Philip Joseph Hughes Jr.

Known victims

Maureen Field

On November 14, 1972, Maureen Field, 19, was waiting for her father to pick her up after ending her shift at Kmart, when Hughes offered her a ride. When her father, Joe Field, drove up to the store, he learned she had left earlier, but was not concerned. Two days later the family received an anonymous phone call from a man saying, "I'm calling about your daughter. She's dead and I killed her." The man never called again. Several months later, on February 15, 1973, her badly decomposed body was found along Morgan Territory Road.

Arrest

In July 1979, a friend of Suzanne Perrin contacted the Oakland police department on Perrin's behalf, due to Perrin's fear of Hughes. The following day, Perrin agreed to meet a police sergeant at a restaurant and disclosed information linking Hughes to the murder of Lisa Beery. On July 13, 1979, police obtained a search warrant for Hughes' Pleasanton home to seize evidence. A jury ruled on April 8, 1980 that Hughes was legally sane during the time of the murder. Dr. Hugh Winig testified that Hughes had, "an actual need to kill someone and have sex with them after they were dead." Hughes was sentenced to life in prison on May 21, 1980.

On October 14, 1980, six months after his first murder conviction, Hughes was found guilty of the first degree murders of Maureen Field and Letitia Fagot. On November 25, 1980, a Superior Court judge sentenced Hughes to two concurrent life sentences, calling him "a dangerous man to society."

In both cases, Hughes's ex-wife, Suzanne Perrin, testified against him. She was granted immunity for her testimony, despite her participation, which included providing Hughes with a list of potential victims, kidnapping, and the disposing of Field's body.

After seven parole hearings from 1985 to 2006, Hughes began voluntarily waiving his right to hearings. In 2015, he stipulated that he was not suitable for parole, agreeing not to request a new parole hearing until 2025.