Salinas-born serial killer with Santa Cruz County victims dies in state prison

STOCKTON, Calif. (KION-TV)- A convicted serial killer who confessed to killing at least 13 people in the 70s died of natural causes on Thursday, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Herbert W. Mullin was 75 years old at the time of death, and the San Joaquin County Office of the Medical Examiner will determine his cause of death. He was being housed at the California Health Care Facility.

Mullin was admitted from Santa Cruz County on September 18, 1973, while serving two concurrent life-with-the-possibility-of-parole sentences for two counts of first-degree murder and eight concurrent five-years-to-life sentences for eight counts of second-degree murder. Then On December 21, 1973, he was sentenced in Santa Clara County to a consecutive five-years-to-life term for second-degree murder, according to the CDCR.

His victims ranged from as young as 4 to 72 years old, and all but three of his victims were shot to death. According to the Santa Cruz and Santa Clara County District Attorney's Offices, three of his victims were either beaten, stabbed, or clubbed to death.

His murder spree was from October 13, 1972, to February 13, 1973.

Mullins was born on April 18, 1947, in Salinas, California.