Richard Chase: The Vampire Of Sacramento
Richard Chase is remembered as the Vampire of Sacramento—a man whose crimes shocked investigators, terrified an entire city, and became one of the most infamous cases in FBI profiling history. But what if the most disturbing part of this story isn't what Richard Chase did? What if it's the fact that almost everyone saw it coming? Years before six people were murdered in Sacramento, Chase had been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, repeatedly hospitalized, and documented exhibiting profoundly disturbing behavior. Nurses feared him. Doctors treated him. Psychiatric staff begged for him to remain hospitalized. Then he was released.
Published October 1, 2026 | Featuring: Jessica Strohm
Richard Chase: The Vampire of Sacramento, California
Richard Chase is one of the most infamous serial killers in American history. Known as the “Vampire of Sacramento,” his crimes between December 1977 and January 1978 were so shocking that veteran homicide detectives, forensic investigators, and FBI profilers described them as unlike anything they had encountered before.
But this episode isn't just about the murders. It's about everything that happened before them. Through hospital records, psychiatric evaluations, interviews with Beverly Manor staff, court documents, and the historical context surrounding California's mental health system in the 1970s, this episode asks a difficult question:
What happens when everyone recognizes danger—but no one has the legal authority to stop it?
Along the way, we explore:
- Richard Chase's childhood and early psychiatric history
- The progression of untreated schizophrenia
- The warning signs documented years before the murders
- The disturbing events at Pyramid Lake, Nevada
- The murders of Ambrose Griffin, Teresa Wallin, Daniel Meredith, Evelyn Miroth, Jason Miroth, and David Ferreira
- The role of Beverly Manor Psychiatric Hospital
- Why nurses Art and Jean believed Chase should never have been released
- California's Lanterman-Petris-Short (LPS) Act and the deinstitutionalization movement
- The ethical tension between civil liberties and public safety
- Whether systemic failures can exist alongside individual responsibility
Ultimately, this episode argues that the Richard Chase case cannot be understood as the story of one man alone.
It is also the story of a mental health system undergoing profound change, a legal framework built to protect civil liberties, clinicians who tried to intervene, families asked to shoulder responsibilities, and six innocent people whose lives were forever changed by the gap between recognizing danger and being legally permitted to act.
“Sometimes, the hardest questions true crime surfaces aren't about guilt; They're about responsibility.”
— Jessica Strohm, Host & Show Creator
Sources & Further Reading
Sources Used in This Episode
Ray Biondi & Walt Hecox
The definitive investigative account written by the Sacramento homicide detective who led the Richard Chase investigation — a primary source for this episode's account of the investigation, Beverly Manor staff interviews, and chronology of events.
Robert K. Ressler & Tom Shachtman
Former FBI profiler Robert Ressler discusses interviewing Richard Chase and how the case influenced the FBI's understanding of disorganized offenders and criminal profiling.
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Background material on early FBI profiling methods and the classification of organized versus disorganized offenders.
California Legislative Information
The legislation that fundamentally reshaped California's civil commitment laws and forms the legal backdrop for Richard Chase's release.
Historical Context
AMA Journal of Ethics
Background on the mid-20th-century shift away from long-term psychiatric hospitalization that shaped the mental health system Richard Chase moved through.
Blake Erickson — American Journal of Psychiatry Residents' Journal
An examination of the optimistic assumptions behind the Community Mental Health Act of 1963 and how they shaped deinstitutionalization policy.
Additional Reading
Kevin Dutton
A psychologist's look at how certain psychopathic traits, in measured doses, can edge toward confidence and functional success rather than harm.
Elyn R. Saks
A powerful memoir offering insight into schizophrenia from the perspective of someone living with the illness.
NAMI
Resources explaining schizophrenia, treatment, anosognosia, and community mental health.
Treatment Advocacy Center
Research on severe mental illness, anosognosia, civil commitment laws, and public policy.
Documentaries & Interviews
KCRA-TV / Center for Sacramento History
KCRA-TV courtroom footage from Richard Chase's 1979 trial, preserved by the Center for Sacramento History.
Related Enquiries
Belle Gibson: 'Trust Me, I'm Dying'
Belle Gibson had the kind of cancer story people desperately wanted to believe. She said she'd been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer and given months to live. Instead of accepting that prognosis, she changed the way she ate, turned to alternative therapies, and somehow survived. There was just one fairly significant problem: Belle Gibson had never had cancer.
Robert Hansen & The Coward's Hunt
Robert Hansen became infamous as Alaska's “Butcher Baker,” a serial killer who abducted women, flew them into the Alaskan wilderness, and hunted them through remote terrain. Or at least that's the mythology. But I think calling what Hansen did a “hunt” gives him far too much credit. He selected women he believed society would be slow to protect. He controlled the weapons, transportation, restraints, terrain, timing, and whether anyone knew where they were. Then, he treated the helplessness he had deliberately manufactured as evidence of his own superiority. But I have a question: What does winning actually prove when you were the person who controlled the rules?