True Conviction is investigating a ruthless murder from Davis, California, where elderly couple Oliver “Chip” Northup Jr. and his wife Claudia Maupin were savagely butchered in their own beds by teenager Daniel Marsh.
The 15-year-old Marsh had harbored homicidal fantasies for years and was a self-confessed psychopath, tragically, he decided, one night in 2013, to act out his twisted desires.
In the small hours of the morning on April 14, 2013, Marsh dressed in black, donned a shoplifted ski mask, grabbed a hunting knife, and searched the quiet Davis streets for a house with open windows.
He eventually came across the home of Chip Northup,87, and Claudia Maupin, 76, and calmly cut the screen covering the windows before climbing inside.
He found Northup and Maupin sleeping in their bed and stood watching them for approximately 10 minutes until Maupin suddenly awoke and screamed when she saw Marsh. The killer then proceeded to stab, torture, and mutilate the poor elderly couple.
The couple suffered over 60 stab wounds each, wounds which covered their entire bodies. Unfortunately, Marsh didn’t stop there; he disemboweled his victims and cut out their organs. He even inserted a cellphone and a drinking glass into their bodies. The reason? Morbid curiosity.
At first, the investigators were left stumped as well as horrified. There was absolutely zero forensic evidence implicating the murderer at the scene of the crime. Marsh had been meticulous in covering his tracks.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelDaniel Marsh couldn’t stop confessing to murder
However, the murderer just couldn’t stop bragging about his actions. The next day, he told numerous friends and his girlfriend intimate details about the murders.
Amazingly, Marsh remained free for several months and continued to brag about the murders, until finally, one of his friends contacted the cops.
In June, the police finally got Marsh into an interview room. At first, he denied the murders, but after several hours of interrogation, he eventually confessed.
In subsequent interviews with the police, Marsh described how he felt the overwhelming urge to kill people. He claimed that when looking at people, he saw images, like flashes, of himself hacking them to death. He also shocked investigators when he described killing Northup and Maupin: “It felt great, like it was pure happiness.”
Despite his age, Marsh was tried as an adult and was sentenced to 52 years to life in prison. However, a new Californian law prohibiting the prosecution of a minor as an adult could mean that he’ll be released as early as his 25th birthday, just a little over a year away.
More from True Conviction
Follow the links to read about more shocking crimes profiled on True Conviction.
The battered remains of Tracey Schoettlin were found dumped over a bridge in Birmingham, Alabama, and led to the cops fearing they had a serial killer on the loose. But then Tommy Bradley came to the police claiming he had seen visions of her death sent by God.
Carl Junior McCauley broke into the mobile home of Karen Ann Watson in Lake Alfred, Florida, and raped and stabbed her to death. It took 27 years before DNA evidence put McCauley behind bars where he belonged.
True Conviction airs at 9/8c on Investigation Discovery.