Throughout the early 1970s, California’s Bay Area was in the grip of terror as multiple serial killers operated at the time same time and in more or less the same space. In time, some of these killers, like Ed Kemper, would be caught, while others, like the Zodiac Killer, would remain unidentified. Yet it was the ones who appeared to kill at random, without any preferred victim, that would prove the most terrifying and most difficult to catch. Herbert Mullin was one such killer, and while he may have been active for a very short period, he managed to do a tremendous amount of damage in such a little amount of time.

Over a five-month period in late 1972 and early 1973, Herbert Mullin killed thirteen people, including a college girl, a Catholic priest, and a former high school friend and that friend’s neighbors. To investigators, Mullin’s victims appeared to be—and indeed largely were—chosen at random and the weapons used were chosen more out of convenience than pathology. Had Mullin’s final murder not been committed in full view of witnesses, there’s a very good chance he would have gone on to kill many more people before being caught, if he ever was.

Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!

References

Associated Press. 1972. "Dragnet set up for Catholic priest's slayer." Los Angeles Times, November 4: 34.

Dowd, Katie. 2022. "'Murder capital of the world': The terrifying years when multiple serial killers stalked Santa Cruz." SF Gate, August 21.

Green, Ryan. 2024. I Hear Voices: A Descent into the Dark Half of Psychotic Killer, Herbert Mullin. Herefordshire, UK: Independent.

Honig, Tom. 1973. "Did Mullin slay fourteen." Santa Cruz Sentinel, August 10: 1.

—. 1973. "Mullin enters plea: innocent, insanity." Santa Cruz Sentinel, June 13: 1.

—. 1973. "Mullin explains his reason for killing." Santa Cruz Sentinel, August 15: 1.

—. 1973. "Mullin is found guilty." Santa Cruz Sentinel, August 20: 1.

—. 1973. "'Overtones' of drugs in five slayings." Santa Cruz Sentinel, January 28: 1.

—. 1973. "Slaying suspect called a 'quiet, regular guy'." Santa Cruz Sentinel, February 15: 1.

Lunde, Donald, and Jefferson Morgan. 1980. The Die Song: A Journey into the Mind of a Mass Murderer. New York, NY: Norton.

Santa Crus Sentinel. 1973. "Suspect charged in six shootings." Santa Cruz Sentinel, February 15: 1.

Santa Cruz Sentinel. 1972. "Another disturbance at SC County Jail." Santa Cruz Sentinel, September 14: 19.

—. 1972. "Body of slain transient is identified." Santa Cruz Sentinel, October 16: 10.

—. 1972. "Investigator hired to find Cabrillo coed." Santa Cruz Sentinel, November 26: 46.

—. 1972. "Priest slain in confessional box of church." Santa Cruz Sentinel, November 3: 2.

Smith, Dave. 1973. "Killer of killers? Town waiting for answer." Los Angeles Times, February 19: 3.

United Press International. 1973. "Friends claim man charged with 7 deaths used drugs." Sacramento Bee, February 16: 21.

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When Luigi Mangione allegedly gunned down UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, the media called it a senseless crime. But online, a different story emerged—one of rage, reckoning, and a suspected killer turned folk hero. More than just a true crime podcast, LUIGI, hosted by Jesse Weber, dares to look beyond the crime and the accused to explore a cultural tipping point in America, asking you to decide - is the status quo enough, or is it time for a cultural reckoning?

Listen to Law&Crime’s LUIGI exclusively on Wondery+ and follow the show page to keep up on all the latest developments. You can join Wondery+ in the Wondery App, Spotify, or Apple Podcasts. Visit www.wondery.com/links/luigi and start your free trial now!

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On the night of August 14, 1985, twenty-year-old Kristin O’Connell left a party in Ovid, NY to go for a walk. Two days later, her nude body was discovered near a cornfield along a rural county road; she had been stabbed in the chest and her throat was cut.

The unsolved murder of Kristin O’Connell has baffled local New York investigators for decades. At the time of her murder, Kristin had traveled from Minnesota to New York to visit a young man she’d met a few months earlier while on Spring Break in Florida. According to witnesses, Kristin wasn’t wearing shoes when she left the party and she wasn’t carrying a purse. Several witnesses reported having seen Kristin walking that night between 11:30 pm and 12:15 am, when she was seen talking to one or possible two men in a car. Roughly ten minutes later, several people reported hearing a loud scream coming from the area where her body was discovered.

In the decades since Kristin’s murder, police have interviewed dozens of witnesses and followed up on thousands of leads, yet the case remains no closer to being solved than it was in the days following the discovery of the body.

Please sign the Petition to override the decision to not permit 'touch DNA' to potentially solve this cold case! visit https://www.change.org/p/family-demands-dna-testing-by-othram-labs-in-the-kristin-o-connell-cold-case

Thank you to the Incredible Dave White of Bring Me the Axe Podcast for research and Writing support!

References

Allen, Matha. 1985. "Slain woman's parents seek comfort from her letter." Star Tribune, August 18: 35.

Associated Press. 1987. "Psychics seeking slues to 1985 murder in Ovid." Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), August 22: 12.

—. 2009. "DNA may solve '85 slaying." Press and Sun-Bulletin (Binghamton, NY), August 13: 1.

Democrat and Chronicle . 1985. "Police ask help in Ovid murder." Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), August 20: 11.

Democrat and Chronicle. 1985. "Lab to test items from slaying." Democrat and Chronicle , August 19: 7.

Ebert, Alex. 2009. "A Burnsville mother won't let her daughter's murder case go cold." Star Tribune, August 13.

Gillis, Jackie. 2023. What happened to Kristin O'Connell? March 2. Accessed March 2, 2025. https://www.mytwintiers.com/news-cat/local-news/what-happened-to-kristin-oconnell/.

Lighty, Todd, and John Hartsock. 1985. "Brutal slaying shakes Seneca town." Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), August 18: 1.

Pfifer, Jim. 1996. "Police suspect imprisoned man for 1985 murder in Ovid." Star-Gazette, January 28: 1.

Pittman, Mark. 1985. "Minn. woman found dead in Seneca." Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), August 17: 1.

Ritter, Carol. 1985. "4 deaths, few answers in Seneca." Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), August 22: 14.

—. 1986. "Parents on pilgrimage of grief." Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), August 16: 1.

—. 1985. "Slaying no longer the talk of Ovid, but investigation, reaction continue." Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, NY), September 25: 11.

Shaw, David. 2009. "Police seek help on cold case." Finger Lakes Times, August 13.

—. 1986. "Kristin O'Connell's murderer thwarts police." Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY), February 21: 1.

—. 1986. "Murder case takes police out of state." Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY), January 8: 14.

—. 1985. "Cops place an ad in hunt for killer." Syracuse Herald-Journal, August 29: 1.

—. 1985. "Police hope TV reenactment of killing will help solve case." Syracuse Herald-Journal, September 13: 15.

—. 1985. "Slaying's legacy: a bounty and fear." Syracuse Herald-Journal, August 30: 95.

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