Heath (2:24)

All right, guys, this is episode 576 of Going West. So let's get into it.

Daphne (2:31)

Sam. In the late 1970s, Sacramento, California residents were terrified by A string of bizarre and gruesome killings committed in quick succession. The assailant seemed to have no clear connection to his victims, but his behavior at the scenes pointed to an unsettling obsession with blood and the insatiable desire to keep kill. These are the murders by Richard Chase, also known as the Vampire of Sacramento. Richard Chase was born on May 23, 1950, to parents Beatrice and Richard Senior in Sacramento, California. And he was later joined by a younger sister named Pamela. By all accounts, Richard had a very typical upbringing for that time period wherein his father was strict, controlling, and even physically abusive.

Heath (4:28)

Yeah, just kind of that throwback to the 1950s aggressive dad era. Right.

Daphne (4:32)

Like, it was unfortunately not abnormal for the US at the time. Still very much in the thro of recovering from World War II. But by all accounts, Richard Sr. Was certainly hard on his son, abusing him in the way that can sometimes help create a future serial killer.

Heath (4:50)

It's kind of interesting because, you know, this period of time, we did see a lot of serial killers come to rise in the 70s and 80s, and those were all children of parents from, like, the 40s and 50s. So maybe that's why I wonder if that, you know, this abuse was possibly why.

Daphne (5:07)

Really interesting. I never thought about that. Well, despite all of this, despite the abuse, Richard's early childhood seemed otherwise. Like the quintessential American upbringing for the 1950s. He engaged in the same activities as the other boys his age. Like, he played baseball and was active in Boy Scouts. He went to school, and actually he didn't have trouble making friends. Like, the birthday party his family held for him in sixth grade boasted 50 guests. But in 1963, the family suffered a significant setback when they lost their home to foreclosure after poor financial management from Richard Sr. And it was during this time of financial hardship that the Chases marriage began to suffer as well. Beatrice actually accused her husband of using drugs and of carrying on affairs in addition to mismanaging their family funds. She once even accused him of trying to poison her, which is a claim that Richard denied. But he did admit to drinking too much and being bad with his money. Now, this season of their lives caused a deep rift between Beatrice and Richard Senior. So they wound up separating for a time, which seemed to have a profound effect on young Richard, despite the fact that they later did reconcile. But before they reconciled, Beatrice went south to stay with family in Los Angeles. And when she returned, she moved back in with Richard Sr. And their kids, and they vowed to make the marriage work. In the midst of his parents relationship troubles. Richard was growing increasingly paranoid, and by the time he was in high school, his parents had lost control of him completely. From an early age, his behavior completed the McDonald triad of bedwetting, arson and cruel cruelty to animals, which we discussed in length in episode 518 of Going West. The episode was called Anatomy of a Serial Killer. It's actually really fascinating to see how many serial killers have experienced this triad, though some just believe it's more connected to abuse. But either way, Richard was exhibiting concerning tendencies from an alarmingly young age. For example, when he was just 10 years old, Beatrice found a dead cat buried in her garden amid this rash of disappearing house pets in their neighborhood. So a bunch of their neighbors were reporting their pets as missing. And then Beatrice finds a dead cat buried in her garden. And I think this gives us a peek into who Richard was even at age 10. Because Beatrice wasn't just like, oh my God, how did this cat get in my garden? She went straight to, I think Richard did this. And she felt so afraid of that idea and so frightened by that idea that she didn't confront her 10 year old son about it because she was worried that he was gonna say, yes, I did that. So that's pretty disturbing.

Heath (8:10)

Now, by the age of 15, Richard had started experimenting with drugs as many people did in the 60s and 70s. Drinking, smoking weed, dropping acid, and is even said to have dabbled in meth.

Daphne (8:23)

I don't know about the meth.

Heath (8:24)

Yeah, it's possible acid in the weed. I mean, did they even have meth back then? I guess they did. And by 1965 he would be arrested for the very first time, this time for possession of marijuana. And although he was caught with it, he denied this when questioned about it by his father, likely worried that he would be punished because remember, Richard Sr. Is abusive. So while he was in high school, Richard started dating a girl from school who was two years younger. And from the beginning of this little relationship, they were enamored with each other. But to his dismay, as the romance blossomed and the couple tried to have sex, he was unable to maintain an erection. This is also something that we see sometimes within serial killers. Eventually, the relationship kind of fizzled out, in part because of his erectile dysfunction. And this might feel like kind of an intimate detail to share, but it is relevant because it caused him intense anxiety, shame and embarrassment. And is also believed to have been the root cause of Richard becoming a hypochondriac who was obsessed with self diagnosing as his high School years trudged on. Richard withdrew from his peers and his life seemed to be locked in a downward spiral. He always looked unkempt and grimy, and Richard Sr. Was just frustrated at his son's laziness and aimlessness. So they butted heads about it more and more. Now it was during his teen years that the suspicious, erratic personality that would characterize the rest of his life began to really emerge. From the beginning of his high school career, Richard was a poor student, starting high school with C's and D's and concluding it with multiple failed classes. But somehow he managed to graduate from Miraloma high school in 1968. And his parents were so relieved by this that they bought him a car to celebrate because they're like, holy shit, Richard, you did it. We really didn't think you were going to. Richard then enrolled in college classes at American River College. But his attempt at higher education was pretty short lived. He quietly sought evaluation for his erectile dysfunction and was told by a doctor that the cause was likely mental and not physical. Richard continued living at home with his family, who frequently complained of his odd and very off putting behavior. For example, he would crank up the heat at the house and strip off all of his clothes in order to sleep naked. And he rarely bathed or showered. Like I mentioned, he was very greasy. He would let his hair get tangled and grow very long. I mean, he was just kind of a gross guy. So Richard Sr. Was becoming increasingly fed up with what he perceived as his son's laziness and also his inability to hold down a job or integrate into society.

