On April 14, 2013, Oliver "Chip" Northup Jr. and his wife Claudia Maupin were tortured, murdered, and mutilated by Daniel William Marsh in the couple's Davis, California home. Marsh, who was 15 years old at the time of the murders, had an extensive history of antisocial and violent behavior. Marsh had long been fantasizing about torturing and murdering people and desired to become a serial killer. The high-profile murders have impacted the policy debate surrounding the sentencing of juvenile offenders.
On the night of April 13, 2013, after years of homicidal urges, Marsh "had enough" and decided to make his fantasies come true. In the early morning hours of April 14, he left his mother's home and wandered the streets of Davis in search of a home with open windows or doors, before coming upon Maupin and Northup's residence. Marsh cut open the window screen, invaded the home, and made his way to the couple's bedroom where he found Maupin and Northup asleep. Marsh watched them sleep for a few minutes then stabbed both victims to death. The attack was severe, leaving Northup with 61 stab wounds and Maupin with 67 stab wounds. After murdering Northup and Maupin, Marsh dissected, eviscerated, and mutilated their bodies. The couple's bodies were discovered the next day. It wouldn't be until June that Marsh was arrested—due to Marsh's extensive planning of the murders, he left no DNA, fingerprints, footprints, or any other evidence at the crime scene. He became a suspect after bragging to his friends about the murders. Marsh was then interrogated and confessed to the crimes. He told investigators that the murders gave him a feeling of "pure happiness" which lingered for weeks. Marsh was convicted of the murders in September 2014. He was also declared sane.
In 2013, the California State Legislature passed Senate Bill 260, which allows juvenile offenders such as Marsh to seek parole after 20 or 25 years. Because of this law, Marsh is eligible for parole after serving 25 years of his life sentence. In 2016, California voters passed Proposition 57, which requires that juvenile court judges decide whether juvenile offenders are tried in juvenile court or in adult court. In 2018, Marsh's conviction was conditionally reversed pursuant to Proposition 57. A transfer hearing was held to determine if he should serve his sentence in the juvenile justice system or the adult criminal justice system. Though the juvenile court judge ruled to keep Marsh in the adult criminal justice system, in 2018, Senate Bill 1391 was signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown, preventing juveniles under age 16 from being prosecuted in adult court. Opponents of SB 1391 argued that it conflicted with Proposition 57, though O.G. v. The Superior Court of Ventura County, the California Supreme Court determined no conflict. Marsh contended that SB 1391 should apply retroactively to him, while prosecutors disagree. Oral arguments before the Third District Court of Appeal were held on August 18, 2021. If sent to the juvenile justice system, Marsh would have been released from incarceration upon turning 25. In September 2021, the Third District Court dismissed the appeal.
Victims Oliver "Chip" Jennings Northup Jr. was born on April 26, 1925, in Grand Island, Nebraska. Northup served in the United States Navy during World War II. He was a prominent attorney, receiving his undergraduate degree from UCLA and his legum baccalaureus from Boalt Hall (UC Berkeley School of Law). He continued working as an attorney until his death. Northup, who was 87 years old at the time of his death, was elected to serve on the Woodland School Board. He also served as City Attorney for Woodland, Winters and Yolo, president of the Woodland Chamber of Commerce, and president of the Woodland Rotary Club. Additionally, Northup was a musician for the Putah Creek Crawdads and a founding member of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis.
Northup met Claudia Maureen Maupin at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Davis. The couple married in 1996. Maupin, born May 15, 1936, was a pastoral associate at the Davis Unitarian Church. She was also active in local theater. Maupin was 76 years old at the time of her death.
Maupin had three children while Northup had six children along with two stepchildren from a previous marriage. Maupin and Northup's joint family included 11 children, 14 grandchildren, and eight great-grandchildren.
Perpetrator
Daniel William Marsh is a convicted felon who is serving a sentence of 52 years to life for the murders of Claudia Maupin and Oliver Northup, who lived two homes down from his father. Marsh is currently incarcerated at Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in San Diego. Prior to murdering Northup and Maupin, Marsh had an extensive history of violent and antisocial behavior, as well as severe mental health problems. Marsh had been fantasizing about murdering people since the age of 10 and aspired to become a serial killer.
1997–2010 Marsh was born on May 14, 1997. He first made local headlines in 2008 at the age of 10 after receiving American Red Cross Heroes Award for using CPR to save his father who was having a heart attack. Also in 2008, Marsh's parents underwent a contentious divorce due to his mother's affair with his former kindergarten teacher. It was at this point that Marsh's homicidal fantasies first emerged. Marsh, then 10, was enraged with the woman for whom his mother had left his father. He plotted to slit her throat or strangle her to death. At age 10, Marsh also began to have dreams of killing people. At 11, he told a therapist about fantasies of torturing people and his desire to make those fantasies come true. When Marsh was 11, he was diagnosed with adjustment disorder with depressed mood. In seventh grade, he began threatening physical harm. In May 2010, Marsh started seeing David Besa, a clinical social worker from Kaiser Permanente. The intake form described Marsh as having nightmares and temper outbursts and being nervous and not liking other people. In August 2010, he was prescribed his first antidepressant, Prozac. The prescription called for one to two capsules daily, 100 mg in quantity.
