Mark William Cunningham

Mark William Cunningham (born January 27, 1960) is an American serial killer and arsonist who shot and killed three men at random in Santa Cruz and Laguna Beach, California, between April and June 1983. The murders remained unsolved for nearly two years until Cunningham's gun was tied to the crime scenes based on ballistic evidence. He was tried, found guilty, and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in 1988.

Murders Mark Ferrell On April 27, 1983, Santa Cruz authorities responded to call about a burning vehicle found along East Zayante Road. Firemen arrived and were able to stop the fire, but soon after they discovered a dead body lying in the front seat. The man, later identified as 20-year-old electronics worker Mark Cameron Ferrell, was determined to have been shot multiple times before the killer set his car on fire. A bullet was recovered from Ferrell's chest which was determined to have come from an Old West style .38 caliber revolver.

Hon Lee and Chen Ying On June 7, 1983, the bodies of two men were discovered by a duo of surfers lying face down and riddled with gunshot wounds on a trail leading from Laguna Beach to Highway 1. Just a few hours after the discovery, a man who had been witnessed walking away from the crime scene was arrested by local police, but quickly released as no evidence linked him to the murders. The two bodies were identified as 30-year-old Hon Mau Lee and 29-year-old Chen Chien Ying, both of Chinatown, Los Angeles. However, on January 3, 1985, a man called police to turn in his friend Mark William Cunningham, whom he overheard bragging about killing three men.

In addition, Cunningham's girlfriend Lynn Bohnen came forward. She had met Cunningham in 1981, when she was 14 and Cunningham was 21, and the two started a relationship, though the two did stop dating after a while.

Trial and imprisonment Cunningham was indicted on three counts of first-degree murder. He pleaded not guilty. In October 1985, it was announced that prosecutors would seek the death penalty. In January 1988, Cunningham went to trial. The star witness in the case was Bohnen. Bohnen took the stand and told the jury that on June 7, 1983, after Cunningham had picked her up from school, they stopped across from Laguna Beach. Cunningham then spotted the two men walking up the trail to the beach and pulled a gun from under his seat then followed the men up the trail. Shortly after, according to Bohnen, Cunningham sprinted back to his vehicle and frantically drove away. Following his sentencing, Cunningham was transferred to Pelican Bay State Prison in Del Norte County, where he has remained ever since.

Media In 2003, Discovery Channel TV show The New Detectives aired the episode "Random Targets", which examined Cunningham's case along with Timothy Wilson Spencer.