Richard Trenton Chase was born on May 23, 1950, in Santa Clara County, California. He grew up in Sacramento, California, shortly after his parents got married. He had a younger sister named Pamela. In his childhood, Richard's parents often argued. One significant argument occurred during a camping trip in Oregon, where his mother accused his father of having an affair. This conflict created a tense family environment.

By the age of five, Richard showed signs of behavioral issues typical of the Macdonald triad, which suggests a connection between certain childhood behaviors and later violent tendencies. These behaviors include cruelty to animals, an obsession with fire, and prolonged bedwetting. Despite these early signs, Richard appeared to have a normal early school life, even hosting a birthday party with over 60 kids attending.

As a teenager, Chase became involved with drugs like marijuana and LSD. He also discovered that he had impotence, which affected his relationships with girls. In his early teens, he exhibited strange behavior by believing he was a member of the James-Younger Gang and even pasted his head onto pictures of them. He asked his mother for a cowboy hat but was refused.

During high school, Chase had a girlfriend, but their relationship ended due to his impotence. After graduating high school, he attended American River College from 1968 to 1971. However, his grades dropped, and he eventually dropped out.

In early adulthood, Chase developed hypochondria and frequently complained about his health. He had various imaginary illnesses and held peculiar beliefs, such as thinking that his heart had stopped beating or that someone had stolen his pulmonary artery. He once shaved his head to observe what he believed was movement in his cranial bones.

Chase worked several odd jobs, including a typing position while at college. However, he struggled to maintain employment and spent time living with various roommates. His erratic behavior, influenced by drug use, led to conflicts with those around him.

Chase's parents divorced in 1972, which worsened his relationship with his mother. They found it difficult to deal with his behavioral changes, and Richard often believed she was trying to poison him. His behavior became increasingly erratic, leading to incidents like assaulting his mother with a phone during an argument.

After a period of living with his grandmother in Los Angeles and exhibiting bizarre behavior, Chase returned to Sacramento in 1973. He began cutting out pictures of human organs and pasting them on his bedroom walls, seeking to understand his perceived medical issues.

In December 1973, he spent two days in a psychiatric ward due to imagined ailments. He was diagnosed with acute paranoid schizophrenia. After his release, he briefly improved while on medication but soon returned to drug use, with his mental state deteriorating once more.

Chase became too challenging for his parents to manage, leading them to get him his own apartment. During this time, he developed strange habits, such as buying live rabbits and consuming them raw. He progressed from eating rabbits to more alarming behaviors, including harming puppies and other animals.

Chase was involuntarily committed to a mental institution for a second time in 1976 after injecting rabbit blood into his veins. He was treated with psychotropic drugs and eventually released into his mother's care. However, she weaned him off his medication, leading to a decline in his mental health.

Chase's erratic behavior continued. He was arrested in mid-1977 while under strange circumstances that involved blood and a liver found in his truck, but no charges were filed. His neighbor observed increasingly unsettling behavior, and Richard began isolating himself further from others. As he moved deeper into his mental struggles, he stopped allowing others into his apartment and spoke to his mother only through a crack in the door.

Chase purchased a .22 caliber pistol in late 1977 and lied about his mental health to buy it. Neighbors heard shooting noises from his apartment. Chase later said he was shooting at voices he heard. He had already been killing and eating dogs. He shot them in the head to collect their blood. On December 29, 1977, Chase killed his first known human victim, Ambrose Griffin, in a drive-by shooting. Police were baffled and thought it was a random crime. Chase claimed he was angry with his mother for refusing to let him visit her for Christmas.

On January 23, 1978, Chase broke into the home of Teresa Wallin, who was three months pregnant. He first shot her in the hand while she was taking out the trash. Then he shot her in the cheek and head. He mutilated her body, drank her blood, and left feces in her throat. Wallin's husband found her when he returned home from work and was horrified.

On January 27, Chase killed Evelyn Miroth and her family. He shot Dan Meredith, who was visiting, and then continued to shoot Miroth, her six-year-old son Jason, and her two-year-old nephew David. Chase mutilated Miroth's body and engaged in necrophilia and cannibalism. He fled the scene with David's body, later decapitating it and consuming parts of it. He was startled by a girl knocking at the door and left the house.

Police quickly connected Chase to the murders after the family of the girl reported him. They found Dan Meredith’s body when they arrived. Chase was arrested on January 27, 1978. His apartment was filled with blood, and officers discovered body parts and animal organs. Chase had been reading magazines about guns and psychology.

During his arrest, Chase initially tried to run and resisted. He claimed he was framed. It took until March 1978 for police to locate David's decomposed body. Chase went through various psychiatric evaluations. He had difficulty articulating the details of his actions and often retreated into delusions about his mental state.

In 1979, Chase was tried for the six murders. His defense focused on his mental health history, arguing he was not guilty by reason of insanity. The jury found him guilty, and he was sentenced to death. In prison, Chase displayed erratic behavior and was feared by fellow inmates.

On December 26, 1980, Chase was found dead in his cell from an overdose of an anti-depressant. He had been hoarding pills, and the exact reasons for his death remain unclear.