For months, Herbert Mullin had terrified Northern California with a seemingly unpredictable series of murders. His victims had little in common, his methods varied, and investigators initially had no obvious reason to believe the crimes were connected.
Then, on February 13, 1973, Mullin made a decision that effectively ended his killing spree.
In broad daylight, with witnesses nearby, he killed 72-year-old Fred Perez outside Perez's Santa Cruz home. Mullin then drove away in his station wagon.
A witness had seen enough to help police identify the fleeing vehicle.
Within minutes, officers found Mullin and arrested him without a struggle. The Herbert Mullin arrest not only ended his months-long killing spree but also gave investigators their first major opportunity to connect a series of previously confusing murders throughout the Santa Cruz area.
So how was Herbert Mullin caught, and what finally led police to one of California's most disturbing killers?
The answer was surprisingly simple: witnesses, a vehicle description, and a murder committed where Mullin could easily be seen.
The Murders Before Herbert Mullin Was Caught
By February 1973, Mullin had already killed numerous people in and around Santa Cruz and nearby communities.
His victims ranged widely in age and background. The crimes also differed considerably from one another, making it difficult for investigators to immediately recognize them as the work of a single offender.
Mullin would eventually confess to killing 13 people during a roughly four-month period beginning in 1972.
His victims included strangers as well as people he knew.
That unpredictability became one of the defining features of the case.
Anyone looking only at the victims might have struggled to identify a consistent pattern. Mullin's crimes included attacks on individuals in homes, public places, and remote areas.
Only after his arrest would investigators begin assembling the pieces into a much clearer picture.
For a complete sequence of the crimes leading up to his capture, see our Herbert Mullin murders timeline.
Herbert Mullin's Final Victim: Fred Perez
On February 13, 1973, Mullin was driving through Santa Cruz when he encountered Fred Perez, a 72-year-old local resident.
Perez was outside doing yardwork near his home.
Mullin stopped, used a rifle to kill Perez and then drove away.
Unlike several of Mullin's earlier crimes, however, this attack occurred in broad daylight in a residential neighborhood where other people could see what happened.
That would prove to be a critical mistake.
Multiple witnesses observed the events surrounding Perez's death, and identifying information from Mullin's station wagon was quickly passed to police.
The man who had avoided arrest throughout his killing spree had suddenly left police with one of the simplest investigative leads possible:
a vehicle they could look for immediately.
The Witness Who Helped Catch Herbert Mullin
One of the most important details in the Herbert Mullin arrest timeline was the response of people who witnessed the attack.
A neighbor was able to provide police with identifying information from the station wagon Mullin used to leave the scene. Accounts of the case commonly note that the vehicle's license plate number was recorded and reported.
That transformed the investigation almost instantly.
Police weren't searching for an unknown killer based only on a vague description.
They had a specific vehicle connected to a homicide that had occurred only minutes earlier.
Officers began looking for the station wagon.
They didn't have to search for long.
How Was Herbert Mullin Caught?
Police spotted Mullin's station wagon shortly after the killing of Fred Perez.
An officer stopped the vehicle before Mullin had traveled far from the area.
Despite the seriousness of what had just occurred, Mullin did not engage police in a chase or attempt to violently resist arrest.
He was taken into custody only minutes after Perez was killed.
The suddenness of the arrest was striking.
Mullin's murders had baffled investigators for months, yet the event that finally brought his spree to an end unfolded extraordinarily quickly.
One witness saw something important.
Police received the information.
An officer found the vehicle.
And Mullin's freedom was over.
What Police Found When Herbert Mullin Was Arrested
The traffic stop immediately produced evidence that made the situation even more serious.
Authorities recovered a rifle from Mullin's vehicle, along with a .22-caliber handgun according to reports describing the arrest.
The weapons gave investigators something they had badly needed: physical evidence that could potentially connect the man they had just arrested to other unsolved killings.
Ballistics testing soon became especially important.
