Mark William Cunningham (born 1959/1960)^[1] is an American serial killer and arsonist who murdered three men at random in Santa Cruz, California, in the spring of 1983. The murders remained unsolved for nearly two years until Cunningham was apprehended in January 1985. He was convicted in February 1988 and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.^[1]

In November 1983, ballistics evidence showed that there was a 90 percent chance that the same gun had been used in the three killings.^[2] Despite the breakthrough, at the time, police had few leads, and for over a year, detectives were frustrated as the case sat unsolved with no suspects.^[5] 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.^[6]

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.^[3] In 1984 she broke down to her new boyfriend, Steve Walker, that she had been with Cunningham the day of Lee and Ying's murders, and that she knew he had killed them. She later told detectives the same story. Following this, Cunningham was arrested.^[7]

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.^[8] 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.^[6]

In early February, the seven women and five men jury found Cunningham guilty of two counts of first-degree murder for the killings of Lee and Ying and found him guilty of one count of second-degree murder for the killing of Ferrell. That same April, the jury spared his life and decided to sentence Cunningham to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.^[1][9] Following his sentencing, Cunningham was transferred to Pelican Bay State Prison in Del Norte County, where he has remained ever since.

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

• List of serial killers in the United States