Between October 1972 and February 1973, Herbert Mullin killed 13 people in California during a bizarre and deadly series of murders. His victims ranged from a 4-year-old child to a man in his 70s and included strangers, acquaintances, a priest, a married couple, and four teenagers.
Mullin later confessed to all 13 killings. His stated belief was that human sacrifices could somehow prevent a catastrophic earthquake in California. His victims, however, had no meaningful connection to one another that would explain the killings as a conventional criminal pattern.
The Santa Cruz Public Libraries' historical archive even preserves a contemporary 1973 newspaper feature titled “Mullin's 13 Dead Victims—Their Lives and Their Hopes,” reflecting the effort at the time to identify and remember the people behind the rapidly developing murder investigation.
Here is a closer look at the 13 people killed by Herbert Mullin.
Who Were Herbert Mullin's Victims?
Herbert Mullin's 13 known victims were:
Lawrence “Whitey” White
Mary Margaret Guilfoyle
Father Henri Tomei
Jim Ralph Gianera
Joan Gianera
Kathy Francis
Daemon Francis
David Hughes
David Oliker
Robert Spector
Brian Scott Card
Mark Dreibelbis
Fred Abbie Perez
The victims ranged in age from four to 72, and the murders took place between October 1972 and February 1973. California prison officials later confirmed that Mullin had confessed to killing 13 people during the 1970s.
The 13 Victims of Herbert Mullin
1. Lawrence “Whitey” White
Age: 55
Date of death: October 13, 1972
Lawrence “Whitey” White was the first known victim in Herbert Mullin's killing spree.
Mullin encountered White along a road in the Santa Cruz area and reportedly created a situation in which White stopped to assist him. Mullin then attacked him with a baseball bat.
White's murder marked the beginning of a series of killings that would continue for the next four months.
Unlike some of Mullin's later victims, White appears to have been essentially a stranger to him. His death demonstrated one of the most disturbing characteristics of Mullin's crimes: there was not always an obvious personal motive connecting him to the person he killed.
2. Mary Margaret Guilfoyle
Age: 24
Date of death: October 24, 1972
Mary Margaret Guilfoyle was a young college student who encountered Mullin while hitchhiking.
On October 24, Mullin picked Guilfoyle up and drove with her toward Santa Cruz. He subsequently killed her.
Guilfoyle's disappearance became part of a growing mystery in the Santa Cruz area. Her remains were not recovered until the following year, after Mullin's other murders had brought investigators closer to understanding the larger series.
Her death occurred only 11 days after Lawrence White's murder.
3. Father Henri Tomei
Age: 64
Date of death: November 2, 1972
Father Henri Tomei was a Catholic priest at St. Mary's Church in Los Gatos, California.
His murder was one of the most unusual crimes in the entire series.
Mullin entered the church and went into the confessional, apparently presenting himself as someone seeking confession. Instead, he attacked and killed Father Tomei.
The killing was particularly significant because Mullin himself had been raised Catholic. Investigators later connected him to the murder through physical evidence recovered from the scene.
Contemporary Santa Cruz archival records contain multiple reports about the investigation into Father Tomei's death and its eventual connection to Mullin.
4. Jim Ralph Gianera
Age: 25
Date of death: January 25, 1973
Jim Ralph Gianera was not a random stranger.
Gianera had known Mullin from their younger years, and Mullin eventually came to blame him for introducing him to marijuana. By early 1973, Mullin had become increasingly focused on Gianera.
On January 25, Mullin went looking for his former friend.
When he found Gianera, an argument developed. Mullin shot him, killing him inside his home.
Gianera's murder was significant because it demonstrated that Mullin's victims could include people from his own past. The killing also set off a chain of murders that would claim four additional lives that same day.
5. Joan Gianera
Age: 21
Date of death: January 25, 1973
Joan Gianera was Jim Gianera's wife.
After Mullin attacked Jim, Joan also became a victim.
Her murder transformed what had begun as an apparent attack on one former acquaintance into a double homicide.
The deaths of Jim and Joan Gianera were among the killings for which Mullin was later prosecuted in Santa Cruz County.
6. Kathy Francis
Age: 29
Date of death: January 25, 1973
Kathy Francis was another person connected to the Gianeras.
