Richard Trenton Chase

Serial Killer

Richard Trenton Chase: The "Vampire of Sacramento"

Richard Trenton Chase was an American serial killer whose brief but extraordinarily violent murder spree terrorized Sacramento, California, during the winter of 1977 and 1978. Known after his arrest as the "Vampire of Sacramento," Chase murdered six people between December 29, 1977, and January 27, 1978. His crimes involved shootings, home invasions, postmortem mutilation, cannibalism, and the consumption of his victims' blood. His victims ranged from a 51-year-old father to a 22-month-old child. Unlike offenders who carefully selected and stalked particular victims, Chase often appeared to choose people almost randomly. He later described testing doors as he wandered through residential neighborhoods. In his delusional thinking, an unlocked door represented permission to enter, while a locked door meant he should move on. This behavior made his attacks particularly frightening because his victims had little or no connection to him and generally had no reason to believe they were in danger.

Early Life and Severe Mental Deterioration

Richard Trenton Chase was born on May 23, 1950, in Santa Clara County, California. During his early adulthood, his behavior became increasingly unstable. He abused drugs and developed severe paranoid and physical delusions. At various times he believed that his heart was shrinking, that his blood was disappearing or turning into powder, that portions of his body were malfunctioning, and that outside forces were poisoning or manipulating him. Chase received psychiatric treatment and was diagnosed with severe psychotic illness, including paranoid schizophrenia. His behavior became so disturbed that he spent periods in psychiatric institutions. Medical personnel encountered a man who was disorganized, suspicious, physically neglected, and consumed by bizarre beliefs about his body and blood. Long before he attacked people, Chase killed animals. He drank animal blood and consumed animal tissue because he believed doing so was necessary to keep himself alive. This fixation on blood eventually became one of the defining characteristics of his later murders. By late 1977, his psychological condition had deteriorated dramatically, and his behavior was becoming increasingly dangerous.

The .22-Caliber Pistol and Escalation Toward Murder

On December 2, 1977, Chase purchased a .22-caliber semiautomatic pistol. After the required waiting period, he obtained the weapon later that month. Neighbors subsequently heard gunfire coming from his apartment, where he apparently practiced firing the weapon. His actions outside the apartment also became more threatening. He prowled neighborhoods, entered homes, stole property, killed animals, and fired his gun recklessly. By the end of December, the violence that had previously been directed primarily toward animals escalated into murder. ...

Confirmed Victims: (6)

Teresa Wallin Age: (22), Date of Death: 1978-01-23

Richard Chase - Wikipedia