“CSLEA commends the criminalists at the California Department of Justice for their continued dedication to investigating murder cases that have remained unsolved for decades. Their expertise and use of the latest forensic technology are helping bring long-awaited closure to families and ensuring that those responsible are held accountable.”
CSLEA President Alan Barcelona
MARIN COUNTY – On July 10, 2026, the Marin County Sheriff’s Office announced the June 10th sentencing of Michael Eugene Mullen who was found guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of Nina Fischer back in November 1973, bringing closure to a 53-year-old cold case.
Fischer, 31, a mother and wife from Sweden, was planning to move home to Sweden with her family in the coming weeks. In November 1973, Nina Fischer’s body was found by her husband in their San Rafael home when he returned home from work. He also discovered their daughter, 2, locked in her bedroom. Fischer had been bound and shot multiple times.
Despite the investigative efforts of detectives, the case eventually went cold for several decades. The Marin County Sherif’s Office Investigations Division reopened the case in 2021 and evidence was re-examined by the California Department of Justice Bureau of Forensic Services Division Laboratory in Richmond, California. In 2021, the case was submitted to the Department of Justice Familial Search Program and Michael Eugene Mullen of Salmon, Idaho, was identified as an investigative lead. Ultimately, DNA from evidence collected in 1973 from the autopsy connected Michael Eugene Mullen to the murder.
In 2024, Marin County Sherrif’s Office detectives obtained a warrant for Mullen for the murder of Nina Fischer. On August 14, 2024, Mullen was arrested in Salmon, Idaho by Marin County Detectives, along with the Idaho State Police and Lemhi County Sheriff’s Office. He was later extradited back to Marin County. Mullen pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in 2024. The Marin County District Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case and, on May 1, 2026, Michael Eugene Mullen was convicted of the first-degree murder of Nina Fischer.
On June 10, 2026, Mullen was sentenced to life in prison, plus a consecutive five-year term.
