Mark Rathbun is currently incarcerated at Calipatria State Prison serving multiple life sentences.
Mark Rathbun's criminal behaviors became evident almost as soon as he arrived in the United States at age 14, but to date little has been reported about his life before settling in Long Beach in 1984. Very little is known about the parents of Mark Rathbun. The unavailability of any significant documentation on his father suggests his mother, Alice Rathbun, may have been involved with a man she herself really never identified. To date the public can only identify the father of Mark Rathbun father as Joshua Godined, a Vietnam era "soldier" who became deceased in 1969 in Southeast Asia.
Alice Rathbun, a Philippine national, was a local worker at the Subic Bay Naval Station a few miles outside of Olongapo City. Subic Bay was a recreational stopover, military hospital and resupply station during the Vietnam War that saw more than 4.2 million military servicemen pass though in 1967, the year Alice Rathbun first met Joshua Godined. When she gave birth to Mark Rathbun in 1970 she was nearing 43 years of age with no father to help raise her son.
According to published reports Mark Ratbun was raised by his single mother in Olongapo City. He reportedly attended local schools and lived essentially in poverty while his mother tried to support them as a waitress. Since Alice Rathbun had an American father and sisters living in the United States, she and her son were able to relocate to Long Beach in 1984. What mischief or criminal background Mark Rathbun may have already been involved in as a juvenile in the Philippines is unknown, but according to publicly available sources of information his criminal activities in California began shortly after his US arrival.
In 1985, at age 15, Mark Rathbun was arrested on suspicion of being a peeping Tom, and it was downhill for him from that point on. He soon dropped out of high school and shortly after turning 18 pleaded guilty to two charges of misdemeanor trespassing. A few months later he was arrested after he sneaked into a Belmont Shore house and took a beer. Mark Rathbun pleaded guilty again to misdemeanor trespassing and spent a month in County Jail and a year on probation. He was 19 when he pounced on a 19-year-old Belmont Shore woman as she slept, but somehow he avoided serious consequences. All the writing was on the wall for friends, family, police and the courts to see, but no one spotted Mark Rathbun for the predator he had become.
Mark Rathbun's mother would later describe him as "a very happy person, and a very happy child… always smiling… very friendly." His high school surfing companion would describe Mark Rathbun as "mellow" with the overall attitude of a practical joker. His maternal aunt would describe Mark Rathbun as "such a good boy... so affectionate… so caring... never angry." The police officer who apprehended Mark Rathbun dead-to-rights described him as "extremely cooperative and polite, nothing like a typical criminal's behavior." The prosecutor who brought Mark Rathbun to
justice came closer to the mark when he described him as “an
incredibly sophisticated and intelligent predator.” At
sentencing, the female judge got it right when she labeled Mark Rathbun a "monster" and referred to the Webster's dictionary definition of a person so cruel, wicked and depraved as to
horrify others.
NOTE:
This website is not affiliated with Mark Rathbun aka Marty Rathbun, nor the following websites:
Mark "Marty" Rathbun Squirrel
Mark Rathbun Story
Mark Rathbun Independent