Contemporary reporting noted that testing showed similarities between weapons recovered from Mullin's vehicle and evidence associated with other victims.
What initially appeared to be the arrest of a suspect in one killing was becoming something much larger.
Investigators were beginning to realize they might have captured the person responsible for multiple deaths across the region.
A Murder Arrest Becomes a Serial Killer Investigation
At first, police had arrested Mullin in connection with the killing of Fred Perez.
But investigators soon began examining whether he could be responsible for additional crimes.
That question was particularly important because Santa Cruz was experiencing an extraordinary period of violence.
Mullin was not the only serial killer operating in the area.
Edmund Kemper was committing murders during approximately the same period, creating additional confusion for investigators trying to determine whether apparently unrelated cases might be connected.
Mullin and Kemper operated independently, but their overlapping crime sprees helped create one of the darkest periods in Santa Cruz criminal history.
You can read more about that bizarre overlap in our article on Herbert Mullin and Ed Kemper.
Mullin's arrest finally allowed investigators to separate at least some of the region's unsolved murders from the larger collection of cases they were examining.
The Evidence Begins to Connect the Crimes
The investigation rapidly expanded following Mullin's arrest.
Authorities examined weapons, previous crime scenes and evidence associated with other victims.
Ballistics evidence became especially valuable because several of Mullin's later victims had been killed with firearms.
Contemporary reporting shortly after his arrest stated that ballistics tests connected weapons associated with Mullin to additional killings under investigation.
Investigators were no longer dealing simply with the death of Fred Perez.
They were reconstructing a months-long series of crimes.
The seemingly random attacks that had previously appeared difficult to connect were beginning to converge around one suspect.
Mullin's Statements After His Arrest
The investigation also revealed the unusual beliefs Mullin used to explain his crimes.
Mullin told investigators that he believed human sacrifice could somehow prevent catastrophic earthquakes.
His reasoning followed a delusional belief system in which murders were supposedly necessary to prevent a larger disaster. Investigators later heard Mullin explain that he believed smaller acts of violence could prevent greater natural catastrophes.
Those beliefs would become central to the legal proceedings that followed.
There was little dispute about whether Mullin had committed the murders for which he was eventually prosecuted.
Instead, one of the biggest questions at trial became whether he was legally responsible for his actions.
For a closer examination of Mullin's stated motives and beliefs, see Why Did Herbert Mullin Kill?
Herbert Mullin Arrest Timeline
For readers searching specifically for the Herbert Mullin serial killer arrest timeline, the key events unfolded extremely quickly.
February 13, 1973 — Fred Perez Is Killed
Mullin encountered 72-year-old Fred Perez while Perez was outside his Santa Cruz home.
Perez became Mullin's final known victim.
Witnesses See Mullin Leave
People nearby observed the attack and Mullin's departure.
Identifying information from his station wagon, including its license plate, was reported to authorities.
Police Search for the Station Wagon
Officers began looking for the vehicle almost immediately.
Because police had useful identifying information, they were able to narrow the search quickly.
Mullin Is Stopped
A patrol officer located Mullin's station wagon minutes after the killing.
Mullin was stopped and taken into custody without a violent confrontation.
Weapons Are Recovered
Authorities recovered firearms from Mullin's vehicle.
Those weapons would become part of the expanding investigation into other murders.
Investigators Connect Additional Crimes
Ballistics and other evidence helped authorities connect Mullin to more killings.
The arrest that began with the murder of Fred Perez evolved into the investigation of one of California's most notorious serial murder cases.
What Happened After Herbert Mullin Was Arrested?
Mullin ultimately admitted responsibility for 13 killings.
Santa Cruz County prosecuted him for ten murders.
His 1973 trial focused heavily on his mental state and whether his psychological condition prevented him from being legally responsible for his actions.
The jury convicted Mullin of two counts of first-degree murder and eight counts of second-degree murder in Santa Cruz County.
He later received another second-degree murder conviction in Santa Clara County for the killing of Father Henri Tomei.