2010–2013 As Marsh entered his teenage years, he began using alcohol and marijuana. He went back and forth between his parents' homes until he was 14, at which point his father threw him out due to his constant drunkenness and marijuana use. Marsh's mother remained oblivious to his substance abuse. In October 2011, Marsh became anorexic. The following month, he was placed in an intensive outpatient program to treat the condition. The then 14-year-old had gotten down to 93 pounds. Marsh was hospitalized for his eating disorder at the Berkeley Hospital from December 29, 2011, to January 25, 2012. Marsh was now taking Celexa. His medication was switched to Lexapro and was then switched back to Prozac. Marsh was also given Abilify, an anti-psychotic. A doctor noted that Marsh was having feelings of derealization, with out-of-body experiences four to five times a week.
As time went on, Marsh's violent thoughts increased. At age 14, Marsh's dreams about killing people, which had begun at age 10, became more frequent. In mid-December 2012, Marsh told a school counselor about his homicidal fantasies, resulting in the police being brought to the school. Marsh was then involuntarily hospitalized because of the danger he posed to himself and others. At this point, his medication was switched to Zoloft with Seroquel. In early 2013, Marsh began taking Wellbutrin as well. In January 2013, Marsh told his school psychologist about homicidal ideations he was having regarding school peers. When the counselor asked if he would act on them, he stated, "I have full confidence that I could hurt these people." A police officer was again brought to the school, but it was determined that Marsh posed no danger to himself or others and no further action was taken. Soon after, Marsh had another meeting with the school counselor, this time describing graphically how he wanted to torture people by peeling skin from their hands and cutting off their eyelids. Marsh also confided that these graphic fantasies only "scratched the surface of his thoughts" and that he had given up fighting them. Marsh's statements were not disclosed to authorities because there was believed to be no intent or identified victims.
Marsh's homicidal thoughts continued. Whenever he looked at a person, he thought about how he would kill them. He also had fantasies of a schoolyard massacre and desired to become a serial killer. Marsh eventually began talking more persistently with friends about torturing and killing random people. He also began drawing violent pictures in art class. Marsh's drawings depicted torture and killings with morbid details on the methods. Friends of Marsh later recalled that he spoke often about killing people and said that if he were caught for murder, he would claim insanity. He also made a detailed written plan to kill his girlfriend's ex-boyfriend. Additionally, Marsh was interested in Ted Bundy, Jeffrey Dahmer, and other serial killers.
Beginning in 2012, Marsh became preoccupied with a website that promoted "gore porn" and amateur videos of actual gory events. In addition to Marsh's fascination with "gore porn" and his fantasies of murdering people, Marsh set fires and engaged in animal cruelty. His violent behavior against animals included killing cats. According to one friend, Marsh once strangled a cat in the street. When the friend asked why he strangled the cat, Marsh replied, "Well, I just wanted to do it. I just, I hated that cat." Marsh also asked the friend if he could kill his dog. Additionally, Marsh kicked a dog and killed a raccoon.
Marsh's mood seemed to improve after the murders of Northup and Maupin—he was named student of the month. However, in May 2013, Marsh was expelled from school for carrying a knife on campus.
Mental health conditions According to forensic psychologist and psychopathy expert Matthew Logan, Marsh is a psychopath, scoring 35.8 out of 40 on the Psychopathy Checklist. James Rokop, another psychologist, says that Marsh is a sexual sadist who killed solely to gratify himself. Kathleen Merikangas, a neurologist and neuropsychiatrist, disagreed, stating that there was no evidence of Marsh having anti-social or sexual sadism disorders. Merikangas stated at trial that Marsh had manic depressive disorder, dissociative disorder, de-personalization, and anorexia nervosa. In addition to mental illness and violent thoughts, Marsh was detached from both parents. A friend of his mother's explained that he showed no emotion towards her even when she cried. Marsh also appeared not to have any concern for his mother's neurological illness, which often incapacitated her.
Murders According to Marsh's confession, on the night of April 13, 2013, after years of homicidal urges, he "had enough". Marsh, then 15, decided to live out his violent fantasies and kill someone. Marsh extensively planned the murders—he taped the bottom of his shoes so that he would not leave behind footprints and he wore gloves to avoid leaving fingerprints or DNA. He also wore all black clothing and a black face mask and armed himself with a six-inch Buck knife. On April 14, between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m., he left his mother's house and roamed the streets of Davis searching for a home with open doors or windows. According to Marsh's confession, he checked between 40 and 50 homes for open windows or doors. He finally found an open window at Maupin and Northup's condo, which was two doors down from his father's residence. He sliced open the screen, climbed through the open window, and waited in the living room until he heard snoring sounds coming from the master bedroom. He followed the snoring sounds to the bedroom, where he found Maupin and Northup asleep.