrating that Catholic religious concepts were present in his thinking.
But this was not a conventional religious doctrine that called for murder.
Rather, Mullin appears to have incorporated fragments of religious ideas into a highly personalized belief system.
Why "Religious Motive" Doesn't Tell the Whole Story
Calling Mullin's motive religious leaves out some of the most important elements.
His beliefs also involved:
Fear of earthquakes
Human sacrifice
The Vietnam War
Telepathic communication
Voices
Personal destiny
A perceived responsibility to protect others
Together, these ideas created the framework he used to explain his actions.
The murders therefore cannot be adequately understood through a single label.
How Did Herbert Mullin's Beliefs Turn Into Murder?
The progression can be summarized as a disturbing chain of beliefs:
Fear of an earthquake → belief that deaths could prevent it → belief that sacrifices were necessary → perceived messages confirming the idea → belief that he had a responsibility to act → murder
Mullin's first known killing occurred on October 13, 1972. Over the following months, the violence escalated until he had killed 13 people.
His victims were not united by a single demographic characteristic.
The FBI's profiling material notes that Mullin's victims varied considerably and that he did not display a consistent pattern of planning or targeting.
That randomness made his crimes especially frightening.
A person did not necessarily have to know Mullin, threaten him, or have any relationship with him.
Simply encountering him at the wrong moment could be enough.
His Motive Was Not Identical in Every Killing
The earthquake theory is central to understanding Herbert Mullin, but it should not be treated as a complete explanation for every murder.
Accounts of the case describe changes in his thinking and different rationalizations for individual killings.
For example, later murders included people he knew or people he blamed for problems in his own life. This suggests that Mullin's violence was influenced by a broader and unstable belief system rather than a single rigid ritual performed identically each time.
That distinction matters.
The question is not simply "Why did Herbert Mullin kill?"
It is also "How did Herbert Mullin come to believe that killing was justified?"
The second question gets closer to understanding the disturbing logic behind the murders.
How Many People Did Herbert Mullin Kill?
Herbert Mullin killed 13 people during his 1972–1973 murder spree in California. He was arrested on February 13, 1973.
His victims varied widely in age and background, and the killings occurred in different settings using different methods.
For a complete breakdown of the victims and the circumstances surrounding their deaths, see:
Herbert Mullin's 13 Victims: The People Killed by the California Serial Killer
The randomness of the victims is one reason Mullin's motive is so important to understanding the case.
There was no simple "type" of person he was hunting.
Instead, his victims often became targets because Mullin interpreted an encounter through his increasingly distorted worldview.
What Happened After Herbert Mullin Was Arrested?
Mullin was arrested on February 13, 1973, after killing 13 people.
His case subsequently centered not only on the murders but also on his mental state and whether he was legally responsible for his actions. He was ultimately convicted of two counts of first-degree murder and nine counts of second-degree murder and sentenced to life imprisonment.
His case has since become a frequently cited example of a killer whose crimes were heavily influenced by psychotic beliefs and perceived commands.
The FBI's own criminal-profiling material has discussed Mullin as an example of an offender whose victim selection could appear random and whose crimes were connected to psychotic impulses and fantasy.
The Disturbing Logic Behind Herbert Mullin's Murders
So, why did Herbert Mullin kill?
According to his own explanations and accounts of the case, he believed that human deaths could prevent a catastrophic earthquake from destroying California.
That belief became connected to his interpretation of the Vietnam War, human sacrifice, religion, voices, telepathic messages, and his own supposed responsibility to protect others.
But the earthquake theory alone does not explain everything.
Mullin's thinking was unstable and changed over time. Some killings appear to have been interpreted as sacrifices, while others involved personal grievances or other beliefs. His victims were often people who happened to cross his path, making his violence exceptionally difficult to predict.
What makes the case so disturbing is the way an irrational belief could transform murder into something Mullin apparently perceived as necessary.
He did not believe he was simply taking lives.
He believed he was fulfilling a mission.
And that belief ultimately resulted in the deaths of 13 people.
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