Four Days of Terror

The Life and Crimes of Dean Carter

De: Mark Stokes

Narrado por: Virtual Voice

Dean Phillip Carter was a man who hid in plain sight, drifting between California’s sunny coastlines and its dark shadows. On the surface, he seemed ordinary—working odd jobs, socializing in bars, making casual connections. But in the spring of 1984, Carter unleashed a rampage of rape, robbery, and murder that would terrorize communities from San Diego to Ventura and Culver City. Over a brutal span of just a few weeks, he befriended women in everyday places—cafés, bars—before violently betraying their trust.

Four Days of Terror meticulously reconstructs the terrifying sequence of events: the murders of Susan Knoll, Jillette Mills, Bonnie Guthrie, Janette Ann Cullins—and an additional suspected victim—all linked by a chilling commonality and a killer’s dangerous intimacy with his victims. Drawing on a range of sources, this narrative exposes how Carter operated with cunning—and how flaws in law enforcement and witness silence allowed his spree to stretch far longer than it should have.

But this book goes beyond the grisly details. It’s a searing look at how evil can masquerade as charm, how fear often magnifies in silence, and how justice sometimes comes only after lives are shattered. Four Days of Terror gives voice to the victims who were largely forgotten, and to the courageous survivor whose account made prosecution possible. Sobering, unrelenting, and deeply human, this is a story that reminds us of both how fragile safety is—and how essential it is to listen, investigate, and remember.