Dean Carter

For the English author, see Dean Vincent Carter.

Dean Carter
Born	Dean Phillip Carter (1955-08-30) August 30, 1955 Nome, Territory of Alaska, U.S.
Criminal status	Incarcerated
Conviction(s)	Murder Rape Burglary Robbery
Criminal penalty	Death
Details
Victims	4 confirmed, 1 suspected
Date	April 10–14, 1984
Country	United States
State(s)	California
Location(s)	San Diego, Ventura, Culver City
Date apprehended	April 17, 1984
Imprisoned at	San Quentin State Prison

Dean Phillip Carter (born August 30, 1955) is an American convicted spree killer and rapist who was sentenced to death for the murders of four women in California in April 1984. Carter has also been implicated in the death of a fifth woman, and is suspected of at least 30 murders and four rapes committed on the West Coast of the United States. Carter is believed to have befriended several of his victims prior to attacking them.

Background

Prior to his crime spree, Carter had served one year for a burglary conviction in Alaska.

On March 24, 1984, 28-year-old Carter called an acquaintance, Cathleen Tiner, who declined his invitation to "run off to Mexico and get married". That evening, he called another acquaintance, 18-year-old Polly Haisha, informing her that he would be arriving in San Diego the following day. Haisha, who had canceled several dates with Carter, rejected his offer to "quit school and come sail to France" and asked him not to call her again. Carter is also believed to have contacted one of his victims, Janette Anne Cullins, who also rejected his advances, in the weeks preceding her death.

Home invasions

On the evening of March 25, Carter broke into the San Diego residence of Susan Loyland, a bartender he was in a sexual relationship with; Loyland had traveled to Mexico earlier that day. Carter, armed with a knife, raped Loyland's roommate and forced her to perform fellatio on him. Carter also robbed both Loyland and her roommate of tip money and the latter's car keys, as well as hogtying her with her pantyhose before leaving. The woman managed to free herself with a knife, and a neighbor who heard her cries for help called police. This victim would later testify that she had met Carter prior to being attacked by him.

In the early hours of March 29, Carter, wearing a red bandana over his face and armed with a butcher knife, broke into the Ventura apartment of 22-year-old Jennifer Rose Steward, whom he proceeded to sexually assult and rape for around five hours, as well as strangling her into unconsciousness when she attempted to escape twice. Steward pretended to sympathize with her attacker to prevent him from becoming more violent, and convinced him to untie her by asking for a kiss. When Carter finally left at dawn, Steward waited for several minutes before running to a neighbor for help. Steward had met Carter before the attack when he was staying at a neighbor's residence; she avoided him despite Carter attempting to befriend her.

Murders

On April 12, the bodies of Susan Lynn Knoll and Jillette Leonora Mills were found stacked in a closed bedroom closet in the roommates' Culver City apartment. Mills had been sexually assaulted, and each victim had died from asphyxia caused by strangulation. Knoll's vehicle was discovered one block from the apartment, though Mills's Datsun 280 ZX automobile was missing, as were personal items belonging to both victims.

That same day, the body of Bonnie Ann Guthrie was discovered on the floor of her apartment in Culver City. Like the previous victims, she had been sexually assaulted, she had died from asphyixa caused by strangulation, and personal items were missing from her apartment.

On April 14, the body of Janette Anne Cullins was found in the bedroom closet of her San Diego apartment. Her cause of death was the same as that of the other victims, and the presence of woodchips on the floor near the front door indicated that someone had broken into her residence. Cullins's vehicle was later discovered several blocks away from her apartment.

Carter is believed to also be responsible for the death of a fifth woman, Tok Chum Kim, whom he met at a bar in Lafayette on April 1, 1984. Kim's decomposed body was found on April 13, and her vehicle and some of her personal items were missing. Kim's vehicle was discovered parked in front of the apartment where the bodies of Knoll and Mills were found.

Imprisonment

During his time on death row, Carter wrote and published an Internet blog, "Deadman Talking", with the help of a friend outside of prison. Although Carter avoided discussing his case in the blog and largely focused on his life on death row and thoughts on current events, he maintained his innocence. According to Carter, he began writing the columns to provide "a reasonably coherent account of what it is like from where I sit".

Carter claimed ineffective assistance of counsel, citing multiple disagreements with his attorneys, though his sentence was upheld in a ruling on December 26, 2019.

See also

• Capital punishment in California
• List of death row inmates in the United States