A 15-Year-Old's Crime Scene: How Daniel Marsh Left No Trace

On April 14, 2013, in the early morning hours, Daniel William Marsh entered the Davis, California home of Claudia Maupin, 76, and Oliver "Chip" Northup Jr., 87. The elderly couple, married for 17 years, were asleep in their bedroom when the teenager crept in and attacked them with a knife. By the time he left, both victims had been stabbed repeatedly—Northup sustaining 61 wounds, Maupin 67—before Marsh dissected and mutilated their bodies in a display of extreme violence.

What made this crime scene extraordinary in the annals of homicide investigation was not the brutality, but the absence of evidence. Marsh left behind no DNA, no fingerprints, no footprints—nothing that typical forensic analysis could use to identify him. He had taped his shoes to the floor to avoid leaving impressions, a level of premeditation that belied his age and revealed a calculated mind at work.

When Claudia and Oliver's bodies were discovered on April 15, the morning after the murders, police faced a seemingly impossible puzzle. Investigators called in 25 FBI agents to work the case, but initial leads proved elusive. Even family members—including Chip's son and grandsons—were questioned as suspicion cast a wide net across the community.

The investigation stalled until June 2013, two months after the murders. A tip came in: a teenager had been bragging about committing the killings. When police brought in Daniel William Marsh for , he confessed in graphic detail. During questioning, he described continuing to stab the victims long after they were dead, explaining that it "just felt right." He then directed officers to he had kept as souvenirs—the bloody clothing and knife, hidden in his mother's garage.