This maniac became known as the "Vampire
Killer of Sacramento" after a four
day blood binge in January, 1978, in which
he claimed six lives. Previously he had
tried to inject rabbit's blood into his
veins. When he was institutionalized he
exhibited such strange behavior that the
hospital staff nicknamed him "Dracula".
He complained that someone had stolen
his pulmonary artery and that his head
kept changing shape. By 1977 it seemed
that his delirium had been brought to
check by his medication and was released
from the hospital to make room for more
seriously ill patients. Apparently Rich
decided to stop taking his medication.
He started thinking again that his blood
was turning into powder and a Nazi crime
syndicate that had been haunting him since
high school was paying his mother money
to poison him. So he did what any other
red-blooded American would do under such
duress. He became a vampire.
A typically "disorganized"
killer, Chase picked his victims randomly
and left as much evidence as he could
around his home and the crime scenes.
He drained his victim's blood, blended
it with body organs and drank it. It was
the only way to stop his own blood from
turning into powder, or so did the voices
in his head said. He also took some body
parts home to munch on later.
Richard
Trenton Chase The American Vampire Killer
Also see: An Early
Case: The Vampire of Sacramento
In 1979, Chase stood trial
on six counts of murder. In order to avoid
the death penalty, the defense tried to
have him found guilty of second degree
murder, which would result in a life sentence.
Their case hinged on Chase's history of
mental illness and the lack of planning
in his crimes, evidence that they were
not premeditated.
On May 8, the jury in the highly publicized
case found Chase guilty of six counts
of first degree murder and Chase was sentenced
to die in the gas chamber. They rejected
the argument that he was not guilty by
reason of insanity. The other inmates
(including several gang members), aware
of the graphic and bizarre nature of Chase's
crimes, feared him, and according to prison
officials, they often tried to convince
Chase to commit suicide.
Richard Trenton Chase is a case in point.
He drank other people's blood, he claimed,
because he was afraid of disintegrating.
He was institutionalized several times,
as documented by former FBI agent Robert
Ressler, who interviewed Chase, and by
authors Ray Biondi and Walt Hecox in The
Dracula Killer. He was preoccupied with
any sign that something was wrong with
him, and he once entered an emergency
room looking for the person who had stolen
his pulmonary artery. He also complained
that the bones were coming out through
the back of his head, his stomach was
backwards, and his heart often stopped
beating.
Finally he was committed as a schizophrenic
suffering from somatic delusions. It was
here that he earned the nickname, "Dracula,"
when nurses discovered him one day with
blood around his mouth. Two dead birds,
their necks broken, lay outside his window.
Eventually he was released and deemed
no longer a danger. Chase moved into another
apartment and began to catch and torture
cats, dogs, and rabbits. He killed them
to drink their blood.
Early in 1978, after he'd shot a man
just to see what it was like, he walked
into the home of Teresa Wallin, 22, and
three months pregnant. He shot her twice
and when she fell, he dragged her body
to the bedroom. With a knife, he carved
off her left nipple, cut open her torso,
and stabbed her repeatedly. He also cut
out her kidneys and severed her pancreas
in two. He placed the kidneys together
back inside her. Then he got a yogurt
container from the trash and used it to
drink her blood.
On January 27th Chase entered another
home and killed Evelyn Miroth, 38, a male
friend who was visiting her, and her six-year-old
son, Jason. He also grabbed her infant
son from his cradle, smashed the boy's
head, and took the body with him when
he left. Back at home, he removed the
head and consumed several of the organs.
The police closed in and arrested him
as he was leaving his apartment. In prison,
he told another inmate that he needed
the blood of his victims because of blood
poisoning, and he'd grown tired of hunting
for animals. He was convicted of six counts
of first-degree murder and sentenced to
be executed. Instead he died a few years
later in his cell from a drug overdose.
http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/weird/vampires/5.html
