EP. 116 CALIFORNIA: The Teen Who Tortured & Murdered An Elderly Couple: Daniel Marsh
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He's the most terrifying serial killer you've never heard of. Haddon Clark has confessed to several murders, but investigators say he could have over 100 victims. At the center of the mayhem, a cellmate of Haddon's that was able to get key evidence into Haddon's murder spree across America,

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Other than taxes, the only thing certain in life is death. And decade after decade as we age, we have to face the reality that we are nearing the inevitable. And that's why there's a universal respect for the elderly. Because they've lived their lives, they've worked hard, passed their lessons along to their children and grandchildren, and they've served their purpose in this world.

And we can only hope that whenever their time comes, their transition into the afterlife is peaceful. But unfortunately, that won't be the case for everyone. Especially for Oliver Northup and Claudia Malpin. The two were married and lived in Davis, California. Oliver was 87 years old and Claudia was 76. They had worked hard throughout their lives.

They had a loving family with children, grandchildren, and even great-grandchildren. Oliver spent his free time playing folk music with his band, the Pudicrete Crawdads, which he started back in the 1960s. And Claudia enjoyed working with their local theater. As they got older, they were still enjoying all life had to offer, soaking up every second until they had to face the inevitable.

After living such long and happy lives, Oliver and Claudia deserved a natural and peaceful death surrounded by their loved ones. But instead, they would face unimaginable pain and torture at the hands of their 15-year-old neighbor, Daniel Marsh. Oliver and Claudia had never met their killer, and he chose them at random simply because a window to their home had been left open.

So this is the story of Daniel Marsh and the murder of Oliver and Claudia. I'm Courtney Browen. And I'm Colin Browen. And you're listening to Murder in America.

It's the morning of Sunday, April 14th, 2013 in Yolo County, California. The sun was shining, temperatures were rising, and many people were out on the town enjoying the beautiful day. A restaurant named Mojo's was particularly busy that afternoon, and a band named Pudah Creek Crawdads were getting set up to perform for the lunch crowd.

The Crawdads are a folk band that has been delivering farm-fresh acoustic music to Yolo County since 1965, according to their website. And over the years, the band members shared a bond for their love of music. Here's a quick little clip of them performing. Well, the circle, the unbroken, by and by, Lord, by and by. There's a better home away in the sky...

Now, two of the original crawdads were Cap Thompson and Oliver Northup, who everyone called Chip. They had been performing together for over 50 years. So as they geared up for their performance at Mojo's that afternoon, Cap started to grow very worried when Chip didn't show up. In all their years of working together, Chip was not one to miss a performance without calling. And to make matters worse, this was the second show of the day that Chip missed.

Earlier that morning, they played for a memorial service, and Chip didn't show up to that either. Cap had called him several times as well, and there was no answer. So it's at this point when he decides to call Chip's daughter, Mary.

Over the next hour, all of his family members try and get in touch with him, but he won't answer the phone. So they try calling his wife, Claudia, but she won't answer either. Eventually, Claudia's daughter, Laura, and her boyfriend, Joaquin, decide to go to their house to check on them. They both have knots in their stomach as they pull up to 4006 Cowell Boulevard.

There are no lights on and the house is eerily still. They aren't sure what they are going to find inside but something about the scene just doesn't sit right with them. Laura and Joaquin go to the front door and knock several times but no one answers. They try to open it but the front door is locked so Joaquin goes around back to see if he can gain entry through the back door. But as he turns the corner something catches his eye.

A window is open and the screen has clearly been slashed with a sharp object, almost like someone had broken in. So seeing this, Joaquin and Laura go back to the car and call the police.

The responding officers were Francisco Talavera and Mark Herman, and they too rang the doorbell and knocked several times with no answer. So Officer Mark Herman makes his way to the back of the condo where he sees the slashed window screen, which is never a good sign. Herman also notices that the blinds to the home are pulled up, so he pulls out his flashlight to see if he can see anything inside.

The living room looked normal, nothing out of place. So at first glance, it didn't look like a robbery had taken place, which is good. But then Herman walks over to the bedroom window. His flashlight suddenly illuminates a very still body lying in bed. It was Chip, and based on the lack of movement, he appeared to be deceased.

Now, it's not uncommon for police to respond to welfare checks and find older people deceased in their homes. But a lot of those deaths are natural deaths, and that was not the case here. As Officer Herman took a closer look, he could see that Chip was partially clothed, and he had blood all around his mouth and stomach.

So from here, the officers forced their way into the home and what they would find was far more disturbing than anyone initially realized. It wasn't just Chip dead in his bed. His wife Claudia was right next to him and they had both been brutally murdered. It didn't take a medical examiner to see that their cause of death had been dozens of stab wounds to their necks, face, mostly in their abdomens.

In fact, both of them had deep lacerations to their stomach and their internal organs had been ripped from their bodies. Chip and Claudia's condo was quickly turned into a crime scene as investigators worked hard to figure out who could have done this to the sweet old couple.

As you can imagine, the news of the elderly couple who was tortured and murdered inside of their home spread fast around California. After all, this is the kind of stuff you see within the mob or cartel. Chip and Claudia were good people, productive members of society, and they didn't have any enemies.

And as the police roped off the scene with yellow crime scene tape, they would have never guessed that their killer was the 15-year-old neighbor, Daniel Marsh, whose father lived just two houses down.

Daniel's parents were Sherry Hosking and William Marsh. And before they met and started dating, they both had been married and divorced before, but neither of them had children. So in 1995, when Sherry became pregnant with Bill's child, they decided to get married so that their kid could grow up in a stable home with two parents. But sometimes getting married isn't always the best solution. At the time of their marriage, Sherry was 29 and Bill was 45, so there was a bit of an age difference there, and they didn't always get along.

According to Sherry, after their daughter Sarah was born in December of 1995, Bill changed. He became volatile, and the stress of being a father seemed to weigh on him. But despite the rising tension in the household, Sherry and Bill tried for another baby, and in May of 1997, their son, Daniel, was born. And Sherry was the kind of mom who dedicated all of her time and energy to her kids.

She was a stay-at-home mom who breastfed and fed her children organic foods, so they seemed to be heading in a good direction with their stable upbringing. As Sarah and Daniel entered elementary school, Sherry decided to go back to work. And it's around this time when she and Bill's relationship got even worse. They were fighting often and there was barely any intimacy between them. They would later say that they were more roommates than they were spouses.

They attempted marriage counseling to try and salvage their relationship, but the therapist even told Sherry that it might be best for them to separate. So she did. Well, not legally, but emotionally. In 2006, Sherry started having an affair with a woman named Marty, who happened to be Daniel's former kindergarten teacher.

Now, at the time, she and Bill were pretty much separated, but he was not happy about her new relationship, and he would often call her homophobic slurs in front of their children. Their daughter Sarah seemed to be supportive of her mother, but Daniel quickly took his dad's side, and he also picked up on his hostility. For a while, he avoided his mom any chance he could.

and then he started calling her slurs as well. But even though he wasn't a fan of his mother, he still had to see her. So following their parents' separation, Sarah went to live with her mom and Daniel stayed with both parents. But it's clear that their separation had a big effect on him. The once loving and caring child was now angry and hostile.

Sherry figured it was likely because he was constantly hearing his father badmouth her, but she figured it would pass soon enough and that Daniel would eventually grow out of his anger. But that wouldn't be the case. Daniel would later admit that when he was just 10 years old, he would fantasize about slitting Marty's throat. He was mad that she split his parents up, but he obviously never acted on these fantasies.

Instead, he would take his frustrations out on stray animals around the neighborhood. I hate even talking about animal abuse, but it is a part of the story, so trigger warning, because I guess I have to mention this, but when Daniel was younger, he would kill cats, raccoons, birds, whatever he could find. At one point, he strangled a cat and later said, "'Well, I just wanted to. I hated that cat.'"

Now, you will later learn that Daniel is in fact a psychopath and killing animals is a quality of psychopathy. But as the years went on, animals just weren't doing it for him anymore. So instead...

Now, in 2007, Sherry and Bill's divorce was finalized, putting an end to their 12-year marriage. In Bill's declaration of divorce, he stated that Sherry suffered a head injury in 1999 that left her with amnesia. It read,

He continued to write that in 2004, Sherry had a mental breakdown and was hospitalized in Napa, saying,

But Sherry denied all of this. She said that the head injury in 1999 was only a concussion and that she never suffered from amnesia. As for her 2004 hospitalization in Napa, she said that she was never diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar and that her hospital stay was only to treat a bout of depression because of her abusive relationship.

Sherry would later say, quote, End quote.

Now, clearly in any divorce, there's a huge he said, she said type situation. So you never really know who is telling the truth. But based on their children's account, Sherry was known to be very unstable and required a lot of help.

Their daughter Sarah would later say in court proceedings, quote, My mother is not mentally stable. She suffers from bipolar disorder and possibly schizophrenia and to my knowledge is on no medication for her mental issues. She is also physically ill with trigeminal neuralgia and fibromyalgia.

Before her brain surgery in February of 2012, I had to hold her through seizures, be in charge of her medication, feed her, stay up with her without any sleep for many days, and even give her enemas, as well as help her administer suppositories. Sarah continued to write that being her mother's only help was impacting her life.

saying, quote, End quote.

