Mark Richard Hilbun

As soon as KABC Channel 7's news studios received a police mug of a man suspected of fatally shooting a mail carrier at the Dana Point post office earlier this month, Bruce Alexander knew he had to work fast. Alexander, 41, a graphic artist with 21 years in the business, had heard that the suspect, Mark Richard Hilbun--a man with a wide-eyed stare, long hair and a dark mustache--may have altered his appearance.

As several of his surviving victims watched, a former postal worker who killed his mother and a close friend and attempted to kill seven people during a two-day rampage was sentenced on Tuesday to nine life terms in prison. Mark Richard Hilbun, with shaggy gray hair and a long beard, sat impassively as the sentence was imposed by Superior Court Judge Everett W. Dickey. Hilbun, 42, was convicted of the 1993 crimes by a jury last August.

About a week ago, Mark Richard Hilbun left Kim Springer the last, and most frightening, of a string of obsessive notes. "I love you," it read. "I'm going to kill us both and take us both to hell." Hilbun, 38, a manic-depressive patient who was fired from his job as a mail carrier in December, had been obsessed with Springer, also a mail carrier, for over a year, according to records and interviews with authorities and acquaintances.

As several of his surviving victims cried and comforted each other, a former postal worker who killed his mother and a close friend and attempted to kill seven others during a two-day rampage was sentenced Tuesday to nine life terms in prison. Mark Richard Hilbun, sporting shaggy gray hair and a long beard, sat impassively as Superior Court Judge Everett W. Dickey imposed the sentence.

I want to protest the media's implication that manic-depressive illness could be the cause of Mark Richard Hilbun's alleged crimes. Millions of Americans have experienced and been treated for mental illness, and only a tiny fraction of them have ever committed crimes against themselves or others. I believe that criminal acts demonstrate character defects and that mental illness is only ancillary to crime. The stigma of having been mentally ill continues to poison the lives of millions of innocent people.

Mark Richard Hilbun, convicted of murdering two people during a two-day rampage at a Dana Point post office and elsewhere in Orange County, will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole under a plea agreement approved Friday. The 42-year-old former postal worker agreed to withdraw his attempts to be found insane and serve a sentence at a state mental hospital.

Elizabeth Shea, who police say was shot and wounded at an automated teller machine by Mark Richard Hilbun as he went on a deadly two-day crime spree, has filed a lawsuit against Hilbun and Wells Fargo Bank. The lawsuit, filed last week in Orange County Superior Court, alleges that the bank failed to provide adequate security. Wells Fargo officials said they had no comment Friday. Shea, 29, was one of five people allegedly shot by Hilbun in May, 1993.

As several of his surviving victims watched, a former postal worker who killed his mother and a close friend and attempted to kill seven people during a two-day rampage was sentenced on Tuesday to nine life terms in prison. Mark Richard Hilbun, with shaggy gray hair and a long beard, sat impassively as the sentence was imposed by Superior Court Judge Everett W. Dickey. Hilbun, 42, was convicted of the 1993 crimes by a jury last August.

Mark Hilbun's most extraordinary hours--the ones he allegedly spent knifing and shooting his way across Orange County--can be seen as a contradiction to his mostly ordinary life, or as the final, intense culmination of trouble that was many years in the making. This was a man who was so unobtrusive, so apparently normal, that few noticed or remembered him. But he was also a man so withdrawn and ill at ease around others, and occasionally so bizarre, that some saw him as deeply disturbed.

Jurors deliberated an eighth day Wednesday without deciding whether former postal worker Mark Richard Hilbun was insane during a bloody two-day rampage in 1993, when he killed his mother and a colleague and wounded five others. Jurors said they were deadlocked on the sanity issue Tuesday afternoon, but Superior Court Judge Everett W. Dickey on Wednesday urged the six men and six women to keep deliberating. They return this morning for further deliberations.

Mark Richard Hilbun, convicted of murdering two people during a two-day rampage at a Dana Point post office and elsewhere in Orange County, will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole under a plea agreement approved Friday. The 42-year-old former postal worker agreed to withdraw his attempts to be found insane and serve a sentence at a state mental hospital.

Mark Richard Hilbun, convicted of murdering two people during a two-day rampage at a Dana Point post office and other spots across the county, will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole under a plea agreement approved Friday. The 42-year-old former postal worker agreed to withdraw his attempt to be found insane and be sent to a state mental hospital. In exchange, prosecutors said they would not seek his execution for the slayings of his mother and best friend.

A judge declared a mistrial Monday after jurors tried unsuccessfully for 17 days to determine if Mark Richard Hilbun was insane when he went on a rampage in 1993, opening fire at a Dana Point post office and terrorizing the community for two days. Jurors, clearly exhausted, said everyone agreed that the former postal worker, 42, had mental problems. But they were evenly divided on the question of whether he knew what he was doing.

A judge declared a mistrial Monday in the sanity case of Mark Richard Hilbun after jurors tried unsuccessfully for 17 days to determine if Hilbun was insane when he went on a deadly rampage in 1993, opening fire at a Dana Point post office and then terrorizing the community for two days. Jurors, clearly exhausted as they grimly announced the deadlock, said they agreed that the 42-year-old former postal worker had mental problems.

A jury ended its 15th day of deliberations Thursday, divided on whether postal worker Mark Richard Hilbun was insane when he killed his mother and best friend during a two-day spree that included a bloody stop at the Dana Point post office where he worked. The jury foreman reported in open court that the panel was about evenly divided for most of the 14 charges against Hilbun.

Jurors deliberated an eighth day Wednesday without deciding whether former postal worker Mark Richard Hilbun was insane during a bloody two-day rampage in 1993, when he killed his mother and a colleague and wounded five others. Jurors said they were deadlocked on the sanity issue Tuesday afternoon, but Superior Court Judge Everett W. Dickey on Wednesday urged the six men and six women to keep deliberating. They return this morning for further deliberations.

A Superior Court judge ruled Monday that former letter carrier Mark Richard Hilbun is competent to stand trial on charges of killing two people and wounding six others during a two-day rampage that included a shooting inside the Dana Point post office. Judge Robert R. Fitzgerald ordered Hilbun to appear for a preliminary hearing on Jan. 22 at Municipal Court in Laguna Niguel.

A judge declared a mistrial Monday after jurors tried unsuccessfully for 17 days to determine if Mark Richard Hilbun was insane when he went on a rampage in 1993, opening fire at a Dana Point post office and terrorizing the community for two days. Jurors, clearly exhausted, said everyone agreed that the former postal worker, 42, had mental problems. But they were evenly divided on the question of whether he knew what he was doing.

Jurors were deadlocked Tuesday on whether former postal worker Mark Richard Hilbun was insane during a bloody two-day rampage in 1993 that left his mother and best friend dead and five others wounded. Superior Court Judge Everett W. Dickey directed the six men and six women to return today, and the judge told lawyers he planned to urge further deliberations.

Former postal worker Mark Richard Hilbun was convicted Tuesday of murdering his mother and a close friend and attempting to kill seven others during a two-day rampage across Orange County. Jurors must now decide whether Hilbun was sane when he committed those crimes. The legal distinction is the difference between commitment to a mental hospital if Hilbun is found to be insane or a possible death sentence if jurors decide he was mentally competent.