In the article three major components are discussed for the contribution in the birth of a serial killer which are:
· Loss of function in the orbital cortex which can lead to the incapability of ethical decision-making and little control of their impulses.
· Inheriting genes (MAOA gene) that incline aggression and violence.
· Bad childhood is devoid of love, affection, and care.
One of the ancient examples of bad childhood serial killer was Richard Chase. From the birth on 23rd of May 1950 in Sacramento, California to the title of America's most notorious serial killer "Vampire of Sacramento," he terrorized the whole of California by drinking the blood of his randomly selected victims to satisfy a persistent delusion that Nazis were trying to turn his blood into powder.
Being the victim of disciplinarians' parents and beatings in childhood, ten years old Richard Chase did show the sign of Macdonald triad (arson, cruelty to animals, and bed-wetting) which was then fuelled by ignorance of adults and hence lead to violence in adulthood.
Early Life of Richard Chase
He started consuming alcohol in his childhood and made develop a habit of starting fires and mutilating animals.
As a teenager, he could wasn't able to sustain normal sexual function without the aid of disturbing actions, such as necrophilia or animal killing. He had girlfriends and it was later reported that Chase was unable to keep an erection during the intercourse. He took help from a psychiatrist who told him that he might be suffering from some mental illness, and the reason for his impotence might be bottled anger inside him.
In his mid-teenage years, Chase became a heavy drug addict. Chase started to catch and buy rabbits and cut them. He was also seen abducting many neighbor's local pets, which were never seen again. He mixed the body parts of animals and Coca-Cola in a blender to drink because he believed that his heart was shrinking and his blood was turning to powder.
In 1975, he injected rabbit blood into his veins and suffered blood poisoning. He was involuntarily institutionalized at Beverly Manor for that and diagnosed by doctors to have severe schizophrenia.
At 18, Chase moved out of his parent's house and went through a number of roommates, who were scared about his odd behavior of walked around naked and, heavy drug and alcohol usage. The roommates asked him to leave and when he refused, they left instead, forcing Chase to move back in with his mother, who was now divorced from his father. He illudes that his mother was trying to poison him and immediately moved back out and into an apartment.
In 1975, he was briefly institutionalized and given a strong treatment with psychotropic drugs. Even after that, he had killed animals while being in the institute, they shortly released him and ceased his treatment of anti-schizophrenic drugs but he was convinced at that time, that something was wrong with his brain.
Later He was diagnosed by another psychiatrist, who believed he may be a paranoid schizophrenic patient, but was confused because it could have been a reaction to the number of drugs he'd been taking as a drug addict. He was admitted for observation for 72 hours but instead, he escaped the hospital.
He neglected his health and developed an obsession with handguns. He was found many times covered in blood and screaming somewhere in the neighborhood and captured. Later in the institute, he stops reacting to the anti-psychotic medication, which convinced doctors that his behaviors issues were due to the number of recreational drugs he had consumed.
He was released from the facility in 1976, from where he was taken into the custody of his mother. She stopped him from taking his medication and moved him into an apartment where his new roommates quickly left. He continued his torture on animals like dogs, cats, and rabbits and he even bought several guns. During one visit, his mother even saw him opening the body of a dead cat and covered in blood.
He often spoke to doctors and nurses about killing rabbits and drinking their blood. Many thought he was telling tall tales, until one day he was found with a bloody mouth and the corpses of two birds on his windowsill.
VICTIMS
· In 1977, Chase fired his .22 into someone's kitchen. the shot harmed no one, but it excites something in him.
· Later, he shot Ambrose Griffin randomly outside his house when the father of two had been helping his wife with grocery bags from the car. Griffin was officially the first murder victim. Chase started breaking and entering, stealing, and randomly victimizing behavior in the days following.
· On 23rd January 1978, Teresa was taking out the garbage when Chase entered her home because the front door was unlocked. He shot her three times and then stabbed her with a butcher knife. When she was dead, he raped her, cutting off her nipples and removing her internal organs. He then drank her blood and smeared it on the walls.
Chase believed that "an unlocked door was an invitation to enter someone's property."
· On returning home Edward's family finds Chase in their house. He had entered inside through an unlocked door and pooped in their infant's bed. Robert Edwards ran towards the intruder, but Chase ran away by jumping over a fence.
· On 27 January, Chase was looking for an unlocked door when he found 38-year-old Evelyn Miroth's door unlocked. Chase murdered Dan Meredith (51) in the hallway, with a single headshot. Evelyn was killed by another shot to her head and was found nude on her bed, raped after death. Her abdomen had been cut opened and her intestines coming out from the wounds. Six-year-old Jason was found in his mother's bedroom. He had been headshot twice but his body was still intact. But, 22-month-old David was missing from the home. His body parts were found a few months later.
In haste, Chase had left bloody patent footprints all over the house. He had also taken Dan Meredith's car which was found a few blocks away from the crime scene with its engine still running.
ARREST
On 27 January 1978, the police went to Chase's apartment for questioning but he didn't open the door. Instead, the police hid down in the hallway and wait, and when Chase came out, they arrested him. He was wearing the same orange parka in which he was spotted while carrying a box, and had Dan Meredith's wallet with him. Everything was blood-stained.
Searching inside his apartment, police found the walls and the floor were covered in blood and David Ferreira's brain is in a container whereas his body parts were in plastic wraps, and the parts of Evelyn Miroth and Teresa Wallin were present in his refrigerator, and there were also a number of pet collars discarded on the counter.
On 8th May 1979, a jury found Chase guilty of six murders in the first degree. Despite his defense's lawyer argued that he was suffering from mental illness.
He was transferred to San Quentin State Prison. In the series of interviews, he talked about Nazis and aliens and his theories on his need to drink blood and how he selected his victims? According to him-"If the door was locked, that means you're not welcome."
On 26th December 1980, Richard Chase(30) was found dead in his cell. He had been saving his antidepressants and took them all in one sitting.
Sources: -
https://www.historicmysteries.com/richard-chase/
https://medium.com/the-true-crime-edition/the-vampire-of-sacramento-fd9672fe7299
https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/you-me-psychology/202011/are-serial-killers-born-or-made
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