
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, May 9, 1993                   TAG: 9305090072
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: HUNTINGTON BEACH, CALIF.                                LENGTH: Medium

POSTAL-KILLING SUSPECT GIVES UP

An ex-postal worker suspected of murder no longer had the mustache and shoulder-length hair shown in his mug shot, but a shave and a haircut didn't fool a bar customer.

Seeing Mark Richard Hilbun wearing a bright Hawaiian shirt and having a drink as he watched television, the panicky patron alerted the bartender while another man called police.

"He said, `The postal killer is here. . . . The guy on the news. The postal killer's here. I know it's him. I know it's him,"' said Frank McNaughton, a manager at the sports bar.

Hilbun gave up without a struggle, ending a two-day hunt for the man accused of shooting up a post office and other attacks that left his mother and a friend dead and five people wounded.

"He was very calm. He was cool as a cucumber. He didn't act agitated or anything," said McNaughton, who was tending bar. "They didn't even approach this guy with their guns drawn."

The peaceful capture was in contrast to the bloody crime spree linked to Hilbun, a 39-year-old former military policeman with a history of mental problems.

Hilbun is accused of fatally stabbing his mother, Frances, and her dog and then killing a letter carrier and wounding a clerk Thursday at the Dana Point Post Office, where he had worked for four years. Hilbun was fired as a letter carrier last year for stalking a 29-year-old woman co-worker.

Police said that in the hours after he fled, he shot two people he encountered, critically wounding one. Police also suspect Hilbun of a Saturday morning shooting-robbery at an automatic teller machine about 20 minutes before he was arrested. A man and a woman were in good condition with minor gunshot wounds, police said.

Hilbun was booked for investigation of two murder charges and three attempted-murder charges. He was held without bail, with arraignment likely Monday or Tuesday, said Rich King, an Orange County deputy district attorney.

The arrest offered some peace of mind for postal workers in Dana Point, 20 miles southeast of Huntington Beach.

"I feel a little relieved," postal worker Ron Lee said. "But I'm still going to have to get over all of this problem."

by CNB