Sarah also claimed that her mother tried to convince her that if she left to stay with her father, he would abuse her. So at first, Sarah stayed exclusively with her mom. But after the divorce, she did start to spend more time with Bill. And she realized that he wasn't as bad as their mother made him out to be, saying, He is in fact one of the most caring, loving, and understanding people I have ever known.

Daniel would later say, "I am not in the slightest afraid of my father's temper, and I am staying where I am by my own free will. I enjoy my father's company and my mother's company.

I like things as they are now, but I would be completely fine with joint custody. I also like being at my father's house to visit with my grandmother. I do admit that I miss my mother and my sister at times, and that is when I choose to go to my mother's house. I am shocked that my mother has gotten the impression that I am frightened by my father and am being forced to stay here. He recommends me to call my mother and has told me on numerous occasions that it is okay if I want to spend time with her. I do not want to be forced to spend nearly all my time with my mother nor father."

I love them both and I would highly prefer joint custody. End of the letter. Sincerely, Daniel W. Marsh

Now, you might be wondering why are they going through the nitty-gritty details on these people's divorce. And the reason we are mentioning it is because it had a lasting impact on Daniel Marsh. Constantly having to pack up and go to different houses where each parent is constantly trashing the other is very hard for kids.

And that was the case for Daniel and Sarah. In fact, around this time, they both had to be treated for severe depression.

And another traumatic event was just around the corner. While Daniel was staying with his father in November of 2009, the two were sitting at their dinner table looking over Daniel's math homework, when all of a sudden Bill starts to feel a sharp pain in his chest. He told Daniel that he might be having a heart attack. So his first thought was to hop in the car and drive to the hospital.

Which is not a great idea. If you're ever feeling like you're having a heart attack, call the police. Because on the way to the hospital, Bill passed out at the wheel. His heart stopped and he blacked out, leaving his car swerving all over the road. 12-year-old Daniel watched in horror as their car continued full speed towards oncoming traffic.

Thinking fast, he grabs the steering wheel and pulls it to the right, ramming the car into a concrete wall. From here, he begins to beat on his father's chest. Daniel didn't know CPR, but it was clear that his father was dying right in front of his very eyes. So he had to do something. And somehow, him beating on Bill's chest actually worked.

because eventually he opened his eyes and regained consciousness. The incident only lasted about 30 seconds, but it was confirmed that Bill's heart had stopped and that Daniel's efforts to save his life worked.

Now, when the media got hold of this story about the 12-year-old hero who saved his father's life, they ran with it. The Sacramento Bee featured him in the newspaper with an article that read, quote, Daniel Marsh is a hero. Daniel was even honored by the Yolo County chapter of the American Red Cross at their annual Heroes Luncheon.

If only they knew what he would go on to do three years after winning this award. But here is a video of Daniel that was featured on the local news channel. - All of a sudden he passed out and sort of flew back into his seat. I grabbed onto the steering wheel and directed it off to the side of the road. I started pounding on his chest and after about 30 seconds, he came back. - From the outside looking in, Daniel seemed like he was heading in the right direction.

Of course, he had a few bumps in the road with his parents' divorce, but he was a smart kid that seemed to be doing very well.

In 2012, he even joined the Davis Police Department's Youth Academy. It was a two-week program for children aged 13 and older where they learned all about police work, including hostage and crisis negotiations and crime scene processing. They also worked with the local SWAT team and the coroner's office. So it was a really cool program, something I would have loved when I was younger.

According to the program director, Michelle Schertz, Daniel really stood out, saying, quote, Daniel really shined in each step. He was very active and stood out in a good way, end quote. Everyone was very impressed with the young teen, and they even extended him an invitation for their cadet program within the Davis Police Department, quote,

In this program, the cadets go on ride-alongs with police officers and learn more in-depth police training. Daniel did enter the program, but his mom eventually pulled him out so he could focus on his karate training. But it is clear that Daniel was interested in police work.

And I'm not sure exactly what he learned in these programs, but it would be clear later on that Daniel was very familiar with crime scenes.

And he knew exactly what to do so DNA evidence wouldn't be left behind. But while all of this was happening, both Daniel and his sister Sarah were attending the Davis Waldorf School, which was a private school in North Davis. Here, teachers and students would describe Daniel as a quiet kid but sweet. His karate teacher, Richard Bacciarini, would say the same, describing Daniel as really intelligent, calm, and quiet.

But in the eighth grade, for unknown reasons, Daniel left the Davis Waldorf School and started over at Oliver Wendell Holmes Middle School. And it wasn't an easy adjustment. He didn't have any friends. And as he walked through the halls, Daniel admitted that he would be overcome with homicidal thoughts.

But eventually, he would meet a boy named Alvaro Garibay, who would go on to be Daniel's best friend. Alvaro will come back into our story later on, but the two spend all their time together playing video games, playing guitar, and having sleepovers at each other's houses.

Daniel also discovered the heavy metal band Slipknot and became an avid fan, or a maggot, as Slipknot refers to their followers as. One of his favorite songs was called Disasterpiece, and the lyrics read, I want to slit your throat and fuck the wound. I want to push my face in and feel the swoon.

During this 8th grade year, his parents still had joint custody of him, so he would switch between their houses, which wasn't that bad of an arrangement because Bill and Sherry actually lived pretty close to one another, but they did still have a very volatile relationship. In 2011, Sherry filed for bankruptcy, and it's around this time where we start seeing another change in Daniel.

To try and gain some control in his life amongst the chaos, Daniel developed an eating disorder. His father noticed that he barely ever ate, so he brought his son to a therapist. There, Daniel admitted that his parents' divorce had been really hard on him and that he stopped eating as much after his sister made fun of his weight.

But the therapy didn't help much, and in 2011 he was admitted to an inpatient center at the Alta Bates Summit Medical Center, where he went through intensive therapy to treat his anorexia. His father Bill would later say, quote, "...this was the only time away from home and family for him."

It was very traumatic for him. Yet he succeeded and was released with antidepressant medication and he had gained the necessary weight to be released. Following this, Daniel would go to stay with his father. But from what I could tell, things were definitely more lenient at his mom's house. Sherry didn't make Daniel take his antidepressants and he could kind of do whatever he wanted over there.

So the older he got, he clearly wanted to be at his mom's house since he had more freedom there.

Bill agreed to that as long as he continued to take his medication. Daniel promised him that he would, and things were going well until July of 2012. Daniel is 15 years old, and like many kids that age, he started to experiment with drugs and alcohol, which only seemed to make his depression worse. And his father was fed up with his behavior.

In one instance, Sherry said, quote, "'Daniel arrived at his father's house in the wee hours after having drunk alcohol. Though justifiably unhappy at his behavior, respondent's reaction was completely over the top. He threw Daniel out of the house late at night, supposedly drunk. I was awakened when Daniel arrived at my home. Apparently, he walked the mile or so between our homes.'

I did not observe Daniel to be drunk, but I agree that Daniel was drinking during that time. Daniel said nothing to me at the time, but a few days later, I noticed that Daniel was not going to see his dad, and I asked if there was a problem. He told me about being thrown out of his father's house, and since then, Daniel and his father have barely spoken. Daniel has expressed a strong preference to remain with me and not live with his father."

So basically because he had more freedom to do what he wanted, Daniel decided to live with his mom, where he didn't have to take his antidepressants and he was free to do whatever he wanted. And this is where he starts to take a turn for the worse. In the fall of 2012, Daniel started his freshman year at Davis Senior High School, and it didn't go very smoothly. Daniel was picked on a lot for the clothes he wore.

He liked the gothic look, with long hair, dark clothes, and combat boots. He had a very "fuck the world" type vibe to him, very different from the preteen who loved karate and participated in cadet programs.

According to students at Davis Senior High School, Daniel had once introduced himself by saying, I'm Dan, and I like the dark. And the name stuck. From here on out, he was known around the school as Dan Who Likes Dark. He also found new interests, like fire spitting, and listening to new bands like Chelsea Grin, Cyrus, and Suicide Silence. Interestingly enough, Chelsea Grin is a deathcore band, but it can be heard in the music.

but it can also be another name for the Glasgow Smile, which is a method of torture where you cut both edges of a victim's mouth all the way back to their ears. Think the Joker. The reason we mention that at all is because Daniel would actually use this method of torture on his future victims. It's also around this time when he becomes obsessed with the website Best Gore, which features real videos of sadistic sex, torture, and murder.

So not only was Daniel going in a downward spiral with his mental health, but he also spent a lot of time looking up these violent videos, which only made his homicidal fantasies grow stronger. And we aren't saying that watching these videos or listening to deathcore bands can turn someone into a violent killer. But if someone already has those violent tendencies, then I'm sure it doesn't help. Daniel was also interested in horror movies and serial killers.

Again, not uncommon. Every person listening right now can probably relate. But Daniel wasn't just interested. He admired people like Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer. He believed that serial killers were essential in wiping out certain members of society and that some people deserved to die because they were useless, including the elderly.

In 2012, Daniel started a Tumblr page that he used to express all of his pent-up anger. The header of his page read, quote, "...too many humans, and my mind is a very dark place." He also posted a ton of videos from Best Score, including videos of women being tortured, shoving wooden crucifixes down their throats,

In some videos, they were even drinking women's blood.