Daphne (11:28)

Yeah, really though, this is a mental health issue that is not being addressed.

Heath (11:32)

Yeah, they're just not taking care of.

Daphne (11:34)

It at all, which makes sense unfortunately for the times as we're going to get into.

Heath (11:39)

But I will say that Richard did work a string of odd jobs, but was never able to really hold down one for very long, let alone advance enough to kind of turn into an actual career. So he's just kind of doing little things here and there, but his family's like, you're really not. You're not on a path towards any sort of career. And he was also frequently fired for misconduct and bizarre behavior. But he eventually moved out of his family home and into an apartment with two roommates. I don't know who would want to live with stinky over here. But his roommates quickly became disturbed by his habits as well.

Daphne (12:15)

Yeah, once they knew him, they were like, no.

Heath (12:17)

Yeah, I. E. Boarding up his door to keep his roommates out and strutting around the house naked, even when his two male roommates had their girlfriends over to the house. So eventually he was asked to leave. Understandably.

Daphne (12:31)

I had a roommate once, bless her soul, but she one time was like naked in our living room and I came over or I came home with a friend and she was like on acid naked in our living room.

Heath (12:44)

I was like, girl, girl, put some clothes on, yo.

Daphne (12:49)

Well, his run ins with the law continued, and after accruing about 15 traffic tickets, his license was revoked. But this didn't stop him from driving and he bought a motorcycle instead, which he also continued to rack up tickets for, always ignoring them and leaving his mom, Beatrice, to pay up, which she did. I don't know why she did that for him, but she did. In 1972, he headed to Utah on an impromptu road trip to. And again found himself in trouble with the law, this time even landing himself in jail temporarily. And while in police custody, Richard claimed that the officers were attempting to kill him by gassing him or poisoning him. He didn't seem to know which one. So again, this is just showing more of his mental state at the time. He is going to think a lot of people are trying to kill him or a lot of things are trying to kill him. And this is really the start of that.

Heath (13:46)

Yeah, it's kind of that mixed with his being. Being a hypochondriac, but also being really dirty and messy. Yeah, but. But also, you know, I don't really understand why his parents didn't decide to do anything for his mental health. They didn't address it at all. Like, they didn't take him to go see a professional. They just were like, oh, that's just Richard. He's a little fucking crazy.

Daphne (14:06)

Well, we're gonna say something really interesting about Beatrice that makes me wonder if she was in denial about his mental health.

Heath (14:13)

Yeah.

Daphne (14:14)

But also, again, you know, this being. I mean, I wasn't alive in the 60s, in the early 70s or the 70s at all. But I think the way that we think about mental health today is so different than it has ever been perceived or handled. And it was just so different back then. Like, I don't think it was normal to be like, oh, maybe he has some type of issue. We should go to a specialist. They're just like these. He's just Richard.

Heath (14:37)

Yeah. And also, they didn't have, like, you're saying they didn't have resources. Like, you can't just go, you know, download better help on your phone.

Daphne (14:44)

I mean, you know what I think about is American Horror Story Season 2 Asylum and how like that takes place in the 60s back when there were like, quote unquote, insane asylums and mental institutions to that degree. So, I mean, I know that's a TV show, but I just know that mental health was looked at very differently back then.

Heath (15:02)

Yeah.

Daphne (15:02)

And yeah, he is not getting the care he needs. Well, that same summer, Beatrice and Richard Senior decided that they had had enough trying to make things work with their marriage and now their kids, young adults and, you know, I, I wouldn't put it past them to be just exhausted by dealing with Richard together and that affecting their marriage. So they split for good in June of 1972. Now, Richard dropped out of college for good by 1971, and his paranoia and anxiety, especially where his health was concerned, were reaching an all time high. He was constantly going to the doctor with diagnoses that he had concocted himself. And when they couldn't help him with his perceived ailments because there was nothing physically wrong with him, he would just consult a different doctor. At 23 years old, a doctor actually told his family that he believed Richard was a paranoid schizophrenic, but it would take years for him to receive treatment. So his issues were becoming too much of a burden for anyone in his life to handle, especially again 50 years ago, when mental health diagnoses in medicine were far more stigmatized than they are today. He had lost all of his friends and dating prospects by this point and had trouble holding conversations with anybody who tried. Despite him being a young adult, neither of his parents knew what to do and decided to send him away for a change of scenery. So Richard moved south to Los Angeles, staying with Beatrice's mom, Holly, and working for his uncle as a school bus driver. Dear God, this man should not be in charge of children.

Heath (16:49)

Yeah, this is not, maybe not the right direction for Richard Chase.

Daphne (16:53)

And this arrangement, as you guys will see, that will be even more prevalent later on when you learn what he does. But this arrangement didn't prove to be any better for him. Despite having the safety of children in his hands, he let the bus grow filthy and it suffered mechanical issues because he couldn't be bothered with the upkeep. Richard slept all day when he wasn't working and paced the house at night, often mumbling to himself. His grandmother once caught him telling himself, richard, you're a good boy, aren't you? Yes, you're a good boy. Which really scared her to her core.

