How to recognise crimes of insanity

Mentally impaired persons have often found themselves in conflict with the law as a direct consequence of their mental illness. Such persons in law not be found guilty by reason of insanity. There are some pointers that a crime such as murder was committed by reason of insanity. Case studies of the murders committed by Richard Trenton Chase provide some of these pointers.

Richard Trenton Chase killed six people in a span of a month, from 29th December 1977 to 27th January 1978. He earned the nickname “The Vampire” because he drank the blood of his victims and eat their internal organs. On 20th December, 1977 Richard Chase shot a 51 year old man twice in the chest as he was retrieving groceries from his car.

On 23rd January 1978 he again shot dead a 22 year old woman as she came out of her home carrying some garbage and he then savagely mutilated her body. Four days later, police were called to a home in which a whole family was discovered killed. The woman of the house, a 36 years was shot three times and her internal organs removed. Her 52 year old companion was also shot in the head, as was the woman’s 6 year old son. A 22 month old baby, who the woman was babysitting, was missing from a bloodstained crib. The baby was later discovered killed.

History of mental illness
The first pointer to a crime linked to insanity is a history of mental illness in the offender. Richard Trenton Chase was born on 23rd May 1950 and in his teens he became an alcoholic and also developed a penchant for killing and mutilating animals. In 1975, he was committed to a mental institution as a schizophrenic suffering from somatic delusions. That Richard Chase had a mental disorder was not in doubt. On August 3rd 1977, police found a bucket full of blood in his car. He, himself, was naked and screaming and in sand, soaked from head to toe in blood. When questioned, he claimed the blood was his own, and that it had leaked out of him through his flesh.

Lack of motive
The second pointer to a crime of insanity is the lack of motive in the commission of the offences. When Richard committed the six murders the police were baffled; there was no apparent motive for the murders. However at one point Richard Chase admitted to an inmate that he drunk the blood of his victims because he had blood poisoning and he needed blood.

Lack of premeditation and preplanning
Richard Chase apparently picked his victims at random. When asked how he selected his victims, Richard Chase said that he went down the streets testing doors to find out which one was not locked. To him a locked door meant that he was not welcomed. However during his trial the prosecution mentioned several times that he had brought rubber gloves with him to the victims’ home with intend to murder.

Lack of accomplishes
In all the 6 murders that Richard Chase committed, he acted alone; there was no evidence that he had any accomplishes.

No attempt to destroy evidence
Police investigating these murders were horrified to discover that Richard was carrying fast food containers stuffed with human body parts and blood when he was arrested. A subsequent search of his apartment revealed an extensive evidence of all the murders. When Richard fled the scene where he committed some of the murders he left perfect handprints and imprints of the soles of his shoes.

Ghastly or Bizarre nature of the crimes
When Richard Chase murdered his second victim, he stuffed his victim’s mouth and throat with dog feces. And on the day he committed 4 murders he shot at point blank range all his victims as well as stabbing the woman at least half a dozen times. He, in addition, mutilated the bodies of all his victims. He admitted to an inmate that he drunk the blood of his victims

No attempt to flee from the scene
In most cases of crimes of insanity, the perpetrator makes no attempt to flee the scene. But on the day Richard killed the family of four, he fled the scene. A six-year old girl startled him and he fled the home.

Conviction
One psychiatrist who examined Richard Chase during his trial for the murders concluded that he had an antisocial personality, and that he was not schizophrenic. His thought processes were not disturbed, and he was aware of what he had done and that it was wrong. There was no evidence in his admissions that he ever felt compelled to kill. Court ruled that Richard Chase was legally sane and therefore guilty of the six counts of first degree murder.

We value your feedback
Tell us what you think about this story! Write to [email protected] or Whatsapp +256 776 769334