A quick look at this page could easily tell you that he had some violent sexual fantasies, and his girlfriend would later confirm this. They started dating around December of 2012, but her name is concealed in court documents because she was a minor. But she and Daniel were sexually active, and she would later say that he could only climax if he choked her during sex.

Now, Daniel was having such violent thoughts, his mother suggested he talk to the school counselors, and he would. He told them all about his fascination with torture and murder, going into detail about cutting someone's eyelids off so they would be forced to watch what he was doing to them.

Now apparently he told the counselor that he didn't want to do this to anyone in particular, they were just fantasies and he had no intention of acting upon them.

In December 2012, about two weeks before Christmas, Daniel had to be placed on a 72-hour psychiatric hold because he was deemed a danger to himself and others. It isn't known exactly what Daniel did to be put on this hold, but school officials would later say that Daniel had an argument with his girlfriend earlier that day and punched a locker. So it might have had something to do with that. But following this, he was taken to Heritage Oaks Hospital in Sacramento, California.

However, he refused to ride there with his mom, saying that if he did, he might murder her. After his 72-hour psychiatric hold, Daniel would go back to live with his mother. His father, Bill, was very concerned about this because, again, she was lenient with him and didn't make him take his medication. So in January of 2013, he fought for sole custody of Sarah and Daniel. A couple months later, he would be granted custody of Sarah, but not of Daniel.

YOLO Superior Court Judge Kathleen White awarded custody of Daniel as Sherry. According to court documents, by that point, Daniel had been doing better in school and he had been taking his medications, so the judge believed that he was doing well in her care. And on April 2, 2013, the court said that Sherry retained sole full legal authority for medical and psychiatric treatment of Daniel. According to the book Exceptional Depravity,

"Dan Who Likes Dark" and "Double Murder in Davis, California" by Lloyd Billingsley. Daniel's counselors at Heritage Oaks spoke with Sherry and told her she was too protective of her son. So in order to help him, she backed off a little and allowed him to do what he wanted. Which clearly wasn't great advice because soon enough Daniel started drinking, shoplifting, and smoking more marijuana. He even stole his mom's car one night to drive to his girlfriend's house.

He pretty much did whatever he wanted and had no respect for his mother's lenient rules. In the months before the murders, Daniel would bring drug dealers over to their house, so often that Sherry had to put a lock on her bedroom door after she woke up to find one of his friends in her room while she was sleeping. But she must have not locked it all the time, because in March of 2013, Daniel stole a six-inch knife that she kept in her bedroom, and he spent some time sharpening it for his upcoming plans.

Daniel had been fantasizing about murdering someone for a while now, and for whatever reason, he decided that he was finally going to live out his fantasy. After sharpening his mother's knife, Daniel went to a Big Five sporting goods store and stole a black ski mask.

He didn't tell anyone of his murderous plans, but one of his last Tumblr posts read, quote, end quote.

Daniel would later say in the late hours of April 13th, 2013, he, quote, just had enough. So he left his mom's house with her knife in hand and went prowling through the neighborhood looking for an unlocked door. He would try up to 40 different houses with no luck. That is until he came across the home of 87-year-old Chip Northup and 76-year-old Claudia Malpin.

Oliver Jennings Northup Jr. was born on April 26, 1925 in Nebraska. And growing up, his father would always say that he was a "Chip off the old block." So his family would jokingly call him Chip. And that name seemed to stick with him throughout his life. As a child, Chip loved to read and he would often memorize passages of his books. He also enjoyed listening to his father sing, which really sparked his love of music.

But in 1941, when Chip was only 17 years old, he persuaded his parents to let him join the Navy during the height of World War II. In the beginning of his military career, he became a signalman where he learned communication through Morse code. At the time, he was stationed in the North Atlantic, where he watched for German submarines, and later on he would take ships over to Egypt to deliver tanks. But when the war ended, Chip was ready to explore new parts of life.

So, he moved to Southern California and enrolled in UCLA, where he got his bachelor's degree. His dream was to become a lawyer, and Chip was very smart, so he ended up going to the University of California at Berkeley Law School, where he earned his JD.

Then, in 1950, after passing the bar exam, he moved to Yolo County, where he started practicing law. Out of all the places to live in California, he chose this area because it kind of reminded him of life back in Nebraska. Now, Chip worked as a prosecutor for the Yolo County District Attorney's Office for a few years, but he eventually got a job where he would produce land agreements for farmers. Chip was a very loved member of his community, always lending a helping hand whenever and wherever he could.

His colleagues would joke that he was an English professor trapped in the body of a lawyer because one constant thing throughout his life was his love for the arts and music. Three of Chip's good friends also shared this love of music.

Their names were Captain Thompson, Ray Kapok, and Mark Fay. And in 1965, they decided to start a band called the Pouda Creek Crawdads, where they went all around Yolo County playing, quote, old-timey folk music. Chip was the lead singer of the group for more than 40 years.

At the time, he was married to a woman named Peggy Dawson, but in 1975 they would divorce and afterwards he would move to Davis, California, the setting of our story.

But it's in Davis where Chip becomes an active member of the Unitarian Church, where he met a woman named Marlin Ormsby. The two married in 1980 and enjoyed 15 years together before Marlin died of cancer in 1995. But Chip wasn't a widower for long. In 1996, while at church, he met a woman named Claudia Malpin.

Claudia was beautiful, with a very inviting smile. She was 60 at the time and Chip was 71. But soon after meeting, the two fell in love. Like we mentioned, they both had been married several times, but when they met, everything just made sense.

and their families got along very well. Chip's daughter Mary said that Claudia had this way about her where she made everyone around her feel like the most special person in the world. She was the kind of person where everyone called her their best friend and everyone loved Chip as well.

So when they got married, there were so many people at their wedding that were thrilled that they were together because they were a perfect match. The two would even say that their love was like Miss Piggy and Kermit the Frog. They were truly a match made in heaven. Now, Chip and Claudia had a very specific routine where every night they would watch television together and Chip would give her a foot rub.

If Claudia was out with her friends and family, she would announce that it was time for her to leave so she could go home and get her nightly foot rub. And I just think that is the cutest thing in the world. I'm going to start making Colin do that for me. But Chip and Claudia were very happy. And I found this very cute. But they would even give out stickers with a picture of them that said, quote, live like Claudia and Chip.

As a little background on Claudia, she was born in Suisun, California, where she grew up singing and tap dancing. Claudia was very smart and was a star student in school growing up. After graduation, like Chip, Claudia also attended UC Berkeley, and it was there where she met a man and got married. Afterwards, she decided to drop out of college to focus on her family, because in the first few years of marriage she would have three children.

It was known that during these years, Claudia struggled with alcohol abuse, but in 1981, she decided to turn her life around and joined Alcoholics Anonymous. Claudia was in the program for the remainder of her life and even helped many others in their recovery. Now, Claudia and her husband would eventually divorce, and like we mentioned, she and Chip would meet and fall in love in 1996.

Following their marriage, the two settled in an upscale subdivision called Village Homes, and everyone around absolutely loved them. Their housekeeper, Delonda Jones, recalled that Claudia called her her fourth daughter, and every time she came to clean, Claudia would have a cappuccino ready for her. It was clear that Claudia valued family above everything else, and even in her older years, she would drop everything to go visit her family in Boulder, Colorado, Los Angeles, and a nearby Fairfield.

Her daughter Victoria would later say, Now, in 2004, Oliver and Claudia decided to downsize and move to a 1,400-square-foot condominium at 4006 Cowell Boulevard, the home where they would later lose their lives, simply because they happened to live two houses down from a teenage murderer.

Both Claudia and Chip really loved their new home. And in addition, they lived right next to the Mondavi Center where Claudia would attend plays with her friends. In 2009, she even tried out for a UC Davis production called The Elephant's Graveyard, and she ended up getting the part of Esme, a lonely mother who begged for her daughter's attention. Apparently, Claudia played the part perfectly, and she got a ton of great reviews.

The Davis Enterprise wrote: "Our attention is riveted on Esme and Maupin gives her total heart and soul. We understand her bouts of depression, her moments of confusion and fear, and her delight over the time she spends with her daughter. Ultimately, we learn the most from Esme."

According to Chip's family, he spent a lot of his free time going camping with his grandchildren, and every year he attended a writer's camp. Together, they had been married for 17 years, with 20 grandchildren and 7 great-grandchildren. At the time of our story, Claudia was 76 and Chip was 87, but even though they were getting older, they still enjoyed all life had to offer.

Claudia stayed busy with theater and her church affairs, and Chip continued to sing and play guitar with the Putaw Creek Crawdads. After making it this long in life, I'm sure they pictured their deaths to be peaceful, surrounded by their loved ones. But that's far from what would happen. On April 14, 2013, Chip would give Claudia her last foot rub, and then they would go to bed and

and kiss each other goodnight for the very last time. Unbeknownst to them, a disturbed teenager named Daniel Marsh was just a few houses down from theirs, and on that night, he left his home in search for someone to kill before leaving his mom's house unharmed.