Heath (17:33)

Jesus, that's actually really terrible. Imagine Norman Bates Imagine you just wake up in the middle of the night to go grab a glass of water and then you just see Richard Chase standing there saying, Richard, you're a good boy, aren't you? Yeah, you're still good, Richard. Yeah, it's freaky.

Daphne (17:48)

It's very disturbing. Well, he also confided in his grandmother what he thought were increasingly grave health ailments, including a heart condition and chronic pain in his legs. So to kind of self treat this, he would prop himself up on his head, telling her that he needed more blood to flow through his heart and thought doing this would help achieve that. Soon, his grandmother and uncle had had enough of his antics and Richard was put back into the care of his parents in Sacramento.

Heath (18:22)

Well, of course, Richard's troubles just continued because back in Sacramento, while attending a party of some old high school friends, he assaulted a young woman by grabbing her breasts. And obviously in any fashion, this is unacceptable. But it did cause enough of a stir that some of the male attendees came to her aid. And during their struggle with Richard, a.22 caliber pistol fell from Richard's clothes. So again, he was arrested and again, pointed fingers at the police for poisoning him and causing him bodily harm. He shuffled between the homes of Beatrice and Richard Sr. Remember, at this point they are split up, but neither were quite sure how to care for him. And here's a really weird detail. So Richard would also shave his head in order to watch the movement of the bones in his head, and then started worrying that with his non existent heart condition, his blood circulation was not quite adequate. So in order to kind of offset this, he would place orange slices on his head, hoping to soak up the nutrients through his skin.

Daphne (19:29)

It was like the 1970s version of the viral onions in your socks when you're sick.

Heath (19:34)

Isn't that. Your aunt told us about that, how you put a raw onion in your sock when you go to bed and it's supposed to like, stop you from getting a cold? Allegedly. Allegedly. Yeah. We don't know if it works, but. But anyway, Richard still felt like his health was poor. So Richard begged his mom for help. But multiple doctors failed to tell him what he wanted to hear, which was that there was something physically wrong with him. But just like his erectile dysfunction, what was wrong was all mental. On December 1, 1973, Richard checked himself into the hospital, claiming that he couldn't breathe, that he was having a heart attack, and that someone had stolen his pulmonary artery. Dr. Irwin Lyons, who examined him, wrote that Richard was filthy, disheveled, deteriorated, and Foul smelling, and finally officially diagnosed him as a chronic paranoid schizophrenic. Whether this was a byproduct of or exacerbated by a decade of drug use, nobody could be sure. But he was admitted for observation for 72 hours, and it was recommended that he stay longer. But instead, Beatrice checked him out of the hospital and took him into her care. He was prescribed medication and made improvements, you know, gaining weight and stabilizing his behavior.

Daphne (21:01)

So the medication is working. This is what it's for.

Heath (21:04)

But eventually, he stopped taking the prescriptions, and soon enough, his paranoia was becoming unbearable, as if it already wasn't at that point.

Daphne (21:13)

Right. So like I said earlier, Beatrice checked him out of the hospital earlier because she's like, oh, he's fine. I can take care of him at home. And then it got worse when he stopped taking his meds, which he might not have done if he was still under professional care.

Heath (21:27)

Yeah, 100%. But it gets even weirder because Richard told family members that both the Nazis and the Italians, for some reason, the Italians were out to get him. And he became totally fixated on the belief that the gooey underbelly of a bar of soap was an indication that he was being poisoned and that his blood was turning to powder. And because of these beliefs, he hatched a grotesque and sinister plan, drinking blood to cure himself of his erectile dysfunction and ailing health. And a bit of an animal abuse warning here, but you guys know that we never go into deep details with animals. He started buying rabbits from a farm in Rio Linda, California. And when asked about them by his father, he claimed that he was killing, cooking, and eating them. Sounds like a normal thing to do. Right? But he was actually just.

Daphne (22:25)

Is it?

Heath (22:26)

Well, I mean, some people do that.

Daphne (22:28)

Yeah, that definitely was more common back then as well.

Heath (22:30)

But here's the thing. He was actually just draining and drinking their blood. So he wasn't actually eating the meat. He was just simply draining the blood out of them and drinking it again, convinced that this was how he could heal and revitalize himself. But funny enough, this actually had the opposite effect, because in 1975, this plan landed him in the hospital with septicemia, which is a blood infection, after having injected himself with that rabbit blood. So he's not just only drinking the blood now he's putting it in syringes and injecting that into his body. But basically, he told doctors that he had consumed a rabbit that had battery acid in its stomach and that he needed to drink blood because he had A weak heart. Now obviously the doctors were like what the fuck? So he was placed on a 72 hour psychiatric hold. Again, the physician wrote in Richard's chart that he was likely suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, which obviously he was already diagnosed with. Now when he was well enough to be released from the hospital, he was transferred to Beverly Manor, which is an inpatient psychiatric unit. And Richard was really angered by this, claiming that he had a simple case of food poisoning and and that he didn't even need to be there. Initially, Richard's bloodlust did not improve. And another small animal abuse warning here regarding birds. But again no details cause Richard earned himself the nicknames Vampire and Dracula among the horrified staff because he would trap and kill birds from the window of his room at this clinic in order to drink their blood. Meaning that hospital staff had to be the ones to find two mutilated birds on his windowsill. Even one time when his father Richard Sr. Visited, Richard had blood all over his face. And when his dad asked him why the hell he had blood all over his face, Richard waved off the accusation about killing birds, saying that he had cut himself shaving. But later a dead bird was found in his trash can. Now initially he didn't respond to the antipsychotics he was being prescribed, leading doctors to wonder if the paranoia and psychosis was due to his continued drug use. But under the care of staff and consistent medication, his condition slowly started to improve until eventually it would get worse.

