The “Vampire of Sacramento”, Richard Chase, killed six people in the span of one month, cannibalizing their remains, having sex with their dead bodies, and drinking their blood.
The warning signs were there from when he was a child, but Chase’s mother chose to ignore them...
The warning signs were there from when he was a child, but Chase’s mother chose to ignore them...
The Vampire of Sacramento
Warning: This article is graphic and reader discretion is advised. It is full of sexual content, cannibalism, murder and just about every other vial thing you can imagine. This man was completely deranged.
A younger Richard Chase. On 23 May, 1950, Richard Trenton Chase was born into a strict household. He was physically abused by his father, and a text book serial killer, in that his youth saw him drinking, starting fires, and killing/mutilating animals.
As a teenager, Chase was not unknown to the ladies, and did have girlfriends, but he couldn’t maintain a relationship because of his erectile dysfunctions. During a consultation with a psychiatrist, it came to light that he could not become aroused around ladies, and the cause of this was probably repressed rage or a mental illness. You’d think being told something like this would make him seek further help, but he didn’t, because he already knew that it was only through violent acts, such as mutilating animals and having sex with dead things, that he was able to achieve sexual release.
Chase’s delusions increased, and he began accusing his mother of attempting to poison him, and thus kill him. It was his increased aggravation with his mother that drove his father to purchase a unit for Chase, and move him in to it. Living on his own, Chase could get up to all kinds of things, such as capturing, killing and disembowelling all manner of animals, putting their entrails into a blender and eating them raw. He told himself that by doing this, he was preventing his heart from shrinking. In his sick mind, his heart was on the way out, shrinking to oblivion – and once it was so small it would disappear, he would die.
As a teenager, Chase was not unknown to the ladies, and did have girlfriends, but he couldn’t maintain a relationship because of his erectile dysfunctions. During a consultation with a psychiatrist, it came to light that he could not become aroused around ladies, and the cause of this was probably repressed rage or a mental illness. You’d think being told something like this would make him seek further help, but he didn’t, because he already knew that it was only through violent acts, such as mutilating animals and having sex with dead things, that he was able to achieve sexual release.
Chase’s delusions increased, and he began accusing his mother of attempting to poison him, and thus kill him. It was his increased aggravation with his mother that drove his father to purchase a unit for Chase, and move him in to it. Living on his own, Chase could get up to all kinds of things, such as capturing, killing and disembowelling all manner of animals, putting their entrails into a blender and eating them raw. He told himself that by doing this, he was preventing his heart from shrinking. In his sick mind, his heart was on the way out, shrinking to oblivion – and once it was so small it would disappear, he would die.
Richard Chase. Chase’s delusions grew, and in 1975 he went so far as to inject a rabbit’s blood into his veins, which caused blood poisoning. The hospital referred him to a mental institution, and he was committed. He managed to escape, fleeing to his mother’s house, but was captured, and this time sent to an institution for the criminally insane. The staff at this institution nicknamed him “Dracula” when they once found him covered in blood. He had managed to capture two birds through the bars of his window – snapping their necks and sucking out their blood.
During his time at this institution he was prescribed a medley of medication, which turned him into a walking zombie. When he was so timid that he could hardly talk, he was released back into the custody of his parents, but his mother wanted her son back, so crazily weaned him off the antischizophrenic medication that was the only thing keeping him from doing what he would eventually do....
Before long, Chase was back to his old tricks of killing, mutilating and eating stray animals, such as dogs and cats. He also developed a macabre fascination with firearms, and bought himself several handguns, practicing his shooting in an obsessive capacity. His delusions started to turn towards a conspiracy which had him believing that Nazi’s (or perhaps UFOs) were storing poison under his soap dish in order to kill him, by turning his blood into powder... he also believed that the same thing was happening to the serial killer known as the Hillside Strangler.
Chase’s mental declination saw him lose all vestige of personal hygiene. He did not bathe, brush his teeth, and rarely ate, which resulted in him losing a vast amount of weight. One day he rang his mother’s doorbell, and when she opened the door, he was standing on her doorstep with a cat in his hands. As she watched he bit into the stomach of the cat and smeared its blood all over his face. His mother did not report this, she simply closed the door.
I could go on and on with all of the depraved acts Chase performed in relation to animals, but instead we will move on to the humans who were his victims.
During his time at this institution he was prescribed a medley of medication, which turned him into a walking zombie. When he was so timid that he could hardly talk, he was released back into the custody of his parents, but his mother wanted her son back, so crazily weaned him off the antischizophrenic medication that was the only thing keeping him from doing what he would eventually do....
Before long, Chase was back to his old tricks of killing, mutilating and eating stray animals, such as dogs and cats. He also developed a macabre fascination with firearms, and bought himself several handguns, practicing his shooting in an obsessive capacity. His delusions started to turn towards a conspiracy which had him believing that Nazi’s (or perhaps UFOs) were storing poison under his soap dish in order to kill him, by turning his blood into powder... he also believed that the same thing was happening to the serial killer known as the Hillside Strangler.
