Richard Trenton ChaseVampire Killer of

Sacramento

California v. Richard Trenton Chase

ATTENTION!!!ATTENTION!!!Man slaughter

Cannibalism

Rape

Decapitation

Slaying of babies and toddlers

DISCRETION IS ADVISED!!!

ObjectivesObjectives Name two drugs that Chase heavily abused.

Name two or more modern techniques/ technologies that would’ve been useful in Chase’s capture and trial

Explain the different useful clues available to police at the time vs. the clues use today.

Disease that Chase was diagnosed with.

Why was finding Chase’s vehicle important to police?

For what motivation did Chase consume the blood o the most of his victims

What kind of killer was Chase classified as by the FBI

Chase’s BackgroundChase’s Background From a dysfunctional disciplinarian household

Paranoid schizophrenic

Believed that blood would turn to powder

Nurses stole pulmonary artery

Liked to set fires and torment animals

Heavy drug use

Marijuana

LSD

Who was Chase?Who was Chase? Born May 23, 1950

At the age of 10 began practicing zoo sadism

April 26 1976: Suffers blood poisoning from injecting rabbit blood

Doctors refuse to release due to “danger to others”

May 18: Chase escapes from hospital

Chase’s HistoryChase’s History September 1976: Diagnosed paranoid

schizophrenic Released into parents custody

1977: conservatorship expires and Chase becomes responsible for himself

January 1978: Institutionalized for schizophrenia

How he chose his How he chose his victimsvictims

FBI agent Robert Ressler once asked Chase how he selected his victims. He said that he went down the streets testing doors to find one that was unlocked. If the door was locked, he said, That means you’re not welcome.

Chase picked his victims randomly and left as much evidence as he could around his home and the crime scene.

Violence leading to Violence leading to murdersmurders

August 3, 1977 Police officers Chase’s Ford Ranchero near Pyramid Lake Reservation in Nevada with a .22 caliber and 30-30 rifle. He had taken a liver from a cow and smeared blood over naked body.

Violence leading to Violence leading to murders....Contdmurders....Contd

October 1, 1977 Chase purchased and stole several dogs- brought two from the S.P.C.A. for $ 15.90.

He kills them, drink their blood and eat

some of their organs, RAW

First MurderFirst MurderDecember 29, 1977 - Chase killed

51-year-old Ambrose Griffin in a drive-by shooting. Griffin was helping his wife bring groceries into the house when he was shot and killed.

Second MurderSecond Murder January, 23 1977 Robs and

ransacks several homes in Sacramento. Then kills 2nd victim Theresa Wallin (22). she was twelve weeks pregnant

Second Murder…ContdSecond Murder…Contd Wallin was putting out the garbage. Chase got

into the house, shot her twice and a third time in the temple. She dragged the body into the bedroom leaving a trail of blood. He undressed her, sexually assaulted the corpse. He cut her left nipple, cut open her torso and pulled her intestine out. He then stabbed her lungs, breasts, pancreas, kidneys, diaphragm. He used a yogurt container to drink her blood. And lastly, stuffed animal feces in her mouth

Random ViolenceRandom Violence In between those murders, Neighbors

have reported seeing Chase with puppies entering his apartment and dead ones in the garbage outside his house.

Two days after Wallin’s death, on January 25, 1978. He Stole a four-month-old puppy, shot it in the head, and proceeded to drink the blood

Last slayings Last slayings On January 27, 1978 , two days after the

reported killing of the puppy, Chase made his most famous slaying.

He Kills Evelyn Miroth (36-38), her son Jason (6), her nephew David (Michael) Ferreira (22 months) and her boyfriend Daniel Meredith (52).

Last slayings Cont…Last slayings Cont… Danny Meredith lay in the hallway in a

pool of blood with a gunshot wound on his head.

Evelyn was found lying naked on the bed in her bedroom, her legs splayed open. She had a gunshot wound to the head, and her abdomen had been cut open and her intestines pulled out with two carving knifes nearby

Last slayings Cont…Last slayings Cont… He sodomized her, stabbed her through the anus

into her uterus at least six times, made several slices across her neck, and tried to cut out an eye. Bloody ringlets on the carpet indicated that he had once again used some kind of container to collect blood. He stabbed several internal organs as well

On the other side of the bed, police officers discovered the body of a boy, who turned out to be Jason. He had been shot twice in the head at close range

Last slayings Cont…Last slayings Cont… Baby David was missing and there was a lot of

blood in the crib.