He put on a black shirt, black pants, black boots, and a black jacket. He also duct taped the bottom of his shoes and put gloves on. Knowing that he was about to kill someone, he knew that he couldn't risk leaving behind shoe prints or DNA. He also couldn't risk being seen. So before he left, he slipped a black ski mask over his face.

and then took off on foot into the dark night with his mother's 6-inch knife in his pocket. It was around 2 a.m. as Daniel walked the streets looking for a good home to break into. He would later say that he checked around 40 different houses for an unlocked door or window.

This should be a lesson to everyone out there to lock everything. You never know who could be creeping around your house at night trying to harm you and your family.

Eventually, Daniel made his way towards his father's house. And two houses down, he spotted Chip and Claudia's condo at 4006 Cowell Boulevard. In the front entrance, illuminated by a nearby streetlight, was a neighborhood watch sign

that read, quote, "Neighborhood watch in force. We immediately report all suspicious persons and activities to our police department." End quote. Daniel obviously ignored the sign and approached their front door to see if it was unlocked. It wasn't. Next, he tried the sliding glass door and it too was locked. But before giving up, he decided to walk around back

And it was there where he found an open window. The temperatures had been rising in Davis, California. So Chip and Claudia had been keeping the window open to let in a nice breeze. And they lived in a nice area, so they never knew the dangers of leaving your window open.

Now, the only thing between Daniel and the inside of their home was a thin screen. So he pulls out his knife and cuts along the bottom and sides. Getting into their house was easy. Chip and Claudia left the blinds pulled up so he barely made any noise as he hopped through the window into their living room.

Daniel was happy to see that there was no barking dog, no security system, or anything that would alert them to his presence. This home truly was the perfect hit. As he stood in the living room, he could hear snores coming from down the hallway, so he followed the sound, which led them to the main bedroom of the home, where Chip and Claudia were fast asleep.

Daniel stepped inside of their bedroom and for a few moments he just stood there, watching them. Adrenaline was pumping through his body. All of the planning and fantasizing was about to become his reality. But suddenly, Chip started to stir in his bed, spooking Daniel. He quickly ducked for cover out of sight until the coast was clear.

From here, Daniel walked over to Claudia's side of the bed, and she must have heard him because she suddenly woke up. As Claudia looked around her bedroom, she sees a masked intruder holding a knife. Like any person would, she screams, and Daniel rushes over to her, putting his gloved hand over her mouth.

Claudia tried to bite him, but Daniel quickly began stabbing her over and over again. The sounds woke Chip, who looked up to see his wife in the arms of a stranger. Daniel quickly runs to his side and stabs Chip in the neck, making it to where he couldn't scream or call for help. Chip held his hand up to the wound to stop the flow of blood as Daniel goes back to finish off Claudia.

She continued to scream, repeatedly saying, please stop, please stop. But the begging wouldn't help. In fact, it only made Daniel want to do it more. From here, Claudia collapses down onto her bed and Daniel begins to torture her.

Trigger warning, this next part is very disturbing and not for the faint of heart. But it was here where Daniel begins to cut into Claudia's eyeball. He wanted to cut it out of its socket, but he quickly realized that it was a lot harder than he thought. So he moves his knife down to the corners of her mouth, pulling the blades back towards her ears.

He had always talked about wanting to create the Chelsea grin on someone, and here he was living out that disgusting fantasy on an elderly woman. Now at this point, Chip was still moving on the other side of the bed, so Daniel turned his attention to him, stabbing him several times. As Daniel attempts to cut off his eyelids, Chip puts up a fight, kicking him as hard as he could.

But the 86-year-old stood no chance against the boy with the six-inch knife.

Daniel stabs Chip all over his body until he completely stops moving and once he's finished, he goes back to Claudia, stabbing her several more times including one stab to her throat that was with so much force the knife hit the roof of her mouth. Finally, both Chip and Claudia were dead and they laid next to each other in their bed which was now saturated with blood.

The attacks were so brutal they were barely recognizable. Chip had 67 stab wounds and Claudia had 74. Daniel would later tell authorities that he stabbed them so many times because "it just felt right." And sadly, Daniel wasn't finished with them just yet. Even though they were clearly dead, he decided to punch them a few times.

and even laughed at the way their bodies moved around from the hard blows. At this point, he realized that both Chip and Claudia had emptied their bowels, which is what happens sometimes after death. Daniel recalled that the room smelled horrible, but even that couldn't deter him from further desecrating their bodies. Trigger warning again, this next part is so awful. But with his buck knife,

Daniel makes a huge slice down Claudia's thigh and pulls out pieces of fat just so he could observe what it looks like. He even shined his cell phone light on it so he could get a good look. From here, he cuts down both of their abdomens and pulls out their intestines through the opening. And again, he just kind of feels them and studies the way they look.

Daniel would later say that he wanted so badly to take a picture, but he knew that it wouldn't be smart. So instead, he continued to mutilate their bodies. Next, he went into the kitchen and found a cell phone and a drinking glass. He takes them into the bedroom, places the cell phone inside of Claudia's abdomen and the glass inside of Chip's.

He would later admit that he did this because he "wanted to fuck with the people who would later investigate the murders." The entire attack lasted about 30 minutes, and the sole purpose of committing the crime was simply to kill. He didn't take any belongings or personal possessions, and he left everything in place.

And once he was satisfied with his work, Daniel slipped back through the open window and into the dark night without anyone realizing what had happened. On the way back to his mother's house, Daniel experienced the rush of a lifetime. Killing made him feel better than he ever had before. Once back at his mom's house, he hid all of the evidence in her garage, including the little trophy he took.

which were Chip and Claudia's bloody clothing. And after he washed up, he laid down to go to bed, proud of what he had accomplished.

The next morning, people were worried after Chip failed to show at two performances for the Poodah Creek Crawdads. After many missed calls, family members went by the home to check on them and there they spotted the cut screen at the back window. Soon enough, police would arrive and make a gruesome discovery. Arguably, the most gruesome discovery Davis, California had ever seen.

After the crime scene was photographed and investigated, Chip and Claudia's mutilated bodies were taken to the Davis County Coroner's Office. Forensic pathologist Dr. Mike Super conducted the autopsies. Together, the couple was stabbed more than 140 times. This was clearly overkill.

with chip dr super could see the outline of the drinking glass inside of his abdomen as he laid on the autopsy table not something you usually see in murder cases chip had stab wounds all over his cheeks and around his eyes it was also hard to ignore that his left eyelid had been completely removed sadly he was able to determine that chip had been alive when his eyelid was removed

Moving down to his body, he had stab wounds that pierced his lungs, spleen, liver, and stomach, and most of the stabs penetrated about five and a half inches into his body.

During Claudia's autopsy, doctors super-observed stab wounds all over her nose and mouth, and the Glasgow grin that was cut into her face. There was also a deep neck wound that had penetrated her thyroid and tongue, and lacerations to her colon, stomach, liver, pancreas, and spleen. It was clear that Claudia had put up a fight because she had defensive wounds all over her arms.

And of course, Dr. Super found the cell phone that had been pushed into her abdominal cavity. - When the city of Davis, California got word about the horrific murders of two elderly people in their community, everyone was deeply disturbed.

Elderly people are supposed to be respected and honored, not slain in their own homes. Claudia's daughter Victoria said that the next morning she woke up to 12 missed calls from her sister and when she finally called her back, she was frantic, telling her that there had been a break-in at her mother's house and that her mom and Chip were dead.

Victoria said she just lost it right then and there. Chip's band, the Poodacrete Crawdads, were especially saddened to hear about the loss of their friend of over 50 years, and they posted a message on their website that reads, quote, We are deeply saddened over the sudden and tragic deaths of two members of the extended crawdad family. The warmth in Chip Northup's singing voice matched the warmth in his heart and spirit.

End quote.

The two were laid to rest on April 27, 2013 at the Davis Cemetery where all their friends and family came to show love and support. Many people reflected on what great people Chip and Claudia were and how the two were so in love with each other. But as they were reflecting on their lives, it was hard to ignore the fact that they didn't die a natural death and there wasn't any sort of closure at the funeral because the killer was still at large.

The Davis Police Department had been investigating the crime with 25 FBI agents, but it wasn't going to be easy. Whoever killed Chip and Claudia didn't leave anything behind. There were no shoe prints, no blood from the assailant, no fingerprints, DNA, or anything. And because of how brutal the murders were, detectives were looking at their inner circle. After all, their home hadn't been ransacked, and nothing was stolen, so clearly this wasn't a robbery gone wrong.

Whoever had broken into the house did so solely to kill Chip and Claudia. And with the depravity of the murders, they figured that it had to be someone close to them. No one kills someone with this amount of passion unless they're angry with their victim.

So in the beginning, investigators were thinking it was a close friend or family member and that the suspect cut the screen in the window to make it look like it was a random break-in. And one of the main people they were looking at were Chip's grandsons, Oliver and Tony. Oliver had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, so with the stigma surrounding that, they were investigating him as a possible suspect. And then for Tony, they found a picture he drew of someone holding a knife standing over two children lying in bed.

And even further, when the police searched their home, they found a carpet cleaning machine that had been used to clean the carpets on the day of the murders. And that's obviously suspicious. So Oliver and Tony were some of the first two persons of interest. Their family endured days of extensive interviews and it was incredibly hard on everyone. But everyone, including Claudia's family, knew that they weren't responsible for these murders. Neither Oliver or Tony had ever been violent and they loved their grandparents.