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Daphne (28:17)

After Richard's later arrest as we will very much get into A handful of employees who cared for him during his time at Beverly Manor were interviewed, of course, and none of them seemed surprised that Richard had eventually turned into a depraved serial killer. One nurse named Art recalled, quote, at the time, I told my immediate and distant supervisors that my belief was that Richard Chase now is doing things with small animals and birds, you know, killing them, drinking their blood, and that he would graduate to larger animals and eventually to people unless his, you know, mental illness was checked, was treated and it was going to take some intensive care. It wasn't going to be done by the facilities we had at Beverly Manor. All we did was keep demanding a semblance of custody. I say semblance because the wall was only about this high in parts around Beverly Manor and quite a few of the patients at night would go out, go over the wall and return sometime before dawn. That we really had no means of preventing this. And Richard Chase also went out at night over the wall. One night we went out looking for him. We found him someplace and brought him back. So that makes you wonder what was Richard out doing? It's like he wasn't fully being quarantined from going out and getting drugs, going out and killing animals, doing things that would prevent him from getting better in their care.

Heath (29:46)

Well, he was out being a vampire. You know, he's escaping at night. He's probably out there trying to find some animals to kill and drink their blood.

Daphne (29:54)

Well, Gene, a fellow caregiver of Richard's, attested, quote, he needed extensive care. He was not receiving as much care as he should have gotten or could have gotten. And the whole thing is just a tragedy. But going back to 1973, where we were before that break, when Richard's habits stabilized and the staff could see clear improvement, they tried to keep him there because they knew what would happen if he left, but they were overridden by legalities. And Richard's mother, who again insisted that she could care for him herself, Art remembered bitterly, quote, I voiced my objections to the then director of nurses that I didn't feel as well as many other members of the staff that Richard was safe to be returned to society. And she didn't seem too sympathetic to that. So then I voiced my objections to everyone in hospital administration administer, program director, the doctor who, unfortunately, I can't recall which doctor it was. And then I called the county conservator's office and no, it was just part of the. It was his turn to be released. And anything that we had to say or do about it was just irrelevant.

Heath (31:09)

I mean, it's really unfortunate because these staffers at this hospital are. They clearly see the signs that Richard's behavior is going to escalate and there's just really nothing they can do. They're like, please just force him to stay here. You know, they're doing everything they can. But unfortunately, that's just the way the system works. They couldn't hold him.

Daphne (31:30)

Well, how amazing of Art to make all those phone calls, trying to prevent this. Really understanding the nature of Richard's behavior and his psychosis and his paranoid schizophrenia because he is spending so much time with Richard. So the fact that he cares about society and Richard's well being enough to make all those calls is amazing because also, Art described Richard as sick and dangerous. And Gene echoed by saying, quote, he never should have been turned loose back into society. These caregivers even wrote letters to the families of Richard's victims expressing how sorry they were and vowing to pursue stricter regulations of the mental health patients in their career.

Heath (32:15)

But again, he seemed to be doing better. So In September of 1976, a much more stable version of 26 year old Richard Chase was released into his mother Beatrice's custody. However, shocked at this new subdued and even catatonic version of her son, Beatrice decided that he was cured and began weaning him off of his medication.

Daphne (32:41)

Girl, that's not how it works.

Heath (32:43)

I know. I feel like every time he's kind of getting the help that he needs, Beatrice just kind of pulls him back into his problems.

Daphne (32:54)

Like it's devastating because it's not Richard's fault that he has mental illness and he is getting the help he needs. He has been through so many hoops to get this medication and to have had the somewhat intensive care he had. And then we're just taking 10 steps back and then we're continuing to walk backwards.

Heath (33:14)

Yeah, well. Nevertheless, he was released to his parents, who moved him into his own apartment. He was docile when he took his medication, but Beatrice began to resent the fact that her son's mood was just so different and missed when he was himself, even if that meant that he was a danger to himself and also others. So Beatrice made a decision that marked a final downward turn in Richard's life. Life and also the lives of six other human beings. Concluding that he was cured and no longer in need of Thorazine, which is the antipsychotic that he was prescribed, she weaned him off of it completely. And By January of 1977, he had ceased taking all medication. But by the end of that same year, Richard Chase would commit his very first murder. Still unable to care for himself, Richard's parents would stop by to check on him and bring him groceries. But he eventually became so suspicious of them that he stopped allowing them inside his own place, like inside of his own apartment. His apartment quickly devolved into a hovel and his insatiable thirst for blood persisted. So he again resorted to hunting small animals in hopes of curing himself of of his many unfounded diseases. Many birds, rabbits and beloved cats and dogs of his neighbors fell prey to Richard's insanity. Now, kinda surprisingly, he eventually grew tired of living alone and claimed that he wanted to go on a cross country trip. So his mom, Beatrice helped him clean and move out of his apartment and gifted him $1,500 of spending money. And his dad put him on a bus to Washington D.C. but only two weeks later, he returned, having bought himself a car and driven back to California from the east coast. In July of 1977, he moved into a new unit inside his old apartment building. And there his predatory behavior worsened. He would break into his neighbors apartments and was seen walking around the complex brandishing a shotgun. Now, horrifically, another animal abuse warning here. He even killed his family dogs, Sabbath and Heavy. And when confronted about this by Beatrice, Richard said defensively that the dogs belonged to him, telling her, I had the right to do what I wanted with them.

