A Marin County Superior Court judge has ruled there is enough evidence to have a defendant tried for a San Rafael murder that occurred more than 50 years ago.
“Given the totality of the record, it does meet probable cause,” Judge Geoffrey Howard said after the preliminary hearing concluded Tuesday for Michael Eugene Mullen.
Mullen, 76, is accused of killing 31-year-old Nina Fischer in her house at Point San Pedro Road on Nov. 15, 1973.
Fischer’s husband came home and discovered her bound and dead with gunshot wounds, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office reported. Their 2-year-old child was found unharmed in another room. The Fischers were Swedish nationals who planned to move to San Francisco.
The investigation went cold until 2021, when the state Department of Justice’s familial search program helped sheriff’s detectives link DNA evidence from the case to Mullen, an Idaho resident who used to live in Sonoma County. He was arrested in August and extradited to Marin County, where he remains in custody.
Mullen has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge. Last month, he underwent a competency evaluation and Howard ruled he was fit to stand trial.
Mullen was brought into court in a wheelchair for the daylong preliminary hearing on Tuesday. The hearing included testimony from investigators, retired autopsy practitioners, Marin County coroner’s staff and crime lab employees.
Angela Meyers, a criminalist with the state Department of Justice, testified that she analyzed DNA evidence from semen on a swab taken from the victim’s body. She said there was a likely match with the DNA evidence collected from Mullen.
Investigators testified that Mullen gave inconsistent recollections when asked about Fischer during two interviews. Andre Longtin-Horton, an investigator with the Marin County District Attorney’s Office, recalled Mullen’s statements during his first interview.
“He unequivocally denied being involved in it,” he said, adding that Mullen said he did not know Fischer.
Marin County sheriff’s Sgt. Kevin Guinn testified that Mullen changed his story in a followup interview. Mullen said he had consensual sex with Fischer soon after they met outside her home, Guinn testified.
Mullen also said Fischer invited him into her house, where she told her young child to take a nap, Guinn testified.
Mullen also recalled owning a firearm during the 1970s and selling it in the 1990s, according to Guinn. Mullen later claimed that he sold the gun in 1972, before Fischer’s death.
The prosecutor, Leon Kousharian, said Mullen’s recollections were not credible. Defense attorney Peter Kuykendall noted his client’s age and said a person’s inconsistencies can increase with age.
The prosecution believes that the murder happened on the same day that Fischer and Mullen had sexual contact. Kuykendall said the prosecution presented no connection between Mullen and the firearm used in the murder.
Howard, reviewing the evidence, said Mullen often changed his story about Fischer during his interviews with investigators. He declined to dismiss the murder charge.
“There are significant aspects of the story that don’t add up,” Howard said.
Defense attorneys declined to comment after the hearing Tuesday. The court has yet to set a trial date.