Turned out that Chase had drank Evelyn’s blood and had mutilated the baby’s body in the bathroom, opening the head and spilling pieces of the brain into the tub. A knock on the door interrupted him and he had fled with the body. He took the baby to his house and severed the head. He removed several organs and consumed them.

The search for Baby The search for Baby David, Chase in Custody David, Chase in Custody

Upon the report of the missing baby, police launched a city-wide search to find David. The day after the slaying, police arrived at Chase’s door to ask questions, yet there was no response. Hearing movement inside the apartment, police remained and listened. Chase eventually stepped out, was tackled and then taken into custody by police.

Forensic Evidence

Types of evidence left behind

Forensic EvidenceForensic EvidenceBullet

Brain tissue

Fibers left in Meredith’s car

DNA

Fingerprint

Semen

Shoe print

Blood on clothing

Forensic EvidenceForensic EvidenceBullet

He bought the gun legally, so gun is registered

Bullet striations left on bullets are unique to a gun

Microscopic or ballistic comparisons of the bullet found at crime scene would incriminate him

Forensic Forensic Evidence….Cont.Evidence….Cont.

Brain tissue analysis

The brain tissue found in the tub at the murder house matches baby David’s

When a church janitor reported seeing part of a dead baby in a box near a church, further analysis proved that the body was baby David’s and he was missing part of his brain and the one at the house matches.

Forensic Forensic Evidence….Cont.Evidence….Cont.

Fibers

His interaction in the houses with his victims would have inadvertently left some fibers behind

He stole Meredith’s car and drove it to his house. There would have been some fiber exchange there as well.

Forensic Forensic Evidence….Cont.Evidence….Cont.

DNA

He was the kind of killer who left as much evidence behind as possible

He sexually assaulted his victims

Some of the blood could have belonged to him.

His epithelial cells could have been found on the beds where he assaulted his victims

Epithelial cells could have also been found under the nails of his victims while trying to defend themselves

Types of evidence left Types of evidence left behindbehind

Shoe print Left clearly in blood Analysis showed same type of shoe

print left behind at Miroth and Wallin scene

Semen Left in the corpse of Wallin

Types of Evidence left Types of Evidence left behindbehind

Blood on Parka Blood left from the Wallin and Miroth crime

scene

Analysis Blood typing

Would determine if the blood could have belonged to victims

Important in identifying suspect Seen with blood on similar colored clothes

Types of evidence left Types of evidence left behindbehind

Fingerprints Easily found on many surfaces

Left in blood No attempt at prevention or to hide

Analysis Fingerprint evidence cumbersome for

the period Modern day fingerprint database

Forensic Forensic Evidence….Cont.Evidence….Cont.

Modern Day analysis

Even with all the DNA and Fibers he left behind, they couldn’t use it against him since DNA was not admissible at this time

Modern day analysis Positively identify the victims from blood

splotch Microscopic and microspectrometer testing

on possible fibers left at the scene

Other Incriminating Other Incriminating EvidenceEvidence

He confessed while in custody at the police station. He also confessed to a cellmate

Police found body parts at his house

Bones, containers full of blood, blood-stained utensils were found all over his house

Police found Meredith wallet in his back pocket

Sooo…..Sooo….. Chase was caught the same day that

baby David was found

Put into custody

Trial begun 9 months later (Jan 1979)

Pleaded NOT GUILTY due to insanity

The End ResultThe End Result Jury found him guilty of all count

Sentenced to the gas chamber

Killed himself of an anti-depressant medication overdose while on death row (He had collected the pills and then overdosed)

Apparently died on Xmas day, 1979. Security guard found him dead on December 26, 1979

Further ReadingFurther Reading http://www.trutv.com/library/crime/serial_k

illers/weird/chase/index_1.html http://crime.about.com/od/serial/p/richard_

chase.htm http://roswell.fortunecity.com/seance/500/

killers/chase.html http://maamodt.asp.radford.edu/Psyc%204

05/serial%20killers/Chase,%20Richard%20-%20fall,%202005.pdf  

Make sure to keep your doors locked !!!