Daphne (35:48)

I hate you, Richard Chase.

Heath (35:50)

And this really just goes to show you his lack of empathy for anything. It's like he has no connection to anyone else. I mean, these are his family dogs and he doesn't care.

Daphne (36:03)

I wonder if Beatrice regretted pulling him off that medication at that point.

Heath (36:07)

Well, she's definitely going to. Well, neighbors also reported seeing him bring an assortment of cats and dogs into the apartment with him, but that they would never see those animals ever again.

Daphne (36:21)

We do want to warn you guys, the rest of the episode gets darker. Richard is definitely one of the most depraved and disturbing and disturbed disgusting killers that we have talked about on the show. Like, there's nothing inherently torturous. But as you guys can probably assume, he does continue to do disgusting things to animals and people. So we have to keep in a lot of it for the nature of the story, but we definitely try to minimize the more brutal details. I think Heath and I just prefer that. It's mostly safe to say if you're listening to Going west, you will seldom hear any extremely graphic details.

Heath (36:57)

Yes, we do our best to kind of lessen the blow of the more disturbing details.

Daphne (37:04)

Yeah, maybe like rewording some things, not leaving anything out. Just so you guys know, we're not like, doctoring the story, but anyway, okay, just want to say that. So tensions were getting high between Richard and his mother, Beatrice, as she could really sense a downtick in his mental stability. After a particularly nasty disagreement, Beatrice decided to take her space, which led to Richard knocking on the door and Beatrice ignoring him because she just didn't want to talk to him. But then she heard a bang and raced outside to find Richard holding her now dead cat in one hand and a gun in the other while staring blankly back at her. And horrified, she watched as he smeared the cat's blood on himself. So Beatrice was beyond disgusted and distraught, especially since this was the third pet of hers that he killed. But still, she didn't report the incident. This next part is horrific and it involves dogs. But again, I will keep the details to a minimum because I hate anything involving animals. But basically, Richard then began killing larger prey, Stealing or even adopting dogs from the neighborhood in order to drink their blood and eat their organs. In August of 1977, he drove up to pyramid Lake, Nevada, found a remote farm, killed a cow, drank its blood, and even consumed some of its organs as well. On August 3, 1977, Richard was arrested about a mile or 1.6 kilometers from his car, naked and covered in blood, with blood and intestines found inside his vehicle, as well as two guns, one of which was a.22 caliber. I mean, aside from doing this with humans, like, it really doesn't get sicker than this.

Heath (39:01)

Yeah, it just seems like his activities just keep progressing and progressing, and they will continue.

Daphne (39:08)

But naturally, in this position, the responding officers wondered if maybe he had murdered a human person. Of course, their first thought isn't that Richard is killing animals for their blood. They just see a man covered in blood and has organs in their car and guns.

Heath (39:24)

Yeah, kind of assumed the worst here.

Daphne (39:26)

But Richard said casually that the blood was his own and that it was coming up from beneath his skin, almost like it was seeping out of his skin, which never seen that happen.

Heath (39:38)

Disturbing.

Daphne (39:39)

Yeah, disturbing and untrue. So he added that the blood and intestines in his car were from a deer that he hunted and killed back in Colorado, where he had purchased his vehicle. The 911 caller had alleged that there was a dog with him, but there was no sign of the dog when he was arrested. And Richard said that he didn't know where it had gone. And when the blood and organs inside the vehicle were confirmed to be from a cow, no charges were filed against Richard. After this ordeal, he went to a sporting goods store to procure another gun, Lying about his storied history of mental illness to obtain it. He waited out the two week holding period and then replaced his.22 caliber pistol. And according to neighbors, he would fire the gun inside his apartment. But at what they didn't know, was he shooting animals. Well, Richard later claimed that he was shooting at the voices he was hearing in his head. So having secured a weapon again, he began aiming for a new human victims.

Heath (40:49)

By Christmas of 1977, even his mother, Beatrice, had had enough of her son's behavior. If you know, this is kind of like the fifth time she's really had it up to here with Richard. And he was banned from attending the family Christmas festivities. His grandmother, again, Holly, scolded her for this, But Beatrice claimed that Pamela, again, this is Richard's younger sister. Was afraid of her brother and didn't want to see him anymore. Beatrice and holly instead brought his gifts to him and then took him out to dinner. So they brought gifts over to his apartment because they're like, you can't come over here. They claim that he was for once clean and well clothed and that he appeared healthy and presentable. But the facade was nothing but that, because days later, he would begin a murder spree that chilled the city of Sacramento to its core. His first attempted murder was a bust. He shot at a woman through her front window of her home as she stood at the sink doing dishes. But the bullet grazed her hair and it missed her. Then, on December 29, 1977, he claimed his very first victim In a random ambush of gunfire. Richard happened to be passing by the home of 51 year old Ambrose Griffin, who was a husband employee for Sacramento's bureau of land management and a father of three. Ambrose and his wife Carol were in their driveway unloading groceries from the car when Richard cruised by and spotted a very easy target. So Richard stopped to watch him for just a moment and then shot Ambrose without even leaving his car. And then Richard just took off. While Carol was inside unpacking the bags, Two gunshots rang out at the front of the house. And she actually initially thought that it was just a car backfiring. But when she went outside to check, her husband, Ambrose had collapsed. It happened so quickly that at first she thought that he had had a heart attack. Ambrose was still conscious when paramedics arrived, but he had lost so much blood that it became impossible to save him. But still, he was rushed to the hospital, but he was gone within an hour. One of his stunned neighbors told the Sacramento bee he didn't have an enemy in the world.

