In the late 1970s, the city of Sacramento, California was gripped by fear. A series of brutal, seemingly random murders shook the quiet suburbs—and the details were horrifying beyond imagination.
The killer mutilated his victims. He drank their blood. He removed organs and stored them in blenders. He believed his own blood was turning to dust and that he needed fresh human blood to survive.
This was not the work of a typical serial killer. This was the descent of a severely disturbed man known forever as The Vampire of Sacramento—Richard Chase.
A Life of Madness and Decline
Richard Trenton Chase was born on May 23, 1950. From an early age, signs of psychological instability were evident. He exhibited all three behaviors of the Macdonald triad: cruelty to animals, fire-setting, and bedwetting well into adolescence.
As a teen and young adult, Chase became increasingly paranoid and delusional. He believed people were trying to steal his blood. He often complained that his heart would stop beating or that someone had taken his pulmonary artery.
Despite attempts at psychiatric treatment, Chase eventually slipped through the cracks. By the mid-1970s, he had completely lost touch with reality.
Early Warning Signs
Chase was institutionalized in 1975 after injecting himself with rabbit blood and becoming violently ill. While in the psychiatric ward, he was caught killing birds and smearing their blood on his face. Staff nicknamed him “Dracula.”
Despite these extreme behaviors, Chase was deemed no longer a threat and was released into his mother’s custody. She eventually helped him get his own apartment—where his behavior worsened.
Neighbors reported seeing him kill animals and bring them inside. He would walk around naked, cover his furniture in tin foil, and believe Nazis were after him.
The Murders Begin
Richard Chase’s killing spree lasted just one month, but the carnage left behind still horrifies investigators.
1. Ambrose Griffin – December 29, 1977
Chase’s first victim was a 51-year-old engineer shot dead in a drive-by-style attack. It appeared random, but Chase later confessed he wanted to see what it felt like to kill someone.
2. Teresa Wallin – January 23, 1978
Chase entered the home of a pregnant woman, Teresa Wallin, while she was alone. He shot her three times, then proceeded to commit unspeakable acts:
- Drank her blood
- Mutilated her body with a knife
- Removed organs and smeared blood on the walls
- Used a yogurt cup to drink blood from her corpse
The level of violence shocked even seasoned investigators.
The Final Crime Scene: A Massacre
Just four days later, on January 27, 1978, Chase broke into the home of 36-year-old Evelyn Miroth. Inside were Evelyn, her 6-year-old son Jason, her 22-month-old nephew David, and a family friend, Dan Meredith.
Chase shot all of them. What followed was a scene of utter horror:
- He sexually assaulted Evelyn’s corpse
- Removed several organs and drank her blood
- Took the baby’s body with him back to his apartment
When police arrived, they found blood covering the walls and floor. The apartment looked more like a butcher shop than a crime scene.
The Capture and Trial
Chase was arrested shortly after the final murders when police traced back a series of clues, including fingerprints and witness sightings of his vehicle.
When investigators searched his apartment, they found:
- Blenders filled with human body parts and blood
- Animal organs
- Dismembered remains
- Drawings of dismembered bodies
Chase confessed in chilling detail but insisted he had to kill in order to survive—claiming Nazis, UFOs, and poison were controlling him.
Death Behind Bars
Richard Chase was convicted of six counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death. While awaiting execution at San Quentin, he was kept separate from other inmates due to the extreme revulsion his crimes caused.
On December 26, 1980, Chase was found dead in his cell—having overdosed on antidepressants he had hoarded over time.
He was 30 years old.
A Legacy of Horror
Richard Chase remains one of the most terrifying examples of untreated mental illness spiraling into extreme violence. Unlike many serial killers, he didn’t stalk his victims or hide his actions. He was chaotic, paranoid, and openly unhinged.
He killed not out of lust or control, but because he believed he would die without consuming human blood.
His story is a brutal reminder of how mental illness, when ignored or mishandled, can evolve into something monstrous.
For more cases like this, explore our archive. SinisterArchive.com—where the legends are real.