Dracula Killer: Dracula Killer

Biondi and Hecox (authors of All His Father's Sins: The Shocking Truth About California's Most Gruesome Serial Killer ) offer a fast-paced if facile report of a deranged killer who claimed six victims and drank their blood. The authors first show Richard Chase in a bizarre moment--naked and covered with cow blood--and that glimpse chills as the story proceeds: Chase harassed neighbors, left a perverse token in a house he burgled and seemed paranoid in public. When he graduated to murder, he not only shot his victims but sexually mutilated them. Former Sacramento homicide detective Biondi supplies inside information on the investigation, such as a television crew's discovery of evidence overlooked by police. In addition, he and Hecox produce crime bulletins issued by police and the surprisingly accurate psychological profile detectives prepared of the killer. Luck combined with old-fashioned detective work flushed out Chase, who initially would admit only to killing dogs. But Chase told a fellow prisoner that he drank victims' blood, and after he took the stand in his own defense, jurors decided not to find him insane. He committed suicide on death row in 1980. (Aug.)