Daphne (43:15)

So detectives were stumped at who could have killed Ambrose and why. And they wondered if maybe it had been some kind of accident or like a prank gone wrong, like maybe a gang of roving delinquents hit Ambrose by mistake while they were shooting at streetlights or something. But on suspicions that the same shooter was responsible for the attempted murder of the woman doing her dishes nearby, the police department inspected the bullets lodged into the cabinets, and they matched them to the bullet that had killed Ambrose Griffin. So the Sacramento police department feared that the killer would strike again, because now they see this pattern. Well, in addition to a shooting spree, 27 year old Richard committed arson twice in January, Though strangely, both times, he checked to make sure that nobody was home before he set the fire. Then the break in Of a local family Occurred on the morning of January 23, 1978. And again, the Sacramento police department suspected that the same man was responsible. The perpetrator had broken in and ransacked the home. And terrifyingly, when the couple returned home from a shopping trip, they found him inside their home and chased him out on foot. But not until after he had defecated in the crib belonging to their baby and peed in a drawer of clothing. Because this apparently didn't satiate his appetite for criminal activity that day, Richard continued to prowl for more victims. After the break in, he stopped into Sacramento's town and country village shopping center. And while there was, he ran into a former high school classmate named Nancy Holder. So Richard approached her intently, imploring her quote, were you on the motorcycle when Kurt was killed? And this is him referring to, like, a peer of theirs that Nancy had dated. And Kurt died in a motorcycle accident a few years earlier. So Nancy was kind of taken aback at this intrusive question.

Heath (45:24)

Yeah, it seems really random.

Daphne (45:27)

She's like, you like, you know, Richard wasn't friends with Kurt, and this is somebody Nancy dated. So he's like. Or Nancy's like, who are you and why are you asking this? Because initially, she didn't even recognize Richard. She called him a shell of his former self. Not to him. But she reported this later. She told him that she had not been in that accident. And they spoke for a few more minutes or so Until Nancy made an excuse and then retreated out to the parking lot. She's like, I gotta get away from this guy. But he continued to try to speak with her, Even following her out of the store. But when she got away, With Nancy out of the running, Richard sought another victim. So he lurked outside the home of 22 year old Teresa Wallin, who was three months pregnant at the time and home alone while her husband David was at work. As she left through the front door to take the garbage out, Richard forced his way into her front hallway. He shot her three times, killing her after a shot through the hand and two in the head.

Heath (46:34)

This just feels so chaotic because he doesn't really have, like, a particular target in mind. He's just kind of like out there creating chaos and terrorizing a community of numerous different types of people.

Daphne (46:50)

Yeah, like, who can I happen upon? What havoc can I wreck? And the word chaos is so real, Police are going to use that later, actually, because they completely agree. So. Right. She was shot three times. But disturbingly, investigators believe that she was not yet dead when he started torturing and mutilating her before dragging her into her bedroom and slicing open her abdomen. He stabbed her through the heart and then retrieved an empty yogurt container, which he filled with her blood and drank. He then moved her intestines around and retrieved dog feces from the backyard, which he put in her mouth. And by the way, the knife he was using was one that he got from the kitchen, which he then rinsed off and put back in its rightful place. Devastatingly, Richard left her remains in her bedroom for her husband David to find before fleeing out the front door. And when David returned home from work late that evening to the horrifying scene, he called his family and police to the home for help, absolutely devastated and confused as to what happened to his newly pregnant wife.

Heath (48:06)

It's pretty interesting because we mention that the reason why Richard is drinking blood is because he thinks that it's going to cure his ailments. But normally, if we see something like this happen, it's connected to, like, vampires in some way. And even though he's called the vampire of Sacramento, he doesn't ever mention vampirism or whatever. He doesn't mention Dracula or drinking it because he wants to stay alive for 500 years. He just. He feels like this is actually going to heal him.

Daphne (48:41)

Yeah, he wasn't interested, as far as anybody knows, in vampire lore, vampire movies, vampires. That's what I mean, books.

Heath (48:47)

It's very interesting.

Daphne (48:48)

Yeah. And, you know, vampires have been popular for a very long time. But after. In the late 70s is when Anne Rice's Interview with a Vampire came out. The book, shortly after, this was the Lost Boys.

Heath (49:00)

Right.

Daphne (49:00)

And so forth. So, you know, there. There still were vampire movies in the 70s and beforehand. But, yeah, he wasn't into vampires. It was just this kind of like, hypochondriac response of. Of for whatever reason. Just like how he thought putting oranges on his head would, you know, that he would get health from those.

Heath (49:21)

Yeah.

Daphne (49:21)

Through his skin. He thought blood would heal him. We really don't know where that delusion came from. Maybe like, putting somebody else's healthy blood in him would replace his unhealthy blood, even though it wasn't unhealthy. Like, again, he was physically. Yeah, he was physically fine except for actually doing this. Like, injecting the rabbit's blood did the opposite thing. It actually made him sick when he thought it was making him healthy.

Heath (49:46)

Right. Because he doesn't know what he's doing at all.

Daphne (49:49)

Yeah. Because this is a delusion.

