Richard Stobaugh. | Photos from California Dept. of State Hospitals via Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office.

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Richard Stobaugh, a sexually violent predator dubbed the “Ski Mask Rapist” for a series of local attacks in the 1980s, died earlier this month while confined at a state mental hospital in Fresno.

His death, first reported by North Coast Journal reporter Kim Wear and confirmed by the Fresno County Coroner’s Office, came as Stobaugh was appealing last year’s court ruling denying his supervised release to a house on the outskirts of Manila.

California’s Department of State Hospitals notified county officials in 2025 that it planned to release Stobaugh back into Humboldt County, a move that drew fierce opposition from Humboldt County Sheriff William Honsal, District Attorney Stacy Eads, the county Board of Supervisors and hundreds of other local residents.

Humboldt County Superior Court Judge Kaleb Cockrum, who had previously ruled that Stobaugh was suitable for supervised release, reversed that decision last year after Stobaugh was found in possession of child pornography at the Coalinga state mental hospital. 

First convicted of raping an 18-year-old Humboldt State University student at knifepoint in 1981, Stobaugh served five years in state prison and was paroled in September 1987. Within months he committed a string of new offenses: two forcible rapes in November 1987, an attempted kidnapping at gunpoint, the rape of a woman seven months pregnant in January 1988 and the rape of a 71-year-old woman in February 1988.

Prosecutors also alleged he committed a home-invasion rape in January 1988 that was never prosecuted because the victim was too traumatized to testify, and she later died by suicide. He was also discharged from the U.S. Air Force for “aberrant sexual tendencies.” He was convicted and re-incarcerated in 1988. A jury later determined that he was a sexually violent predator.

Sheriff Honsal was blunt in his response to news of Stobaugh’s death, telling the NCJ via email, “I am happy he is dead.”

He went on to note that Stobaugh preyed on innocent women and “left victims and families with scars that will never fully heal.” 

The sheriff went on to criticize California’s judicial system for its willingness to release sexually violent criminals like Stobaugh back into the communities they terrorized.

The Fresno County Coroner’s Office said Stobaugh died on Sept. 10 of natural causes.

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NOTE: Anyone affected by sexual assault can seek free, confidential support from the North Coast Rape Crisis Team. The organization provides crisis intervention, advocacy and counseling for survivors and their loved ones. Call (707) 445-2881 or visit ncrct.org for more information.

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