Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Former Cop Turned Serial Killer Dies on San Quentin's Death Row
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 2 years ago on
September 13, 2023

Share

SAN QUENTIN — A former California police officer turned serial killer who was on death row after being convicted of murdering six people in the 1980s has died of natural causes, authorities said Monday.

Anthony Sully, 79, died Friday at a medical facility outside the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, where he had been housed for decades, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

The Marin County Coroner’s Office will determine Sully’s official cause of death, the department said in a news release Monday.

Sully was sentenced to death in June 1986 for the slayings of Kathryn Barrett, 24; Barbara Searcy, 22; Gloria Jean Fravel, 24; Brendan Oakden, 19; Michael Thomas, 24; and Phyllis Melendez, 20.

The victims were beaten, stabbed and shot inside an electrical supply warehouse in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1983. Three of the bodies were found stuffed into barrels dumped at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco, the San Jose Mercury News reported. Detectives found his fingerprints on some of the bodies.

Sully was a Bay Area police officer from 1966 to 1974.

He maintained at his sentencing that he did not get a fair trial, telling the judge, “I am not a monster, not a maniac, not subhuman,” according to the Mercury News, citing news accounts at the time.

Another Death Row Inmate Dies

Another death row inmate, 71-year-old Ronald L. Sanders, died Tuesday of natural causes at California Medical Facility in Vacaville, corrections officials said.

Sanders was sentenced to death in March 1982 for the murder of Janice Dishroon Allen, 29.

There are 654 condemned persons in CDCR. More information about capital punishment in California can be found here: https://www.cdcr.ca.gov/capital-punishment/.

(GV Wire contributed to this article.)

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno County Man Killed in Head-On Collision Identified

DON'T MISS

California Allocates $56 Million to Combat Youth Homelessness

DON'T MISS

Let the Hunt for Fresno County Fruit Trail Delights Begin!

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Southwest Shooting Through Valley Crime Stoppers’ Tip

DON'T MISS

18 Injured in Knife Attack in Hamburg, Report Says

DON'T MISS

White House National Security Council Hit by More Firings, Sources Say

DON'T MISS

All Six People Aboard Plane That Crashed in San Diego Confirmed Dead

DON'T MISS

Explore the Wild Side of Route 66 With These Natural Wonders

DON'T MISS

Billy Joel Cancels Touring After Being Diagnosed With a Brain Disorder

DON'T MISS

Justice Department Reaches Deal to Allow Boeing to Avoid Prosecution Over 737 Max Crashes

UP NEXT

California Allocates $56 Million to Combat Youth Homelessness

UP NEXT

Let the Hunt for Fresno County Fruit Trail Delights Begin!

UP NEXT

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Southwest Shooting Through Valley Crime Stoppers’ Tip

UP NEXT

18 Injured in Knife Attack in Hamburg, Report Says

UP NEXT

White House National Security Council Hit by More Firings, Sources Say

UP NEXT

All Six People Aboard Plane That Crashed in San Diego Confirmed Dead

UP NEXT

Explore the Wild Side of Route 66 With These Natural Wonders

UP NEXT

Billy Joel Cancels Touring After Being Diagnosed With a Brain Disorder

UP NEXT

Justice Department Reaches Deal to Allow Boeing to Avoid Prosecution Over 737 Max Crashes

UP NEXT

Fresno County Wildland Fire Burns One Acre Before Being Contained

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Southwest Shooting Through Valley Crime Stoppers’ Tip

5 hours ago

18 Injured in Knife Attack in Hamburg, Report Says

6 hours ago

White House National Security Council Hit by More Firings, Sources Say

6 hours ago

All Six People Aboard Plane That Crashed in San Diego Confirmed Dead

6 hours ago

Explore the Wild Side of Route 66 With These Natural Wonders

7 hours ago

Billy Joel Cancels Touring After Being Diagnosed With a Brain Disorder

7 hours ago

Justice Department Reaches Deal to Allow Boeing to Avoid Prosecution Over 737 Max Crashes

8 hours ago

Fresno County Wildland Fire Burns One Acre Before Being Contained

9 hours ago

Clovis Church’s ‘Giving Truck’ Offers Free Coffee With a Twist

9 hours ago

Should Fresno Make It Easier to Convert Office Buildings Into Housing?

9 hours ago

Fresno County Man Killed in Head-On Collision Identified

A 20-year-old Raisin City man was killed early Thursday morning in a head-on collision north of Huntsman Avenue, according to the California...

4 hours ago

fresno
4 hours ago

Fresno County Man Killed in Head-On Collision Identified

5 hours ago

California Allocates $56 Million to Combat Youth Homelessness

5 hours ago

Let the Hunt for Fresno County Fruit Trail Delights Begin!

A Valley Crimes Stoppers tip and surveillance footage led Fresno police to arrest Andy Ramos on Thursday, May 22, 2025, who confessed to a May 11 shooting that left a man hospitalized in stable condition. (Fresno PD)
5 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Southwest Shooting Through Valley Crime Stoppers’ Tip

Police officers and forensic experts work at Hamburg's main train station, after several people were injured in a knife attack, in Hamburg, Germany, May 23, 2025. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer
6 hours ago

18 Injured in Knife Attack in Hamburg, Report Says

A view of the White House in Washington, U.S., July 20, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt/File Photo
6 hours ago

White House National Security Council Hit by More Firings, Sources Say

Emergency personnel work at the crash scene on a street, after a small civilian aircraft went down in a military neighborhood in San Diego, California, U.S. May 22, 2025. REUTERS/Mike Blake
6 hours ago

All Six People Aboard Plane That Crashed in San Diego Confirmed Dead

7 hours ago

Explore the Wild Side of Route 66 With These Natural Wonders

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend