Murder City: Santa Cruz, California, 1970 to 1973 - Part 3

Once Upon A Crime

Esther Ludlow

Criminology, Criminals, History, Crime, Truecrime, True Crime, Society & Culture

4.6 • 5K Ratings

🗓️ 28 January 2025

⏱️ 59 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the early 1970s, the tranquil community of Santa Cruz, California, was shattered by a series of murders committed by two serial killers operating at the same time. Edmund Kemper, known as the "Co-ed Killer," murdered eight individuals, including six young women, his mother, and her friend, between May 1972 and April 1973. Simultaneously, Herbert Mullin embarked on his own killing spree in the same area, further terrorizing the residents. In this final episode of "Murder City," we delve into Santa Cruz's darkest period, exploring how law enforcement apprehended these predators and the chilling twist of their eventual incarceration as cellmates. Sources: Murray, Emerson, Murder Capital of the World, 2021. https://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/Psyc%20405/serial%20killers/Mullin,%20Herbert.htm https://crimelibrary.org/serial_killers/weird/mullin/index_1.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herbert_Mullin https://biographs.org/herbert-mullin https://diva.sfsu.edu/collections/sfbatv/search?q=herbert+mullin&page=1&sort=divadoc_date_dt&dir=desc&facets%5Btags%5D%5B0%5D=herbert+mullin https://graduateway.com/herbert-mullins-a-case-study-of-a-serial-murderer/ https://crimelibrary.org/serial_killers/weird/mullin/explained_9.html https://www.sfgate.com/crime/article/santa-cruz-kemper-mullin-frazier-murders-12841990.php https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/163366300/fred-abbie-perez https://www.mercurynews.com/2008/06/11/a-modern-day-lumberjack-protecting-life-and-limb/ Links: Patreon - www.patreon.com/onceuponacrime Our Website - www.truecrimepodcast.com YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@OnceUponACrimePodcast

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This podcast details true crime cases. It contains adult themes and may contain descriptions of violence.
0:07.0	It is not intended for children. Listener discretion is advised.
0:18.7	Thank you for joining me for today's episode of Once Upon a Crime.
0:23.0	Between May 1972 and April 1973, Edmund Kemper murdered eight people, including six young women.
0:31.4	He ended his murder spree by killing his mother and her friend.
0:35.1	Four days later, he turned himself into the police and confessed to all
0:39.0	eight murders. Just two months before Kemper's confession, another serial murderer was apprehended in
0:45.7	Santa Cruz. Herbert Mullen, like Kemper, had gone on a killing spree in 1972 and 1973,
0:53.4	also in the same small beach community of Santa Cruz, California.
0:57.7	His last victim was shot in broad daylight in front of witnesses.
1:01.8	Mullen was quickly found and arrested.
1:04.8	At first, when Mullen's crimes came to light,
1:07.8	Santa Cruz residents breathed a sigh of relief, believing that the butcher
1:11.8	murderer, the killer responsible for the missing and murdered coeds, had been caught.
1:17.4	After Kemper's arrest, he began leading investigators to the dismembered remains of his victims
1:22.5	in the hills and beaches of Santa Cruz. Locals were shocked to discover that not one, but two monsters, had been living among them.
1:31.7	In this final episode of the series, Murder City, I'll take you back through Santa Cruz's
1:37.2	darkest years, 1972 and 1973, when Santa Cruz County investigators were overwhelmed with homicides.
1:46.0	I'll share the story how these two serial killers were caught and how they ended up unlikely
1:50.9	roommates behind bars. This is Chapter 3 of Murder City, Ed Kemper and Herbert Mullen.
2:14.3	This is Esther, host of Once Upon a Crime.
2:18.6	Here at Once Upon a Crime, we strive to give you details about the true crime cases we cover that you won't hear anywhere else. I dive deep into the backstories of victims
	...

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