Heath (49:52)

Well, Richard's crimes were clearly intensifying in severity and depravity. And Sacramento police were desperate to catch up with the culprit of these brutal and very random violent crimes. Days later, a dog was found shot and mutilated and the dog's family called the police, suspecting that the same culprit was probably responsible. Then, four days after Theresa's murder, Richard committed his worst attack of all. 36 year old Evelyn Maroth was a divorced mother of three children. On the day of her murder, which was January 27, 1978, she was babysitting her nephew, 22 month old David Ferreira and was also home with her six year old son, Jason Maroth. Jason was heading to the mountains with the family of a neighbor friend of his and didn't have the appropriate attire. So that morning, Evelyn's family friend, 52 year old Daniel Meredith, was taking him out to pick up a few things. That January day, Richard struck a third time. In what can only be described as a massacre. Richard burst into the home and shot and killed Evelyn almost instantly. Like right off the bat he goes right for Evelyn. Though he had never targeted children in the past, he apparently killed 22 month old David because he was crying. He then moved Evelyn's body to a bedroom at the front of the house and sexually assaulted her body, which was as far as investigators are aware of the first time that he was ever able to engage in a sexual act because remember he had erectile dysfunction.

Daphne (51:38)

Well, it's interesting that if he was able to engage in this, you know, more so of that sickness that this was able to do it for him.

Heath (51:46)

Very, very disgusting. While Richard also stabbed her body and her face. And tragically, Daniel happened to return with Jason when Richard was in the process of mutilating Evelyn. Thus, Daniel and Jason were shot as soon as they made it inside the home. Daniel once and 6 year old Jason twice. Richard then returned his focus back to Evelyn, filling a bucket with her blood and then of course consuming it. He then fled the scene in Daniel's car and sickeningly brought the deceased body of 22 month old David along with him. And sadly, police would later determine that he returned to his apartment with the toddler's body. But Evelyn's neighbors reported the murders to the police after believing that they could see a body through a window. And then a very frantic search began for David in hopes that possibly he would be found alive, not knowing yet that he had already been killed by Richard.

Daphne (52:51)

Yeah, cause right now they just know that he's missing and not that he is deceased. And that for whatever sick reason, Richard brought him back to his own apartment. So detectives are scrambling to find this deviant who is responsible for the heinous crimes, sure that he would strike again. All six murders occurred within one square mile, or 1.6 kilometers of each other. So he was acting in a very short distance. At every scene of the crime, including the near miss of the woman who was doing the dishes, shell casings of a.22 caliber gun were recovered. In the press. The Sacramento County Sheriff proclaimed that the murders were the most grotesque slangs that he had seen in nearly 30 years on the force. So with the community completely on edge and the Sacramento Police Department frantic for answers, the FBI joined the search.

Heath (53:47)

I mean, it probably wouldn't take that long to find Richard, because I'm sure he's just trolloping around Sacramento, probably naked and covered in blood, you know.

Daphne (53:56)

Well, they had a really good description of him too, based on witness sightings and other things. So basically, the FBI helped to conclude that the man responsible would be a white man, likely between the ages of 25 and 37, with a thin, even malnourished appearance. He would be single, unemployed, and a loner with a slovenly home and a disheveled appearance, as well as a history of both mental illness and drug use.

Heath (54:24)

Wow. They nailed that.

Commercial Narrator (54:26)

Yeah.

Daphne (54:26)

Insanely accurate, right? So again, this description in part came from a witness sighting, but also from him being classified as a power and control serial killer whose crime spree was characterized by disorganization and chaos.

Heath (54:43)

There comes that word.

Daphne (54:44)

There is that word. A police sketch of the believed perpetrator was released. We'll put it online. You know, kind of. Kind of looks like Richard. Just based on both the burglary and from accounts of neighbors at Teresa's home who had actually seen Richard on the day that Teresa was killed. And they described a crazed looking man in an orange coat. So guess what? When the sketch was circulated, Nancy Holder recognized this as her former classmate, down to that nasty orange coat he was wearing when they saw each other shortly before he killed Teresa.

Heath (55:23)

Kind of crazy that she could have potentially been a victim of Richards.

Daphne (55:28)

Had she gonna be?

Heath (55:30)

Yeah, she was gonna be, but she fled. She got the hell out of there.

Daphne (55:33)

Yeah, it's amazing and it's kind of crazy that it kind of like circles back to her. And she is the reason essentially, that he was caught, or part of the reason, because guess what? Her father in law was a police officer. So she tipped him off, connecting Richard to the unsolved cases for the first time. And as detectives looked into this tip, they found Daniel's station wagon abandoned near Richard's home because, of course, Richard had stolen it and driven off. So they look into Richard, and they find Daniel's car outside the house, and they're like, you know, boom, boom, boom.

Heath (56:10)

Well, the day after the massacre at the home of the more oaths, January 28, 1978, the Sacramento Police descended on Richard's apartment to question him, but he refused to answer the door, barricading himself inside. The apartment next door happened to be vacant, so detectives monitored his movements through the wall, which is pretty crazy, Knowing that he would have to emerge eventually. Officers hid down the hallway. And when Richard finally exited the apartment holding an armful of bloody rags, he locked eyes with one of the officers. And then he took off running. He was essentially caught red handed, but he barely made it to the apartment next door in his outdoor courtyard before he was tackled to the ground, still wearing his very filthy orange coat. He also had with him a bucket containing remnants of blood, the circumference of which left rings in the carpet of Evelyn's home. So they knew that it had come from the murder scene. On his person, he was carrying Daniel's wallet, family pictures belonging to Evelyn, and a.22 caliber gun whose shell casings matched the scene of each of his murders. I'm sure they were shocked because he literally just had all of this evidence on him. Well, Richard's apartment was searched, and as expected, it was a complete mess with rancid meat and trash strewn everywhere. The only thing he kept pristine were his knives, which were maintained with surgical perfection. He was keeping animal body parts in his fridge, and raw remains were also found in his blender. There was brain matter on his bed and on the bloody rags, remains which were believed to belong to baby David Ferreira. David's body was finally found two months later on March 24, 1978, because he had been discarded next to the Arcade Wesleyan church in Sacramento, less than a mile, or about 1 km from Richard's apartment, after a maintenance employee for the church found his head in a cardboard box along with the keys to Daniel's car.