Her name is also sometimes given in historical records as Kathleen Prentiss or Kathleen Francis.
Mullin had encountered Francis while searching for Jim Gianera. She had information that led him toward Gianera's location.
Mullin later returned to Francis's residence and killed her.
Her death became even more tragic because two children were also killed during the same attack.
7. Daemon Francis
Age: 4
Date of death: January 25, 1973
Daemon Francis was only four years old.
He was one of the children killed during Mullin's attack on Kathy Francis's home.
The death of Daemon illustrates the extreme range of Mullin's victims. There was no conventional criminal motive that explains why a four-year-old child became a target.
Historical records identify Daemon as Mullin's youngest known victim. California authorities have likewise described Mullin's victims as ranging from a four-year-old child to an elderly man.
8. David Hughes
Age: 9
Date of death: January 25, 1973
David Hughes was nine years old and was killed during the same January 25 attack that claimed the lives of Kathy Francis and Daemon Francis.
The killings of Hughes and Daemon meant that five people were murdered by Mullin on January 25, 1973, making it the deadliest single day of his known killing spree.
The victims that day included a married couple, an adult woman, and two children.
That mixture further demonstrates why Mullin's crimes are difficult to explain through a conventional victim profile.
The Four Teenage Campers
9. David Oliker
Age: 18
Date of death: February 1973
David Oliker was one of four young men killed while camping in the Santa Cruz area.
Mullin encountered the group and reportedly told them they were improperly camping in the area. He returned later and killed the four teenagers.
The four deaths initially appeared to be another apparently unrelated crime. Investigators eventually connected them to the broader series of murders attributed to Mullin.
10. Robert Spector
Age: 18
Date of death: February 1973
Robert Spector was the second of the four teenage campers killed during the attack.
Like the other young men, Spector was part of a group camping in the Santa Cruz area.
The deaths of the four campers became an important part of the investigation because the killings were linked through ballistic and other investigative evidence to the earlier murders.
11. Brian Scott Card
Age: 19
Date of death: February 1973
Brian Scott Card was 19 years old when he was killed.
He was camping with David Oliker, Robert Spector, and Mark Dreibelbis.
The four young men had been staying together in a secluded area when Mullin encountered them.
Their deaths represented another sudden escalation in the number of victims associated with the case.
12. Mark Dreibelbis
Age: 15
Date of death: February 1973
Mark Dreibelbis was the youngest of the four teenage campers.
At 15, he was also one of Mullin's youngest victims overall.
The four killings initially added another layer of confusion to a case that already involved seemingly unrelated victims. Contemporary reporting preserved in the Santa Cruz Public Libraries archive shows how investigators were attempting to connect the deaths as the case unfolded.
The four campers' deaths would ultimately become an important part of the evidence tying Mullin's seemingly separate attacks together.
13. Fred Abbie Perez
Age: 72
Date of death: February 13, 1973
Fred Abbie Perez was the final known victim of Herbert Mullin.
Perez was 72 years old and was at his home in Santa Cruz when Mullin encountered him.
Mullin shot Perez and left the area.
The murder was reported by contemporary newspapers as another apparently senseless killing in what had become a frightening series of crimes across the region. The Santa Cruz Public Libraries archive preserves contemporary coverage of Perez's death from February 1973.
Perez's murder was also the event that ultimately brought Mullin's killing spree to an end.
A witness noticed Mullin leaving the area and provided information that helped police identify and locate him. Mullin was arrested on February 13, 1973.
After four months and 13 deaths, the killing spree was over.
When Did Herbert Mullin Kill His Victims?
Mullin's murders occurred over approximately four months, but they were not evenly distributed.
October 1972
October 13: Lawrence “Whitey” White
October 24: Mary Margaret Guilfoyle
Two people were killed during Mullin's first month of known murders.
November 1972
November 2: Father Henri Tomei
After Tomei's murder, there was a significant gap before Mullin killed again.
January 1973
January 25:
Jim Ralph Gianera
Joan Gianera
Kathy Francis
Daemon Francis
David Hughes
Five people were killed on a single day.
February 1973
Four teenage campers were killed during the next major episode of violence:
David Oliker
Robert Spector
Brian Scott Card
Mark Dreibelbis
Three days later, Mullin killed his final known victim, Fred Abbie Perez.
