About Richard Chase
Richard Trenton Chase (May 23, 1950 – December 26, 1980) was an American serial killer, cannibal, and necrophile known as the Vampire of Sacramento, the Dracula Killer, and the Vampire Killer, who killed six people between December 1977 and January 1978 in Sacramento, California. All of Chase's victims were chosen at random. His first victim was killed in a drive-by shooting; his subsequent victims were murdered inside their own homes, with the primary motive behind these murders being the mutilation of their bodies and the consumption of their blood and organs. Tried and convicted of six counts of first degree murder, Chase was sentenced to death on May 8, 1979, with the jury ruling he was legally sane at the time of the commission of the crimes. He died of an overdose of Sinequan on December 26, 1980, in an apparent suicide. Chase became known by such titles as the "Vampire of Sacramento" because the majority of his murders were committed with the intention to consume his victims' blood in his delusional belief he needed to consume the blood of other beings to replenish his own supply. The murders themselves have been described by a senior investigator within the Sacramento Police Department as the "most grotesque slayings" he had ever investigated in the 28 years he served with law enforcement. Although Chase generally had difficulty interacting with women, he did begin dating girls in 1965; however, he soon discovered that he was impotent, which greatly affected his self-esteem. He would accrue a minor criminal record throughout the 1960s for both possession and theft, for which he was ordered to perform community service.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.