Daphne (58:30)

So horrific. And that's probably what he was doing back at his apartment with David's body. Well, Richard Chase's trial commenced on January 2, 1979. He was about 28 years old then at the Santa Clara county supreme court. And though he feigned innocence at first, Richard had eventually admitted to his crimes, but only because he wanted to receive a reprieve, because of his mental illness. You know, he wanted to be able to plead insanity. Now his defense team submitted a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. But Richard was found competent to stand trial.

Heath (59:08)

Which is kind of crazy considering his history with mental illness.

Daphne (59:12)

Well, that's the thing. So obviously we know he suffered severe mental illness, but the reason that his insanity excuse was called into question was actually based on the fact that he had enough foresight to wear gloves and to wash off the knife at the scene of Teresa's murder.

Heath (59:27)

Right.

Daphne (59:28)

So yes, he was quote unquote insane in the sense that he experienced psychosis and he had paranoid schizophrenia.

Heath (59:36)

But he was also trying to cover his tracks and cover up the crimes.

Daphne (59:40)

Yeah. So he wasn't like, like insane in the proper terms, I guess. Now though originally set to take place in Sacramento, as you guys can imagine, the trial proceedings had to be moved to Palo Alto because which is right outside of Sacramento because of the notoriety that he had been receiving in his hometown. Because everybody was frickin talking about this horrific story. Forensic psychologist testified that he suffered from a persecution complex and paranoid delusion. But on May 8, 1979, he was found guilty and sentenced to death by way of the gas chamber. But he wouldn't even make it there. His life of inflicting cruelty on innocent animals and people around him came to an abrupt and very unceremonious end when only a year and a half later, on December 26, 1980, just after 11am Richard was found unresponsive in his jail cell. While awaiting his fate at California's famed death row prison, San Quentin, 30 year old Richard Chase died of an overdose which was believed to be self inflicted. Investigators believe that he had been kind of squirreling away the tranquilizers and antidepressants that he was prescribed and stockpiling the medication in order to take his own life. That morning when the guard asked if he wanted breakfast, he found Richard unresponsive. But the guard made sure he was still breathing. And at the time he was. But within a few hours, his position unmoving, the guards discovered that he had succumbed to his overdose. Though he did leave behind a rambling, incoherent four page letter. But it really just contained a bunch of unknown code. He did mention zapping things as well as outer space. But detectives claim that these musings were things that only Richard could understand. In the month before his death, Richard's trouble grasping reality persisted despite being put on a regimented set of prescription psychiatric medications. But seemed like he was obviously like I'M saying stockpiling a lot of those. So I don't know what exactly he was actually taking, what he was spitting out, what he was pocketing and how that would affect this kind of continual decline. Well, he continued to complain in prison about how his mom and sister were attempting to poison his food, even though obviously they were not in prison with him. And for the two months leading up to his death, he'd actually been on a hunger strike because of this. Ken Holmes of the coroner's office explained he had not eaten for about eight to 10 days. He'd eat about once a week. He ate once or twice early in November on about the 4th and the 14th, and once late in November. Then he ate one or two times in December. So in the weeks leading up to his death, his already very thin frame lost another 20 pounds. He also refused to go outside. A decade after his death in 1992, a Sacramento detective on his case, Ray Biondi, wrote, I did note the irony in the way in which he died. Richard Chase ended up being poisoned to death. Alright. By his own hand. Now, frankly, I was just relieved he was gone foreign. Thank you so much everybody for listening to this episode of Going West.

Heath (63:24)

Yes, thank you guys so much for listening to that very, very disturbing episode of Going West.

Daphne (63:30)

Yeah, I can't think of a more disturbing episode that we've covered. I mean, the Heath and I were saying this off, off microphone, but it's like if Richard Chase isn't insane, I don't know know what insane is.

Heath (63:42)

Yeah, if he's not insane, the word insane just shouldn't even exist.

Daphne (63:47)

Yeah, that was so disturbing. Thank you guys for tuning in to that episode. Check out our socials as always for photos related to this case and every other case. Make sure you follow us on Tik Tok. We always make a bunch of videos over there as well if you want to see Heath and I.

Heath (64:02)

And yeah, also just want to mention that if you have a case suggestion for going well, a case that you would like us to cover on the show, please send us an email. You can send that over to going west podcast gmail.com.

Daphne (64:17)

Yes, we are very behind. We don't reply to all of you guys and we're so sorry but we get so many emails. But they are all welcome because we.

Heath (64:25)

Got a very long list.

Daphne (64:26)

We got to keep going. We got to keep this, this show going for years. So send them in. Thank you guys so much and we will see you on Tuesday.

Heath (64:33)

Alright guys, so for everybody out there.

Daphne (64:35)

In the world, don't be a stranger. Hi, I'm Angie Hicks, co founder of Angie. When you use Angie for your home projects, you know all your jobs will be done well, from roof repair to emergency plumbing and more done well. So the next time you have a home project, leave it to the pros. Get started at angie. Com.