The Vampire Of Sacramento

Mysteries are the things that movies, television, and legends are made from. Nothing in the world may be more mysterious than the Vampire. For thousands of years, these creatures have both entertained and frightened our imaginations. Then, there was the Vampire that kept a community on edge. He was known as the Vampire of Sacramento and this is his story.

The Vampire of Sacramento

The Vampire Of Sacramento was Richard Chase.

Richard Chase was a man who lived in Sacramento, California during the late 1970s. He was a disturbed individual who had a fascination with blood and death, and he became known as the “Vampire of Sacramento” after committing a series of shockingly horrific murders.

Richard’s obsession with blood began in his early 20s when he began experimenting with drugs. He believed that by injecting himself with animal blood, he could prevent his own blood from being poisoned by the drugs. However, this practice soon turned into an obsession, and Richard began to crave human blood.

In December of 1977, Richard committed his first murder. He entered the home of Ambrose Griffin, a 51-year-old engineer, and shot him in the head. Richard then proceeded to cut open Ambrose’s body and drink his blood.

Over the next month, Richard committed several more murders in Sacramento. He targeted men, women, and children, and would often break into their homes in the middle of the night. He would shoot his victims, cut open their bodies, and drink their blood. In some cases, he would even take body parts with him when he left the scene.

The police in Sacramento were baffled by the string of murders, as there seemed to be no connection between the victims.

Ultimately, it would be a former high school classmate that takes down the Vampire Of Sacramento, his real-life vampire slayer, so to speak. She’d run into him out in public, and he genuinely creeped her out. His clothing was covered in blood, and when she heard that the police were looking for a murder suspect in the area, she called and told them about the bizarre meeting she had with Chase.

With this information, the police were able to identify Richard Chase as a suspect. They began to investigate his background and found that he had a history of mental illness and drug abuse. They also discovered that he had been admitted to a psychiatric hospital several times in the past.

On January 27, 1978, the police arrested Richard Chase at his apartment. They found the walls covered in blood and body parts in the refrigerator. When Chase was apprehended, he is reported to have told authorities stories about Nazis and space aliens.

Richard was charged with six counts of murder, and his trial began in June of that year.

During the trial, Richard’s defense team argued that he was not guilty by reason of insanity. They presented evidence of his mental illness and drug use and claimed that he was unable to control his actions.

However, the prosecution argued that Richard was fully aware of what he was doing and that he had planned and executed the murders with premeditation. The jury ultimately agreed with the prosecution and found Richard guilty of six counts of murder.

Richard was sentenced to death, and he spent several years on death row at San Quentin State Prison. Its reported that other prisoners were quite scared of Chase. However, he committed suicide in his cell before his execution could be carried out.

The “Vampire of Sacramento” remains one of the most notorious serial killers in American history. His horrifying crimes and fascination with blood and death have fascinated and horrified people for decades.

Final Thoughts On The Vampire Of Sacramento

Richard Chase should serve as a prime example of why people with mental illness need more attention. Once put into a facility, where he continued to show his bizarre fascination with blood and killed small creatures, he was allowed out into the world and eventually killed human beings. During the 1980s, facilities that were meant for unfortunate souls that suffer from severe mental diseases slowly closed and became nearly nonexistent.

By today’s standards, there is such a need that the Departments of Human Services around the country struggle to free up even court-ordered space. Imagine how hard it is to get a disturbing mental health problem diagnosed if you’re in poverty or underinsured. It’s believed that when Chase departed the mental health hospital his medications were cut off. How different might the story have gone had they kept him there, or had there been more outpatient options? Perhaps the vampire would have stayed with animals and small creatures, instead of moving on to be the Vampire of Sacramento.

References:

Inside the Myths and Mysteries of Vampires

Historicmysteries.com/Richard-Chase/Richard Chase-The Vampire of Sacramento by Jim H.