Kathleen Louise Kathy Prentiss, 29, was shot and killed at her home in Santa Cruz, California, on January 25, 1973. The attack was part of a wider killing spree in Santa Cruz County carried out that day by Herbert Mullin, who also murdered Kathy Prentiss’s two sons, David Hughes, 9, and Daemon Francis, 4. Mullin had earlier visited the house seeking information about a high school friend, Jim Gianera; after learning Gianera had moved, Mullin went to the friend’s new address and killed him and his wife before returning and killing Kathy and her children. Mullin was arrested soon after and charged in the multiple homicides.

The murders were later linked to Mullin’s delusional beliefs about preventing earthquakes. This crime remains one of the most devastating episodes in Santa Cruz history and underscores the deadly consequences when severe mental illness intersects with violence. If anyone knew Kathy Prentiss, her sons, or saw them in Santa Cruz in January 1973, please share what might help the historical record.