Obviously, their names would be cleared after the real suspect came to light. But sadly, the accusations had a huge effect on Tony. And three years after the murders, he would take his own life. Now, rewind a little to two days after the murders. It's Monday, April 15th, 2013, and the entire community was devastated about what happened. It was all anyone could talk about.

Even for the kids at Davis High School. That morning, Daniel Marsh met up with his best friend named Alvaro Garibay and he told him all about the murders and bragged about how he made the news. Then later that day, he texted him to come over because Daniel wanted to show him something. Once Alvaro arrived at his mother's house,

Daniel brought him in the garage, where he showed him the murder weapon and the bloody clothing he took from the crime scene. Alvaro would later say that Daniel was smiling as he went into graphic detail about the murders. He even told him that Chip "made a gurgling sound like on Best Gore." Alvaro said that he didn't really know how to respond, so he just told Daniel, "That's cool."

and then the two smoked weed in the backyard and played Call of Duty. But for whatever reason, Alvaro decided to keep Daniel secret. Apparently, throughout their friendship, the two had always talked about murder and watched best score videos together. So Alvaro said that he didn't think Daniel was serious. To which I say, what do you think the bloody clothing came from?

And interestingly enough, their friendship had been a little rocky. About a month before the murders, Daniel found out that Alvaro had been texting his girlfriend, and he was pissed. He confronted him and told him that if he continued to talk to his girlfriend, he would choke him. In another instance, Daniel had brought a knife to school, and Alvaro had told the principal about it, which got him suspended.

And in order to avoid juvie, he had to spend some time in a diversion program for first-time offenders. So clearly their friendship hadn't been going so well. Which begs the question, why did Daniel confide in him? Maybe he told him about the murders to create some sort of a bond between the two. But it did quite the opposite. Following Daniel's confession, Alvaro started distancing himself, rightfully so. A few days after this, Daniel would also tell his girlfriend about the murders.

He told her all about how he stabbed them and how it felt great. At first, she didn't believe him, but then he showed her the murder weapon and the bloody clothing. And like Alvaro, she kept his secret for a while and Daniel continued on with life. In the meantime, investigators were still stumped as to who could have committed this crime.

I'm sure they were picturing some grown man who was familiar with murder. After all, you have to be somewhat skilled to not leave behind any evidence. They definitely weren't picturing their suspect to be a 15 year old. But while they were combing through different theories, Daniel was itching to kill again.

He wanted to feel that high, so he began looking for another victim. But this time, he wanted to bludgeon someone to death. So once again, he took off into the night with a baseball bat in hand to try and find another unlocked door. But after the murders of Chip and Claudia, no one in Davis, California dared to sleep with their doors unlocked and windows open.

so he couldn't find anyone to bludgeon. But a few days later, he would try again, this time on a bike path behind his mom's house. But it was during the day and there were too many people outside, so he gave up. And what's really strange is that Daniel seemed to be thriving around this time. His grades were doing well, he was getting better sleep, and he was even nominated for student of the month at his high school.

but things were about to come crashing down. On June 4th, 2013, Daniel's girlfriend broke up with him. Of course, Daniel figured that the reason she broke up with him is because his best friend Alvaro was trying to steal her from him. He was so distraught about the breakup, he even spoke with his school counselor about how he wanted to "kill his friend." And about a week later, Daniel decides to confront her in the middle of the night at her house. He

He actually stole his mom's car, and when she wouldn't come outside to talk with him, he broke into her house through a doggy door. And she was terrified, especially after learning of what he was capable of. She would later text Alvaro about the situation, and they were both scared that Daniel would try to kill them next. So it was here when Alvaro decided it was finally time to go to the police. But first, he wanted to speak to Daniel's father, Bill, so he called him.

When Bill answered, Alvaro told him about Daniel's confession, but Bill didn't believe him. So from here, Alvaro called the police and told them all about how his friend murdered Oliver Northup and Claudia Maupin. He wanted to leave an anonymous tip, but that wasn't going to happen. Davis, police emergency. Oh, yeah. Can this be anonymous? What are you reporting? Double homicide. The reason why I want to remain anonymous is because if my mom finds out,

Following this call, the police immediately brought Alvaro in, where he was questioned for hours.

Here's a part of that interview where he talks about his friend Daniel. Well, he talked about killing people a lot. I didn't really take it seriously until he killed someone. Now, obviously anyone can just claim that someone committed this crime, but the police believed Alvaro, especially since he knew very specific details about the murders. He cut bugs in the oven, just to see the insides or something.

When detectives learned that a 15-year-old confessed to the murders, they were shocked. Daniel Marsh hadn't been on their radar at all.

and he was now their primary suspect. But interestingly enough, the detectives had heard the name Daniel Marsh before. Almost everyone in Davis County knew him as the boy who saved his father's life. In fact, the DA would say that when he first heard of Daniel Marsh, he thought to himself, quote, "'This kid is going places.'"

But now he was their prime suspect in a double homicide investigation. So their next step was to find Daniel and bring him in for questioning. At the time, he was at his friend Kevin's house, which happened to border the cemetery where Chip and Claudia were buried.

The resource officer at Daniel's high school, who happened to be the same officer who drove him to the psychiatric hospital, was named Eddie Ellsworth, and he had the task of going to pick Daniel up from his friend's house. When Eddie arrived, he told Daniel that he had to take him to the police station to fill out some paperwork for the diversion program he was in after he got suspended for carrying a knife at school. And Daniel didn't question Eddie.

The two drove down to the police station where he was taken into the office of Treece Peterson, the head of the diversion department. Daniel was actually familiar with Treece. The two had spoken before about his depression, social anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. And after about 30 minutes of talking, Treece asked if Daniel would be willing to speak with Detective Ariel Pineda,

At the time, Daniel thought he was still in the clear, so he agreed. And the interview started out like any other. He was read his Miranda rights, and then Detective Pineda started asking him questions about the double homicide. What do you know, Dan? I just know that somebody broke into this whole couple's house and stabbed them, killed them.

Daniel played dumb, acting like he didn't know much about the murders. So the detective takes a turn and starts asking him about his upbringing. I was that loner kid that, you know, there's always that one outcast dad and mom split when you're pretty young. Yeah. Wow. And then...

After a few minutes of digging into Daniel's past, Detective Pineda and Chris Campion from the FBI decided to mention Daniel's Tumblr, which was filled with disturbing pictures and videos. Daniel told the two men that he was just into dark and morbid things.

and that his page was purely for amusement. He also opened up about his mental health issues that he had faced throughout his life and suicide attempts. - I used to like harm myself. I have a scar too there, yeah. All the pain and depression and anger just like, I internalized it and I directed it towards myself.

The interview had been going on for about three and a half hours now. And the entire time, Daniel denied any involvement in the murders.

Daniel told the detectives that he would never harm anyone because he cared about people. He even attempted to throw his friend, Alvaro, under the bus by telling detectives that he was trying to fuck up his life and screw him over. According to Daniel's early statement, Alvaro was messed up and enjoyed killing animals, and that if the police should look into anyone, it should be him because he was definitely capable of killing someone.

But the police didn't buy his story and soon they changed gears, telling him that they knew it was him who committed the murders. And Daniel got really defensive. I'm not ruining your life. I'm trying to solve a homicide, a double homicide. And if you do it, I understand. And I'm there for you to try to make other people understand because I see it. I need help. That's the first step.

Now it was here where the detectives brought up the fact that his best friend and girlfriend ratted on him. Daniel tried to deny it, but eventually he knew that he couldn't lie anymore. And in that moment, he lowered his head and said, "Send me to a psychiatric hospital, not jail. I was psychotic." You guys are threatening me with... what? The truth? Getting arrested for two murders. I am so scared right now.

From here, Daniel went into detail about exactly what happened on April 13th, 2013. I didn't. I didn't start picking love. That night, I just...

I couldn't take it anymore. I had to do it. I lost control. I got a hole in the screen. I climbed in through the back, went to their bedroom, opened the door, and I just kind of stood over their bed watching them sleep for a few minutes. My body was trembling. I was nervous but excited and exhilarated. I was actually going to do it. I was there. It's finally happening.

In regards to the knife he used in the attack, Daniel said this: It was pure happiness.

Daniel told the police that the website Bestcore was a way for him to indulge in his fantasies without having to actually kill anyone. But he found that after a while, it just wasn't doing enough to satisfy him. Daniel told them that he dreams about killing pretty much everyone he comes into contact with.

He said that his own sister was a bitch and he had thought about using a pillow to smother her. As for his mother, he wanted to beat her to death. The detective then asks about when these homicidal fantasies came to light.

You, um, mentioned that pretty much everybody you meet, you have thoughts about killing them and how you would kill them. So, how would you kill me? There's a lot of ways. Um, choking you to death with your tie.

Nothing personal. Wanting to kill the detective was just a part of who he was. Daniel was now comfortable with Chris Campion, and he told him that he didn't go out that night specifically for the two he murdered.

First, he tried a lot of doors at the Renaissance apartments. With no luck, he also said that there was no sexual aspect to the murders either, as the two he chose were, in his words, quote, "...old and gross."

At the end of the interview, Detective Pineda said that he wished he could cure Daniel, but unfortunately that wasn't possible. Instead, the best they could do was lock him up so that he couldn't hurt anyone else.

