The Vampire of Sacramento

The serial criminal mind is arguably one of the most interesting subjects concerning psychology. From murders by poison, to cannibalism and necrophilia, the question of how a person could commit such an unspeakable crime is answered with either chemical or emotional conclusions and in many cases, it is both.

One such disorder that appears to be common with highly disturbed serial killers is schizophrenia. With one man by the name of Richard Trenton Chase, this disorder was accompanied by somatic delusions. People who suffer from somatic delusions believe that there is something physically wrong with them, even when there may be nothing amiss. This coupled with schizophrenia (seeing and hearing things that aren't really there) made Chase into quite a fascinating killer.

Richard Trenton Chase, the Vampire of Sacramento, was born on May twenty-third of 1950. His father was an extremely strict man who constantly fought with his mother. This factor combined with chemical imbalances could have begun the downward cycle that Chase quickly followed.

Early in his life, he picked up a habit of starting fires and torturing small animals. Even before his teen years, he was killing cats, smoking, excessively drinking and doing drugs. Chase was an avid drug abuser. He had no shame in any of the crimes he committed, which gives evidence to an antisocial personality disorder.

His mental problems were first examined when he was eighteen, by his psychiatrist. He wasn't diagnosed at this point, but was said to carry a lot of repressed anger which led to difficulty with the few girlfriends he had as a teenager. He was unable to perform sexually.

The people that knew him later told of his odd behavior, heavy drug use and complaints he had of people coming after him and talking to him from his closet. The somatic delusions were apparent because of all the physical ailments that Chase reported. According to him, his heart often stopped beating, his bones were coming out of the back of his head and his stomach was backwards.

Chase's case relates to another, wherein a teenager diagnosed with schizotypal personality disorder ran out of his house screaming that his body had 'gone to heaven' and he had to 'catch it' (Abnormal Psychology, Ronald J. Comer.) It appears that Chase suffered from multiple problems that were never actually diagnosed.

A second psychiatrist came to the conclusion that he was a paranoid schizophrenic and had a 'drug-induced toxic psychosis' (CrimeLibrary.com, Serial Killers.) Finally, Chase was put under observation but released much too quickly.

His paranoia grew when he was living with his mother and believed that he was being poisoned. He eventually got his own apartment by the order of his father and picked up the habit of gruesomely killing rabbits. He believed that by consuming them raw, he would keep his heart from shrinking into nothing (CrimeLibrary.com, Serial Killers.) Chase was committed and people began calling him 'Dracula.' He was once discovered at the hospital with blood around his mouth and two dead birds outside his window.

After he was released, his mother decided that he didn't need medication, so she weaned him off it without knowing that he had begun brutally murdering neighborhood pets for their blood. In 1977, a notable event occurred that proved how unstable he was. Police officers found his car in Nevada, its inside smeared with blood. After discovered a bucket filled with blood and containing the heart of a cow, they saw him standing naked not far off, covered in blood. When they caught him, he claimed that the blood was his own and that it had leaked from his body.

Richard Trenton Chase was inspired by the Hillside Strangler (CrimeLibrary.com, Serial Killers) and soon began to kill. As though he were on a hunting trip in the woods, Chase went about his neighborhood shooting people with a .22 caliber gun. Still, no one suspected him.

Neighbors saw him bringing dogs and cats into his house that never seemed to come out. He attempted to break into houses, even when their inhabitants were home. He robbed them and actually urinated into chests of clothing.

His first brutal murder victim was a twenty-two year old pregnant woman. What was most horrible was that her husband was the one to find her, sprawled almost naked on their bedroom floor, obviously raped, with her intestines ripped out and evidence that someone had actually collected and drank her blood.

Chase went on to kill others as well, all due to the fear that his heart would wither without the blood of another creature.

Many murderers were interviewed in order to discover what made criminals 'tick.' Chase was one of the men interviewed. According to the interview, Chase's first killing occurred because his mother wouldn't let him come home for Christmas. Obviously, his family life was never stable, which may have triggered the chemical imbalance in his brain. The following is also what the FBI learned from their interview with Chase:

'(Chase) had killed to preserve his own life and he was developing an appeal based on that. He mentioned soap-dish poisoning. They asked him what that was and he explained that everyone has a soap dish. If you lift the soap and find that underneath it is dry, you're all right. If it's gooey, you have the poisoning, which turns your blood to powder. The powder then depletes your energy and eats away at your body.

'Chase also said that he was Jewish-which he was not-and that he'd been persecuted by Nazis because he had a Star of David on his forehead-which he didn't. He explained that the Nazis were connected to UFOs which had telepathically commanded him to kill to replenish his blood. These UFOs followed him around and the FBI should be able to pinpoint them by putting a radar on him. He then shoved a cup at (one of the FBI agents) filled with part of a macaroni and cheese dinner. He wanted it analyzed for poison.'

When Chase was in prison, he unnerved the inmates who encouraged him to kill himself so that they wouldn't have to have him around anymore. Richard Trenton Chase died when he overdosed on his medication. The main cause of Chase's mental problems was obviously chemical, but it is also safe to say that certain factors in his life triggered the imbalance to take over any ability to think clearly that he had ever had in the first place.

His abuse of drugs most likely played a large part in bringing his mental problems into the open. If anything, they made them worse. His case leads one to believe that he was quite childish and indulged in obscene techniques of revenge. His reaction to not being allowed home for Christmas reveals this fact. He may as well be called an overgrown child, having what you might call 'temper tantrums,' similar to what a five-year old might do when his parents refuse him candy.

Comer, R. (2009). Abnormal Psychology. Worth Publishers.

Ramsland, K. Crime Library. Serial Killers, Richard Trenton Chase. http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_killers/weird/chase/index_1.html