Sanity Argued at Hilbun Trial

Lawyers clashed over the sanity of an ex-postal worker who went on trial Tuesday for murder in a notorious 1993 rampage that left two people dead and several more injured, and sparked a massive two-day manhunt across Orange County.

The prosecutor said the defendant, Mark Richard Hilbun, may have mental problems but that he knew what he was doing when he donned a T-shirt with the word “psycho” on it and set out to kidnap a co-worker who had spurned him and “pay back” his bosses, killing his mother and a colleague along the way.

“Even with what mental disorders the evidence shows he may have, he is able to do continuous thinking during this crime spree that turns into a crime party,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher J. Evans told an Orange County Superior Court jury.

Defense attorneys have conceded that Hilbun committed the crimes but have contended that their 42-year-old client has a long history of mental illness and was driven by his desire to take postal worker Kim Springer by kayak to Baja California, where they could live as Adam and Eve when the world came to an end.

“This is not a case, as the evidence will show, of a disgruntled postal worker who was fired and came back for revenge,” Deputy Public Defender Roger Alexander said. “This is a case of mental illness taking over a person.”

Hilbun, his once wild hair and beard now cropped short, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to 15 felony counts, including two of murder and seven of attempted murder, that could result in the death penalty if he is convicted.

Evans told jurors that Hilbun has a “huge anti-authority attitude” and wanted revenge against Dana Point postal officials who worked to fire him for erratic behavior and for harassing and stalking Springer, who had repeatedly spurned his attentions.

Hilbun also carefully plotted to kidnap Springer from the Dana Point post office where they had worked together, buying hundreds of dollars worth of camping and survivalist equipment, the prosecutor said.

The crime spree began early May 6, 1993, when Hilbun stabbed his mother, Frances, to death in her Corona del Mar home and killed her cocker spaniel, Golden, Evans said.

Hilbun, the prosecutor alleged, killed his mother because he needed to get camping gear from her garage before heading to the post office.

“He would commit any crime to further his plan,” Evans said.

At the post office, Hilbun killed fellow letter carrier and close friend Charles T. Barbagallo, shooting the 42-year-old San Clemente man between the eyes when he refused to reveal where Springer was working in the huge building, the prosecutor told jurors.

Hilbun is charged with shooting another co-worker, Peter Gates, and firing at Postmaster Donald Lowe while looking for Springer, who was hiding under a mail case, Evans said.

Hilbun then fled in his pickup, with a kayak strapped on top, but the shooting did not yet end, the prosecutor continued.

Hilbun is charged with pistol-whipping John Kersey, a retired parole officer who was working in front of his Dana Point home, and shooting him in the arm when he fought back. Hilbun then broke into a nearby home--like Kersey’s on Springer’s mail route--where he abandoned his kayak and spent time “partying” with wine and beer, Evans said.

Later that afternoon, Evans said, Hilbun shot Newport Beach businesswoman Patricia Salot six times when she tried to stop him from stealing her magnetic business placards, which he used in trying to disguise his pickup.

Finally, Hilbun is charged with robberies at two Fountain Valley automated teller machines, shooting and injuring one couple and trying to shoot another man.

Live television and news reports helped lead to Hilbun’s arrest when a patron at a Huntington Beach sports bar recognized Hilbun, who was calmly sipping vodka cocktails.

Defense attorneys contended that Hilbun was driven by a belief that the world would end that May 9--Mother’s Day and his birthday--and wanted to take Springer away because they had been chosen as the “husband and wife of the human race.”

Hilbun killed his mother to spare her from having to “live through the apocalypse,” Alexander told jurors.

The defense attorney said Hilbun never planned to shoot or kill anyone else, and fired pellets, not regular ammunition, at several of his victims.

Alexander said co-workers described a drastic change in Hilbun in the months before the rampage. They said the quiet and shy man and turned into a “wired” and anxious talker who heard voices telling him to take Springer away in his kayak.

The trial is expected to last four months, with a first phase to determine guilt or innocence. If Hilbun is found guilty, a second phase will be held to determine his sanity at the time of the crimes. If found insane, Hilbun would be sent to a state psychiatric hospital where he would remain until it was determined that he had regained his sanity.

If Hilbun is found sane, jurors will move to the third and final phase, in which they must decide whether to recommend the death penalty.