1. Richard Trenton Chase Vampire Killer of Sacramento
California v. Richard Trenton Chase

2. ATTENTION!!! DISCRETION IS ADVISED!!! Man slaughter Cannibalism Rape
Decapitation
Slaying of babies and toddlers
DISCRETION IS ADVISED!!!

3. Objectives 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

4. Chase’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

5. Who was Chase?
Born May 23, 1950
At the age of 10 began practicing zoo sadism
April : Suffers blood poisoning from injecting rabbit blood
Doctors refuse to release due to “danger to others”
May 18: Chase escapes from hospital

6. Chase’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

7. How he chose his victims
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.

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

9. Violence leading to murders....Contd
October 1, 1977 Chase purchased and stole several dogs- brought two from the S.P.C.A. for $ He kills them, drink their blood and eat some of their organs, RAW

10. First Murder
December 29, 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.

11. Second Murder
January,  Robs and ransacks several homes in Sacramento. Then kills 2nd victim Theresa Wallin (22). she was twelve weeks pregnant

12. Second 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

13. Random 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, He Stole a four-month-old puppy, shot it in the head, and proceeded to drink the blood

14. 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).

15. 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

16. 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

17. 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.

18. The search for Baby 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.

19. Types of evidence left behind
Forensic Evidence
Types of evidence left behind

20. Forensic Evidence Bullet Fingerprint Brain tissue Semen
Fibers left in Meredith’s car
DNA
Fingerprint
Semen
Shoe print
Blood on clothing
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

21. Forensic Evidence Bullet
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

22. Forensic 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.

23. Forensic 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.

24. Forensic 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

25. Types of evidence left behind
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

26. Types of Evidence left behind
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

27. Types of evidence left behind
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

28. Forensic 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

29. Other Incriminating Evidence
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

30. 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

31. The 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, Security guard found him dead on December 26, 1979

32. Further Reading
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33. Make sure to keep your doors locked !!!