Chase’s mental declination saw him lose all vestige of personal hygiene. He did not bathe, brush his teeth, and rarely ate, which resulted in him losing a vast amount of weight. One day he rang his mother’s doorbell, and when she opened the door, he was standing on her doorstep with a cat in his hands. As she watched he bit into the stomach of the cat and smeared its blood all over his face. His mother did not report this, she simply closed the door.
I could go on and on with all of the depraved acts Chase performed in relation to animals, but instead we will move on to the humans who were his victims.
22 month old David Ferreira's body was discovered in this box. Chase killed his first victim as a ‘warm up’ for what he had planned in the future. On 29 December, 1977, 51 year old Ambrose Griffin, an engineer and father of two, was helping his wife unpack her car, when Chase drove by and shot him, fleeing the scene.
On 11 January, 1978, Chase broke into the house to David and Teresa Wallin. David was at work, and Teresa, who was three months pregnant at the time, was home alone. Chase killed Teresa by shooting her three times. It was what he did next that was really shocking. Teresa’s body, after being brutally murdered, was then desecrated further by Chase having sex with it, mutilating it, and then bathing himself in her blood.
On 27 January, that same year, Chase entered the home of 38 year old Evelyn Miroth. Inside the house he found Evelyn’s neighbour Don Meredith, who he fatally shot at point blank range. He stole Don’s wallet and keys, before coming across Evelyn’s 6 year old son Jason who had fled into her bedroom at the sound. Chase ran after him, and on the way he shot Evelyn’s 22 month old nephew David in the head, and eventually caught up with Jason too, shooting him at point blank range.
He found Evelyn in the bathroom, having a bath. He shot her once in the head, killing her instantly. He dragged her body to the bed, sliced her open in various places in order to drink her blood, and sodomized her.
He did many other things to these bodies which I won’t go into, but it got much, much worse.
He was disturbed by a knock on the door, so he grabbed the body of the little 22 month baby and fled, driving Don’s car away from the scene. When he returned to his house, he mutilated and consumed the body of the baby, before dumping it in the grounds of a nearby church.
On 11 January, 1978, Chase broke into the house to David and Teresa Wallin. David was at work, and Teresa, who was three months pregnant at the time, was home alone. Chase killed Teresa by shooting her three times. It was what he did next that was really shocking. Teresa’s body, after being brutally murdered, was then desecrated further by Chase having sex with it, mutilating it, and then bathing himself in her blood.
On 27 January, that same year, Chase entered the home of 38 year old Evelyn Miroth. Inside the house he found Evelyn’s neighbour Don Meredith, who he fatally shot at point blank range. He stole Don’s wallet and keys, before coming across Evelyn’s 6 year old son Jason who had fled into her bedroom at the sound. Chase ran after him, and on the way he shot Evelyn’s 22 month old nephew David in the head, and eventually caught up with Jason too, shooting him at point blank range.
He found Evelyn in the bathroom, having a bath. He shot her once in the head, killing her instantly. He dragged her body to the bed, sliced her open in various places in order to drink her blood, and sodomized her.
He did many other things to these bodies which I won’t go into, but it got much, much worse.
He was disturbed by a knock on the door, so he grabbed the body of the little 22 month baby and fled, driving Don’s car away from the scene. When he returned to his house, he mutilated and consumed the body of the baby, before dumping it in the grounds of a nearby church.
The Richard Chase blender... Five days after this horrendous mass-murder, Chase was on the FBI’s radar. The police went to visit him, but he refused to open the door and speak with them. They hid outside his apartment, and eventually he emerged, and they arrested him. On his person he had Dan Meredith’s wallet, as well as a box which contained bloody wallpaper and a gun covered in blood. When the police searched his apartment they found that blood was soaked over everything, and that the blender he used to make ‘smoothies’ out of the remains of people and animals, was caked with coagulated blood and internal organs. The fridge contained some internal organs of Evelyn Miroth and Teresa Wallin, and the little boy David’s brains in a Tupperware container. He was well and truly caught.
He was found guilty of six counts of first degree murder, and sentenced to die in the gas chamber. Due to his completely psychotic nature, he was even feared in prison. On 26 December 1980, a guard doing the rounds found Chase dead in his cell. An autopsy found that he had overdosed himself on prison issued antidepressant medication – a much gentler death than he deserved.
He was found guilty of six counts of first degree murder, and sentenced to die in the gas chamber. Due to his completely psychotic nature, he was even feared in prison. On 26 December 1980, a guard doing the rounds found Chase dead in his cell. An autopsy found that he had overdosed himself on prison issued antidepressant medication – a much gentler death than he deserved.
By Peet Banks 2014
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