Mullin received life sentences and remained incarcerated for the rest of his life.
Why did Herbert Mullin's insanity defense fail?
He died at the California Health Care Facility in Stockton on August 18, 2022, at age 75.
Why Herbert Mullin's Arrest Was So Different From His Earlier Crimes
One of the most striking aspects of the case is how ordinary the circumstances of Mullin's capture were.
There was no massive manhunt.
There was no elaborate undercover operation.
Investigators did not identify Mullin after months of sophisticated forensic analysis.
Instead, the mistake that finally ended the killing spree was committing a murder in a place where people could clearly see him and his vehicle.
Mullin had previously benefited from crimes that appeared unrelated.
Different victims.
Different locations.
Different circumstances.
Different methods.
Those variations made recognizing a single offender difficult.
But after Fred Perez was killed, investigators didn't have to identify a hidden behavioral pattern.
They simply had to find the station wagon witnesses had just seen leaving the scene.
Did Herbert Mullin Resist Arrest?
Accounts of the arrest indicate that he did not.
Police located Mullin only minutes after Perez was killed, and he was arrested without a violent confrontation.
Considering that firearms were found inside the vehicle, the encounter could have ended very differently.
Instead, Mullin was taken into custody and investigators immediately began trying to understand whether the suspect in front of them might be connected to other killings.
Why Was Herbert Mullin So Difficult to Catch Earlier?
Several factors complicated the investigation.
First, Mullin's victims did not fit one obvious profile.
They included men, women and children of different ages and backgrounds.
Second, his methods were inconsistent.
That made it difficult to immediately recognize a distinctive pattern connecting every crime.
Third, Santa Cruz was experiencing murders committed by more than one offender during the same general period.
Edmund Kemper's separate killing spree overlapped with Mullin's, adding another layer of confusion to an already difficult investigation.
The result was a collection of crimes that did not initially appear to point toward one obvious suspect.
Mullin's eventual arrest changed that.
Frequently Asked Questions About Herbert Mullin's Arrest
When was Herbert Mullin arrested?
Herbert Mullin was arrested on February 13, 1973, shortly after the killing of Fred Perez in Santa Cruz, California.
How did Herbert Mullin get caught?
Mullin killed Fred Perez in broad daylight and then drove away. Witnesses provided police with identifying information from his station wagon, including the license plate. Police located the vehicle within minutes and arrested Mullin.
Who was Herbert Mullin's final victim?
Mullin's final known victim was Fred Perez, a 72-year-old Santa Cruz resident who was killed outside his home on February 13, 1973.
Did Herbert Mullin resist arrest?
Available accounts indicate that Mullin was arrested without resistance shortly after police stopped his vehicle.
What evidence connected Herbert Mullin to other murders?
Investigators recovered weapons from Mullin's vehicle, and ballistics testing helped connect firearms associated with him to additional killings. Police also continued assembling other evidence as the investigation expanded after his arrest.
How many people did Herbert Mullin kill?
Mullin confessed to killing 13 people between 1972 and 1973. He was ultimately convicted of 11 murders: ten in Santa Cruz County and one in Santa Clara County.
The Arrest That Ended Herbert Mullin's Killing Spree
Herbert Mullin had avoided capture while committing a series of murders that appeared so disconnected that investigators struggled to recognize a single offender.
Then everything changed on February 13, 1973.
The murder of Fred Perez took place in daylight.
People saw what happened.
A witness provided police with identifying information from Mullin's vehicle.
Minutes later, officers found him.
The Herbert Mullin arrest demonstrates how a complicated serial murder investigation can sometimes be broken open by something remarkably simple. Mullin's varying victims and methods had helped obscure the connections between his earlier crimes, but once witnesses could point police toward a specific vehicle, the investigation moved rapidly.
What began as the arrest of a man suspected of killing Fred Perez soon exposed something much larger.
Herbert Mullin's months-long killing spree was over.
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