And with that, 15-year-old Daniel Marsh was placed under arrest for the murders of Chip Northup and Claudia Maupin. The next day, on Wednesday, June 19, 2013, Daniel arrived at the Yolo County Courthouse for his arraignment. And for the first time ever, people were finally able to get a look at the teen who committed the brutal double homicide.

And right now we're getting our first look at the 16-year-old accused of murdering an elderly couple in Davis. Prosecutors say the man there with the tie, Daniel Marsh, hid in the couple's home waiting for them and then torturing them in their final hours. Police found the murdered couple stabbed to death inside this home, their home right here in mid-April. Now two months later, just two

doors down the fbi and davis police were inside that home right there collecting pieces of evidence for a case against a 16 year old well the courtroom was packed there wasn't an empty seat in there sheriff's deputies actually brought daniel marsh in through a side entrance to the courthouse a blocked entrance and put a jacket over his head to hide him as he was brought in he was kept separate from all of the other inmates

mostly because they're all adults and even though he's being tried as an adult he's still a juvenile so he was kept at a distance from most everybody else in the courtroom. 16-year-old Daniel Marsh stood before the court through a side doorway shielded from view of the public including his father and friends who were in court. Marsh provided one-word answers as he waived his right to a preliminary hearing within 10 days. The judge denied him bail and relatives of the victims could be heard whispering yes in agreement.

During his arraignment, Daniel listened to the charges against him and decided to plead not guilty. And he was going to be tried as an adult, even though he was only 16 at the time of his arrest.

Now, his parents were going through bad financial problems so they weren't able to afford a criminal defense attorney. Instead, Daniel would be represented by a public defender. But there was a huge collective shock throughout Davis, California that the killer was a teenager. Richard Bacciarini, his former karate teacher, told the media, "I am really shocked by this. I'm still kind of in disbelief that this happened." A former female friend spoke to the Davis Enterprise and recalled seeing Daniel bullied in middle school.

When he went to high school, he changed his appearance to "go badass and do the whole punk thing." When asked about the murders, she replied, "I was like, 'Whoa.' I could see him doing something like that, but I didn't think he actually would." Here was another friend of his named Brian. He did have a lot of joy in his life. And personally, I couldn't ever see him doing what he's been accused of.

And surprisingly, some people that knew Daniel were even supporting him. They didn't think he should be tried as an adult since he was only 16. And a Facebook group eventually surfaced called Free Dan Marsh.

Now, on September 13, 2013, an evidentiary hearing was held at the Yolo County Courthouse and Daniel's father and sister were there to support him. His mother, Sherry, however, was not in attendance. During the hearing, Daniel was seen smiling at his friends, showing no signs of remorse.

Prosecutor Michael J. Cabral called his first witness to the stand, Officer Mark Herman, a 25-year veteran of the department and one of the first responding officers on the morning of April 14, 2013. Officer Herman recounted the events of the night and said he saw a cut window screen in the back of the condo.

he said when he looked into the bedroom window the first thing i saw was a male subject laying in a bed the headrest of the bed was against the east wall the male subject was partially clothed he had blood on his mouth and abdomen area i saw a laceration horizontal across the left side of the abdomen with internal organs appearing to be pulled out of the opening there were audible gasps from the courtroom when asked about claudia he said

I observed the second subject lying next to the subject just north of him. All I could see was blood on the face. I couldn't tell a race or whether it was a male or female. Partially blocking my view was the bedding on the bed. I then informed Sergeant Bates that it appeared we had a double homicide, with one subject having been eviscerated.

As Chip and Claudia's family members left the courtroom that day, they were disturbed at what they had to hear. All of them knew that they had been tortured, but the details were horrific to listen to. As Chip's daughter Mary left the courtroom that day, she was swarmed by reporters, and all she said was, quote, "It's just a tragedy. There's no more to say."

Now, it was September at the time, which meant it was the start of the new year for students at Davis High School. Daniel was supposed to be starting his junior year, but instead, he was locked up like the animal he is. And somehow, he was still getting support from people at his school.

A student named Chris Phelps posted on September 26th, 2013, "I am very proud that this page was made and that we support Dan. I think this whole thing made people kind of on edge. I think Dan would be happy to know that there are so many true friends that support him." Which is just shocking.

But by the end of October, Daniel's public defenders tried their hardest to get the torture charges against him dropped, saying that the prosecution, quote, failed to produce evidence of the special circumstance of torture, end quote. They said that he was already facing up to 50 years in prison, and if he was found guilty of torture, it could prolong his sentence even more, which I say pile the charges on.

Luckily, Judge Richardson disagreed with them, saying that the number of stab wounds alone suggests that Daniel's intent was to torture the two victims.

on the one-year anniversary of the murders davis california was still trying to recover from the gruesome double homicide chip and claudia's family had an extremely hard time with their grieving process their condo at 4006 cowell boulevard remained empty throughout the year but a small wreath on the front gate reminded everyone about the horrors that occurred inside two houses down bill marsh's home was also empty with a for sale sign in the front yard

Clearly, living next to the house where your son committed a double homicide was too much for him to handle. Bill and his daughter Sarah continued to show up for all of Daniel's hearings, but Sherry, his mother, never really liked to come around.

She did, however, give a videotaped testimony, where she talked about Daniel's upbringing and her tumultuous marriage with Bill. It was clear that Sherry was trying her best to blame Daniel's crimes on his upbringing. She went on to say that she found out about the murders when she came home to find her house surrounded by police cars and crime scene tape. When asked if she believed her son could commit such a heinous crime, Sherry said, "I believe he was capable of angry violence, but nothing like that. He was the young man who opened the door for the elders."

Now, by the time the trial came around on September 2nd, 2014, Daniel Marsh had changed his plea to not guilty by reason of insanity, which really upset a lot of people, including the investigating detectives.

FBI agent Chris Camden said that he spoke with Daniel a lot, specifically so he could understand Daniel's motivations. And it was clear that he was not insane. He knew exactly what he was doing. He made that decision on his own. There weren't any voices in his head telling him what to do.

Here is a little clip from the interrogation. Even further, Daniel's defense team even hired a psychiatrist named Dr. Matthew Solier.

who evaluated Daniel and he agreed that Daniel was not insane. So the defense was hoping that Dr. Sullyay would be their expert witness, but he refused to play into this insanity plea so they found someone else.

Now, it seemed like the entire city of Davis was ready to see Daniel Marsh's fate. That morning, he entered the courtroom unshackled, wearing a white button-down shirt and blue tie. And as the trial commenced, Deputy DA Amanda Zambor gave her opening statement, saying, "...manipulative, calculated, cunning, and sadistic."

These are all terms that describe Daniel Marsh. This is a deadly combination." She then talked about the wonderful people Chip and Claudia were and how they were selfishly taken away from their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. The DA continued to set the scene by showing the jury horribly graphic photos.

They showed them pictures of the elderly couple slain in their own bed, covered in stab wounds, with their abdomens cut open. They even brought the drinking glass that was shoved into Chip's abdomen into the courtroom. It was important for everyone to see just how brutal the murders actually were. To further prove her point, she then played Daniel's confession tape, where he described in detail how he murdered them.

By that point, no one had seen or heard Daniel's confession until that day, and the entire courtroom sat in shock as they listened to him explain how much he enjoyed taking their lives. It was especially shocking when he talked about what happened after they were dead, saying, quote, I wanted to fuck with the people and throw off the investigators. That's pretty much it.

End quote.

Following this, the DA returned to her seat, and an eerie silence filled the courtroom. As for Daniel's defense, they were trying to convince the jury that Daniel's medication made him a dangerous person. And that, coupled with his mental health and stressful upbringing, are what led to the murders. Public defender Ron Johnson spoke about Daniel's medication and how he started taking Prozac at age 13. And when he started experiencing homicidal ideations, they

They just upped his medication instead of taking him off it. He would tell the jury, Daniel's medications had an inappropriate level of dangerousness. A psychiatrist that worked with Daniel over the years was brought in to testify, and she said that Daniel never told her of any negative side effects, including homicidal ideation. In fact, she was under the impression that he was doing a lot better on the medication.

Yeah, and the prosecution even brought forward documents from September 23rd, 2008, where Daniel spoke about uncontrollable and unpredictable rages he would experience. And he admitted that it was around that time when the homicidal fantasy started. And interestingly enough, he wasn't medicated during that time, which shows that the medication alone was not to blame for his aggression.

Claudia's daughter, Victoria, would later say, quote, Daniel Marsh is 100% responsible for his behavior, not the drugs, end quote.

Now, because he pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, Daniel would have to be evaluated by two psychologists, one being Dr. James Rockup, who stated that Daniel was not insane, but he was a sadist, which is someone who likes to inflict pain on others.

The other forensic psychologist who spoke with Daniel was named Dr. Deborah Schmidt, and she told the jury that when she evaluated Daniel, he admitted that the murders were "fucked up" and "I shouldn't have done it." But he also said that killing them "felt amazing, better than drugs and sex." Dr. Schmidt said that Daniel was trying to blame Zoloft

but she couldn't find any research linking Zoloft to predatory aggression. Now, the defense tried to claim that Daniel's brain had been so damaged at birth because he was born prematurely, but it was actually proven that that wasn't true. Daniel was born full-term and he had no medical issues. Now, this was a very long and very scientific trial, and the jury had a lot to think about.

