California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Marin County Sheriff Jamie Scardina, and Marin County District Attorney Lori Frugoli announced that the California Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Familial Search Program has led to the arrest of 75-year-old Michael Eugene Mullen for the 1973 rape and murder of a young woman in San Rafael.
“I am incredibly proud of the endless hours of behind-the-scenes work our Bureau of Forensic Services put into this case,” said Attorney General Bonta. “We are hopeful that this arrest will bring justice and closure to this devastating case. Thank you to our partners at Marin County Sheriff’s Office and the Marin County District Attorney’s Office. This arrest proves that when we work together, we get results.”
In 2021, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office sought assistance from DOJ's Familial Search Program to generate new leads in the cold case of Nina Fischer. Fischer had been sexually assaulted and murdered in her San Rafael home in November 1973 while her husband was at work. The Familial Search Program worked for several months and provided a lead that identified Michael Eugene Mullen from Idaho as the suspect after a three-year investigation. On August 14, 2024, Mullen was arrested by Marin County investigators with assistance from Lemhi County Sheriff’s Office and Idaho State Police. He is currently held at Lemhi County Jail awaiting extradition to California for prosecution by the Marin County District Attorney’s Office.
The DOJ's Familial Search Program compares DNA from unsolved serious crimes against California’s Convicted Offender DNA Database to identify potential relatives of perpetrators. If a potential relative is identified, further investigation by DOJ’s Bureau of Investigation supports genetic information before providing an investigative lead to law enforcement. Since its inception in 2008, the program has provided investigative leads in 30 different cases using technology distinct from Forensic Investigated Genetic Genealogy.
The Familial Search Program is part of DOJ's Bureau of Forensic Services (BFS), which operates a state-of-the-art accredited laboratory system servicing 46 out of California's 58 counties through ten regional crime laboratories. These laboratories perform DNA casework analysis at various locations including Richmond, Ripon, Fresno, Redding, Riverside, Sacramento, and Santa Barbara. BFS services are offered at no cost to law enforcement agencies within these counties.
A fact sheet outlining BFS's work can be found here.
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