Contemporary reporting and later historical records document the rapid succession of murders that eventually revealed a much larger pattern.
Was There a Connection Between Herbert Mullin's Victims?
There was no single victim profile that explains all 13 murders.
Mullin killed people of dramatically different ages and backgrounds.
His victims included:
A 55-year-old transient
A 24-year-old college student
A 64-year-old Catholic priest
A 25-year-old former friend
A 21-year-old woman
A 29-year-old mother
Two young children
Four teenage campers
A 72-year-old man
Some victims were complete strangers. Others had connections to Mullin or to people he knew.
Contemporary reporting even explored whether Mullin knew some of the people he killed as investigators attempted to determine what connected the murders.
This lack of a consistent victim type is one of the reasons the murders initially appeared to be unrelated crimes.
Why Did Herbert Mullin Kill His Victims?
Mullin's stated explanation for the murders was extraordinarily unusual.
He claimed that voices or messages had convinced him that human sacrifices were necessary to prevent a catastrophic earthquake in California.
The idea became central to his defense and to the later understanding of his crimes.
However, it is important to distinguish between Mullin's explanation for his actions and established fact. There is no evidence that killing people could prevent an earthquake.
His beliefs also changed and developed throughout the period leading up to the murders.
For a deeper look at Mullin's background, beliefs, and the strange reasoning behind his crimes, see our main article on Herbert Mullin, the California serial killer who believed murder could stop earthquakes.
How Many Victims Did Herbert Mullin Have?
Herbert Mullin had 13 known victims.
California prison officials state that Mullin confessed to killing 13 people during the 1970s. He was ultimately convicted of multiple murders and received life sentences.
The distinction between the 13 people he confessed to killing and the murders for which he was actually prosecuted is important.
Mullin was prosecuted in Santa Cruz County for 10 murders. He also received a separate sentence in Santa Clara County for the killing of Father Henri Tomei.
The broader total of 13 comes from the full series of killings attributed to him.
What Happened to Herbert Mullin After the Murders?
Mullin was arrested on February 13, 1973, the same day Fred Perez was killed.
His trial began later that year. Because Mullin admitted killing the victims, a major issue at trial was whether he was legally responsible for his actions.
He was convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment.
Mullin remained incarcerated for decades. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation records show that he was serving concurrent life sentences along with an additional consecutive life term when he died.
Mullin died of natural causes on August 18, 2022, at the age of 75.
Frequently Asked Questions About Herbert Mullin's Victims
How many people did Herbert Mullin kill?
Herbert Mullin confessed to killing 13 people between October 1972 and February 1973.
Who was Herbert Mullin's first victim?
His first known victim was Lawrence “Whitey” White, who was killed on October 13, 1972.
Who was Herbert Mullin's last victim?
His final known victim was Fred Abbie Perez, a 72-year-old man killed on February 13, 1973. Contemporary Santa Cruz newspaper coverage documents Perez's murder on that date.
Who was Herbert Mullin's youngest victim?
Daemon Francis, who was four years old, was Mullin's youngest known victim.
Who was Herbert Mullin's oldest victim?
Fred Abbie Perez, who was 72 years old, was Mullin's oldest known victim according to the commonly documented victim list.
Did Herbert Mullin know all of his victims?
No. Mullin's victims included strangers as well as people connected to him or people he encountered through other circumstances. Contemporary reporting specifically examined whether Mullin knew some of the victims.
Why did Herbert Mullin kill people?
Mullin claimed that he believed killing people was necessary to prevent a catastrophic earthquake. His stated beliefs became a central issue in the investigation and trial.
Remembering the Victims
It is easy for historical accounts of serial killers to become focused almost entirely on the perpetrator.
But Herbert Mullin's story ultimately involved 13 individual people whose lives ended during a four-month period in California.
They were not simply names in a serial-killer case file. They were people with families, relationships, jobs, hopes, and ordinary lives that existed before their murders.
A contemporary newspaper article preserved by the Santa Cruz Public Libraries made that point part of its title: “Mullin's 13 Dead Victims—Their Lives and Their Hopes.”
Remembering the victims alongside the criminal is an important part of understanding the full history of the Herbert Mullin case.
Related: Read more about [Herbert Mullin and Edmund Kemper and the bizarre connection between two California serial killers].
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