During the closing arguments, the prosecution stood before the jury and pointed to Daniel Marsh, saying, quote, That man right there understood what he was doing. He attacked two humans. He wanted to kill them. The killings were driven by bloodlust. He was driven to kill because he loved it.

And finally, after five long weeks, Daniel Marsh's fate was now in the hands of the jury. And two hours later, they would reach their verdict.

guilty of first-degree murder and all of the special circumstances, including torture. After the verdict was read aloud, Daniel defeatedly placed his hands over his face. His father, Bill Marsh, quietly slipped out of the courtroom to try and avoid questions from reporters, while Claudia and Chip's family were thrilled with the outcome.

Victoria Heard would later say, quote, "What a prosecution. They slayed the devil. They put a monster away," end quote.

On December 12th, 2014, Judge Reed sentenced Daniel Marsh to life in prison with parole after 52 years. Again, he couldn't be sentenced to life without parole because he was a minor. Now, Daniel remained emotionless as the judge handed down the sentence and he chose not to address the court. And from there, Daniel Marsh was taken off to prison to serve out his sentence. But this story is far from over.

In 2018, California passed a law called Prop 57, making it to where juveniles who were tried as adults could be eligible for parole at the age of 25. And this meant that Daniel would be given a second chance with his sentence. At first he was tried as an adult, but now his fate was in the hands of a juvenile court judge.

daniel now had the opportunity to be released once he was 27 in just a couple of years and he wouldn't even have to be on parole he would just be a free citizen like you and i which was devastating for the families because that meant that they would have to relive everything over again here's mary northup and her take on prop 57. as laura said i am victoria heard and i am the eldest daughter of claudia maupin

In 2013, a 15-year-old male, two months shy of his 16th birthday, broke into my mother's home in Davis, California. He was dressed in black. He had taped his shoes to avoid detection, to leave no footprints. He carried a hunting knife. He brutally attacked my sleeping mother and her husband, Chip Northup, stabbing each of them over 60 times. He then eviscerated them.

he dissected them and he placed items from their nightstand into their bodies for the police to find i watched as the coroner's office and the police department wheeled the body bags of my parents out of their home two months later their murderer was caught daniel marsh confessed and in 2014 was tried under california law as an adult due to the heinousness of his crimes my family and i

endured a five-week murder trial that led to his conviction and a sentence of 52 years to life. He is currently serving that sentence at Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego, California. In 2008, a new law, Prop 57, granted Marsh a fitness hearing to determine if his sentencing should be revoked and if he should be retried as a juvenile.

During legal discovery, he was issued a hair assessment for psychopathy and rated the highest scoring the test interviewer had ever seen, a 35.8 out of a possible score of 40. While incarcerated, he had the crime images, my mother's wounds, tattooed on his body.

This murderer has now appealed that decision and has asked to be retroactively considered under California law SB 1391. The hearing date is set for August the 18th, 2021 in the California Court of Appeals. That is next week. This is our third time dealing with somebody who heinously murdered my parents.

If he wins this appeal on August the 18th, he could be out on the streets of Davis as early as May 14th, 2022. He will be unsupervised without parole and his record will be sealed. He will have served eight years.

This will be my family's third hearing. And I'm standing before you today because as traumatizing as it is for my family and those who were close to my mother and Chip, this dangerous law directly affects your families. It directly affects our community, our state, and our country. There will be a clinically diagnosed psychopath who has gruesomely murdered not one but two people and admitted to finding it exhilarating walking free.

and unencumbered in our state. And not only that, he has admitted to wanting to kill again. We are not safe. We as victims and survivors of this crime don't feel safe. California is not safe. Our neighborhoods are not safe. At the 2018 fitness hearing, the judge received 240 letters from California residents stating that they did not want

But before a date could even be set for Daniel Marsh, he was given the opportunity to speak at a TED Talk.

where he would basically talk about why he did what he did and how he's rehabilitated. The video was on YouTube and I spent forever trying to find it, but it was taken down by Chip and Claudia's family, but I do have the transcript for it. So take it away, Colin.

I remember standing in the doorway of our home with my mother and father on either side of me. They each had one of my arms and were pulling me back and forth, dad pulling me into the house and mom pulling me back out. They just had another huge fight and mom once again claimed that she was leaving. She already had a suitcase and my sister in the car. All she needed now was me but of course dad wasn't having that and so I stood there between them crying uncontrollably as they screamed at each other and yanked me back and forth in and out of the house.

Eventually, mom got her way. I left with her, but by the end of the day, we'd all be back under the same roof pretending that nothing had ever happened.

The home environment that I grew up in was both lonely and hostile for the vast majority of my childhood. I felt alienated like I was hated yet completely irrelevant. I felt more like an object than a person. The indifference with which my parents treated me made me feel as though I had no connection to humanity. And throughout my entire childhood backed up until just two months ago I had harbored a dark secret that I'd never told anyone in my entire life.

When I was a child, I was sexually abused multiple times by two different people, both of whom I loved and trusted. Growing up, I felt like there wasn't a soul in the world that I could tell. I was the son and I was smart and I was expected to be strong and tough, but I wasn't okay. I felt alone, alone and ashamed and disgusted and confused, weak, hurt and scared and I had no one, no one to confide in, to cry to.

to hold me and tell me that it was going to be okay. So I stuffed this secret down, deep, deep down and tried to pretend as though it never happened. There it festered for years and I would carry those feelings with me every single day as time went on. It seemed like every person I encountered in the world used and took advantage of me.

took my kindness for weakness, and then discarded me like a piece of trash. I was bullied at school as well as at home, and in the process I became extremely introverted. The only person who I would come to think genuinely cared about me was a man named Boris. Boris who worked with my mother, and over time he became a mentor to me, a big brother, even a father figure.

He would come over and talk to me, spend time with me, even take me to football games. The connection that I developed with him made the pain that I was feeling bearable. When I was 12 years old, my mother fell ill. She was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and trigeminal neuralgia, neurological disorders that caused debilitating pain for a long time. She was bedridden, and because there was no one else around, my sister and I had to take care of her, feed her, help her in and out of the bathroom, hold her while she had seizures, hold her while she cried.

It tore me apart to watch her fade away like that and in a way it hurt me to have to comfort her in the way that I had so desperately wanted her to comfort me as a child. In the middle of all this I was at my sister's boyfriend's house when I got a phone call from my mom. She was crying hysterically and kept trying to say something that I couldn't understand.

I asked again, "Mom, what's wrong? What's going on?" And what she said shattered me. "Boris is dead." Over the next couple days, I would come to find out that Boris had taken his own life. The person that I respected most, my friend, my brother, my loving parental figure, had taken himself away from me. He was gone. My connection to humanity was severed. I fell into a deep depression even deeper than the one I was already in. I stole a handful of pain pills from my mom's purse over the course of a month and tried to overdose.

I failed and woke up in a pile of my own vomit. But as the time went on, all this hurt started to turn into anger. I felt this uncontrollable rage that grew stronger with each passing day. I hated the people who had hurt me. And as this hate continued to grow, I would come to hate all of humanity. But deep down, most of all, I hated myself. And I wanted this world that had hurt me. So when nobody cares about you and the people who are supposed to care deliberately hurt you, it is hard to care about others. And when you feel that you have no connection to humanity, it becomes easy to lash out at it.

That's exactly what I did. All this pain, this rage consumed me and I did horrible things to people who never deserved to be hurt. In the end, I became the same kind of person that I had hated to begin with. Someone who blindly hurt other people. My rage against humanity landed me in Juvenile Hall and to my surprise, the staff there were some of the kindest people that I've ever met. They taught me more about compassion than I can even begin to put into words.

But when I transferred to the California Youth Authority, I would question everything that I thought I had learned back in juvie. The CYA institution where I was sent was extremely violent on an almost daily basis, and living in that type of environment brought a lot of the old anger and hatred that I had thought I had let go right back to the surface. But something was different this time because I had felt what it was like to be truly cared for, to be connected to so many different people back in juvenile hall.

And once you've experienced something like that, it's hard to look away. When I turned 18, I was transferred to adult prison. This was not an easy transition. I ended up living with a very violent, hateful man who would lash out at me and start cell fights almost every day. It was after about a month of this that I realized something. I saw myself in him, and that freaked me out. I knew then that if I didn't truly commit to changing, if I kept allowing myself to be trapped by my emotions and to be disconnected from humanity, that he is who I would become.

And shortly after this revelation, I had another one equally impactful. I realized that I didn't understand who I was. I didn't understand why I'd done a lot of the things that I'd done. And that deeply bothered me because none of those things made any sense. So it was then after finding a powerful desire to let my hatred go, to seek out human connection and to gain understanding of myself, that I also began to want to understand other people as well. The things about them that didn't make any sense to me, that it

It occurred to me that once you understand something then you can begin to humanize it and view it with compassion and empathy. During this process I would find out just how much racism was part of prison life. And racism being something I had never understood. I decided that understanding and humanizing it would become a part of my transformation. And what better way to do that than talking to a professional racist skinhead. But it was only when I looked at this intimidating figure on the yard as a person that I got the courage to strike up a conversation.

After making small talk for a while, I finally broached the sensitive subject and asked him how he ended up the way that he was. To my surprise, he was actually forthcoming. He told me how he grew up in a racist family with an abusive father. And then when he was a teenager, he met a group of guys, skinheads, who gave him the acceptance and positive reinforcement that he had been craving for most of his life.

My being able to connect with this man as a human being only further strengthened my resolution to let go of hate to gain understanding. And there's an old saying that until about nine months ago I'd never heard: "Hurt people hurt people, meaning people who are hurting hurt others." When I heard that saying, it was as though suddenly the entire world made sense to me. I came to realize that there are no such things as evil people in the world, only damaged people.

It took me coming to prison to find the true value of human connection. But if I could find it behind these walls, there isn't a doubt in my mind that any one of you can find it out there. And so I urge all of you to actively participate in further developing your connection to humanity. Whether it's through volunteer work, reaching out to someone in need or different from us, we have to be better than hate. We have to be better than fear. We must learn to respond with love even in the most difficult of situations. But above all else, when this world seems too inhumane for us to bear, we must always embrace our humanity.

Once Daniel was finished with his speech, the crowd erupts in applause and they even give him a standing ovation. Now, Daniel never once mentioned in this speech what crime he committed.

So all of these people are inspired by what he had to say. But imagine going home and googling what he did. Like, yeah, that was inspirational and you don't hate humanity anymore. But you tortured an elderly couple to death.

Not really someone I want self-help advice from, but in reference to his claims of sexual abuse, many people were quick to say that they were untrue and that he just wanted sympathy. And listen, I will never sit here and say that someone is lying about that kind of stuff because who am I to say that? But the experts who spoke with Daniel for years after the murders said,

said that he never one time mentioned anything about sexual abuse. And they went into great detail on all of the trauma Daniel faced growing up. So you would think that he would mention that, but he didn't. But again, who knows? I do feel like it is harder for males to admit to sexual abuse because of the shame behind it.

So it could very well be true, but it still isn't an excuse for why he tortured two elderly people to death. Now, after this TED talk was released, Chip and Claudia's families were pissed. Victoria, Claudia's daughter said, "I was watching it like a deer in headlights. I couldn't even pull my eyes away.

"How dare you" was all I could say to the screen." And luckily they were able to get it taken down so you can't find it anywhere. And at the time, that seemed like the worst of their worries. But they had some huge obstacles to face right around the corner. They still had Daniel's new trial, the one he was granted because of Prop 57.

This meant that his new judge could sentence him to life again or release him when he was 25, which was just four years away. Let's go on the record in the matter of Daniel William Marsh. His same attorneys would defend him in this trial. I think the court would be overwhelmed by the changes that he has made in a very short amount of time.

They also brought forth a psychiatrist that had actually evaluated Daniel in his first trial, and he claimed that Daniel had made significant changes. There were distinct differences in his maturity, his empathy, his insight into himself, his sense of responsibility. Then to everyone's surprise, Daniel himself would take the stand, where he spoke about his childhood.

He said he remembered being physically abused by his father and he was exposed to his parents' conflict before their divorce. He continued to say that he was bullied in school for being pale, shy, awkward, weird, and chubby. This made him a social outcast.

And again, he didn't admit anything at this trial to being sexually abused. And you would think if anything, here is where he would admit that, but here is the audio of him on the stand. In your prison records, you repeatedly tell your therapist you cannot remember the offense. Is that true? That's what I've told him, but it's not true. Why would you say that?

Because I haven't wanted to remember it. Why not? Because it was unbelievably horrific and horrendous and it's hard for me to even wrap my mind around how I could have done something that awful. And I guess I've just been afraid to actually face that. I was a really damaged, screwed up, sick

Maybe that's still how I come across. I really hope that's not the case. I mean, it's night and day. You know, I no longer struggle with mental illness. I've worked through the vast majority of my anger and hate. I'm not who I used to be. Now, if you remember, in the first trial, Daniel chose to not address the victim's families. But this time, he wanted to. I'm sorry I took them away from you.

In response to this, Chip and Claudia's families felt no empathy for Daniel, and partly because they truly didn't think he was capable of empathy, which is why he couldn't even look them in the eyes.

In fact, true psychopaths can't feel empathy. And psychopathy was actually a part of this trial. An expert on psychopaths named Dr. Matthew Logan testified at trial. And here's what he had to say. Some of the traits are glib superficial charm, pathological lying, lack of responsibility, inability to feel remorse.

The reason this was even brought up was because shortly after the murders, Daniel took a test called the psychopathy checklist, and he scored a 35.8, which is incredibly high. It was actually the highest score Dr. Matthew Logan had seen throughout his career. So Daniel Marsh is a psychopath.

and many people fear that if he was released back into the world, he would surely kill again. As you can imagine, Chip and Claudia's families did not want Daniel Marsh back into society. And luckily for them, in September of 2021, a judge denied him early release and he would remain in prison to serve out the remainder of his sentence.

Chip and Claudia's families were very happy with the ruling, and outside of the courtroom, they cried and embraced each other, knowing that their family's killer would remain behind bars.

But again, this case was not over. In 2018, the Senate introduced Bill 1391, which prohibited 14 and 15 year olds from being prosecuted as an adult no matter how heinous the crime. So, basically from that point forward, minors can't be tried as adults, no matter what. But what about all of the people who had been convicted before this bill was set into place?

Well, as you can imagine, everyone that was a minor serving a sentence of life in prison was trying to appeal their sentence, including Daniel Marsh. But luckily, the court would dismiss his appeal, meaning Daniel will once again stay behind bars to complete his life sentence. Here was the family's response. I have to leave him with God and walk away.

for my own sanity and the health of my family. I have to walk away because what he's done is so grievous to me. But to have some sneaky bills again right at the last minute and really put everything in jeopardy, yeah, it's a slap in the face. What if there was a chance he was rehabilitated?

I mean, there would be a lot of convincing to do. He's had his second chance. He was given a fitness hearing, which I support. What I don't support is the blanket law, because I think each case needs to be judged according to its specific. The community that my mom and ship love so much can rest easy.

And I have to agree with them. The topic of sentencing juvenile offenders is controversial because it's not so black and white.

We have covered stories on this podcast where I truly believe the minor was rehabilitated, like in our coverage of Connor Verkerke's murder. Jamarion Longhorn stabbed him to death on the playground because he was facing such horrible abuse at the hands of his parents, and he just wanted to die. But after going to juvie, he really did seem to change.

which is why Connor's family believes that he should be granted a second chance. But I don't have that same sentiment towards Daniel Marsh. He left his home that night simply because he wanted to kill someone. He tried nearly 40 homes before he finally found Chip and Claudia's. And not only did he kill them, but he took his time.

cutting off their eyelids, slicing their mouth, and enjoying every last second of it. And then afterwards, he mutilated their bodies even more, slicing them up, punching them, shoving random objects into their bodies. And then to make matters worse, he bragged about what he did, and he even attempted to kill other people afterwards.

This kind of behavior isn't just a teenage phase. Daniel Marsh is a psychopath. It's who he is and who he will always be. The FBI agent who worked with Daniel, Chris Campion, said that of all the people he's worked with throughout the years, Daniel Marsh is top three of people he is most scared of. And I don't want to live in a world where people like Daniel Marsh are walking free.

So let's just hope that we never have to and that Daniel Marsh will stay in prison where he belongs.

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Hey everybody, it's Colin here. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of Murder in America. How was it writing this episode? So sad. I heard this case years ago and I always knew I wanted to cover it. I like love old people so much. So it's so, so heartbreaking.

We have some really exciting updates to share soon. If you guys didn't know on the side, I am a ghost hunter. I actually just got a job with the New York post. We have a whole series that's premiering on the New York posts website. Just this week, you can look up haunted abandoned and hella creepy. If you want to see me ghost hunt around New York city. So that's a little exciting life update for me because that show just came out this week, but,

yeah, we have some awesome plans for the summer. This show is only going up and up, and it's thanks to you guys who are supporting the show online. But I want to thank our new patrons this week, Hutch Miller, Kiki Mosby, Kurtu Alec, Hannah Parente, Ryan Carlin, Cindy, Shelby Grimsley, David Dismuk, Savina Nichols, Asher McAfee, Kat Stewart, Sarai, Steinstar, Stephanie Collins, Cassidy Gleisinger, and Sarah. Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry if I ever mess up anybody's names, but thank you all so much for becoming patrons.

If you don't know what Patreon is, you can basically sign up on patreon.com. You just have to search Murder in America. And on Patreon, we post the ad-free versions of every episode as soon as the episodes go live on all streaming platforms. So if you don't like the ads on the episodes and you want to have your name read at the end of a podcast...

go sign up to become a patron today. We also have some exclusive bonus content that's going to be posted to Patreon very soon next month. We're revamping the whole thing. So that's super exciting. If you want to follow us on Instagram, just go to our page at Murder in America. We post photos from every case that we cover and you can join our official Facebook group. Just search Murder in America on Facebook. But yeah, we love you guys so much. Thank you all for tuning in for another week of the show. And we got some great episodes coming up next month. And

Anyways, it's Colin here and I'll catch you all in the next one.

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