Portrait of a Killer | Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] the uh master bedroom. >> It was the most horrific, depraved murder I've ever seen as the district
attorney in this county. When you think about the terror that these two people just asleep in their
own bed where we all feel the most secure and you wake up to this horror movie happening to you.
>> Happy birthday. Happy birthday to you. >> My mom was my best friend. I never remember a day that I didn't speak with
her or giggle with her. She was my world. She had been single for a while and she
had decided that she was ready to settle down. Well, it wasn't a couple of months
and my mother called me and reported to me that she had met a man and his name was Chip Northup
and he was so smart and brilliant and they were like Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy meeting over the pews at the
Unitarian Church and from that moment they were inseparable. She didn't want to be away from Chip
and and she went with Chip. They went together in their home in their bed. [Music]
If you talk to many of the officers, they'll say that what an impact this case has had on them. Just going to the
crime scene and seeing how horrific the the torture inflicted on these two humans, Chip and Claudia, really was. I
was certain that they were going to find some forensic evidence in the crime scene. A fingerprint, DNA, um, shoe
prints, uh, something. They found nothing. >> How soon did you hear that there was no
evidence that this looked like the perfect crime? >> Well, I think we were 2 months into it.
>> Yeah. We brought 25 FBI agents, experienced task force officers from other areas,
and we really flooded that neighborhood. >> We thought it had to be somebody close
to Chip and Claudia. Something that um that happened where there was a disagreement, some family dispute um
because it did appear to be so personal. >> It was a very scary time because nobody
knew who had done it. >> Davis police emergency. >> Oh yeah. Um, uh, can this be anonymous?
>> What are you reporting? >> Uh, double homicides. >> When this tip came in, um, it seemed
really strange. It didn't seem to match what any of us had thought. >> The reason why I want to remain
anonymous is cuz if my mom if my mom finds out, she will send me to military school.
>> Dumbfounded. >> We were dumbfounded. How do you wrap your mind around a 15-year-old killer?
[Music] [Music] 48 Hours: Portrait of the Killer. Reported by Aaron Morardi. [Music]
Take a ride through Davis, California, and you'll see why the college town has been named one of this country's best
places to live, and why Claudia Mop Ben moved here. >> She loved living in college communities,
so she loved being around all the young people and all the new ideas. Victoria Herd says Davis was one of
California's safest cities when her mother first arrived in 1995 and started attending services at this
Unitarian church, hoping to meet her third husband. She had been a spiritual traveler through many different
religions and denominations and she just had fallen in love with the Unitarian Church. So she said to me, "My husband
is at the Unitarian Church." Claudia soon met Oliver Chip Northup, one of the church's founders. Well known for his
social activism, Northup was a World War II veteran and a prominent attorney. Like Claudia, Chip had been married
several times, but according to his firstborn daughter, Mary, the couple's families blended easily.
>> Claudia had that ability to make every person that she spent time with feel that special so that they would come
away and say, "She's my best friend." >> Both Chip and Claudia's families were thrilled when the couple decided to
marry in 1996. I would think then the church was filled with the family. >> It was packed.
>> It was filled. >> Did you two ever worry about their safety? >> No. Absolutely not.
>> No. >> No. They had an idyllic life. They had so many loved ones around them. They had
so many great neighbors. [Music] They lived in Davis. Claudia and Chip had been married for 17
years when on the night of Saturday, April 13th, 2013, they said good night to each other for
the very last time. The next morning at church, the couple was noticeably absent.
>> I called and I called his number and I called Claudia's number and they both went to voicemail.
Chip was in a local folk band when he didn't show up for a gig that afternoon. Chip's son, Robert, and a grandson paid
a visit to Chip in Claudia's condo. >> And rang the doorbell, and no one answered. Everything I saw indicated
they were out of town. >> Robert had a key, but chose not to use it. Later that evening, Claudia's
stepdaughter, Laura, also rang the bell. When there was no answer, she went around back and saw this open window
with its screen slashed. One looked through the bedroom window and Laura knew that something awful had
happened. She saw blood stains. She saw enough that she made a call to get other people
over there. The next morning, there's 12 missed calls from my sister. She said, "There's been a breakin
and there are two dead bodies in the house." And then I lost it. My brain couldn't
process that. Victoria had to call her daughter Sarah and break the news. But all the police would share is that
Claudia and Chip had been stabbed multiple times. >> I was like, "Multiple? What does
multiple mean?" You know, is there a certain number that we should know? And the coroner said,
>> "All I can tell you is that multiple means more than 12." >> It would be just over a year before they
learned that Chip had 61 stab wounds. Claudia had 67. That's 128 stab wounds. Has anybody even had the strength to do
that? And and why would somebody want to do that? But that wasn't even the worst of it.
Davis Police Lieutenant Paul Doris says the killer had experimented with the bodies and had placed a cell phone into
Claudia's abdomen and a drinking glass into Chip's stomach. We thought that well maybe there's some type of meaning
to it, you know, but we were trying to latch on to every detail we could to help us with this case the office.
>> But there was little to latch on to. There was no physical evidence, not even
a shoe print. >> The place isn't ransacked. There's no valuables missing. Clearly, this is not
a burglary that was interrupted. Former special agent Chris Campion says that even the FBI profilers were
stumped. Unsure if they were dealing with one killer or more or if the open window was even the point of entry.
>> Appears that the screen is cut through on the edges. I think they had at this
point developed a story that somebody with the key had done it and that they'd cut this hole in the screen to divert
attention >> to make it look like >> when you if you come up with that theory then you have to look at family members
FBI agents had you know called us all individually and you know you could tell that they were doing everything in their
power to get answers but there was nothing >> until they got to Chip's son Robert and
his two sons Oliver and Tony Oliver suffers from schizophrenia. >> We lived in the same town, not very far
away. It would have not have been logistically difficult for one of us to have gone over there and done that.
>> Robert also had that key to the condo. >> Oliver, did you know that the police
were looking at you and your brother? >> Well, yeah. They asked us to come in for
questioning and I agreed. >> That first day it was about 8 hours of questioning. The next day it was another
six. It was just day after day, long hours of questioning. >> Mhm. >> And u and I kept thinking, well, my
father would would want us to cooperate in every way >> without a lawyer. Were you scared?
>> Very nervous. >> And with good reason. When police searched Robert's home, they found the
kind of evidence that gets people convicted. First, carpeting that had been steam cleaned on the day of the
murders. Yeah, it was bad timing. I didn't I didn't anticipate that that would be the same weekend my father got
murdered. It looked like I was covering up removing evidence. >> Investigators also found a very
disturbing drawing by Tony. It was the image of a man with a knife standing over two children in a bed.
>> The only thing I can say is that the three of them, they're not violent. If if something had clicked and turned them
violent, it would never have been for these two people. >> Did either one of you think that was
possible? >> No. Never. >> Never. Not for a second. Because Chip spent so much time with those boys.
Those boys adored him. >> The family spent thousands of dollars hiring an attorney for Tony and
repairing all the damage done by investigators. Then they cut out the carpet. They took out some of the
plumbing fixtures looking for things that might have been put in the drain. And they also took out a little bit of
flooring. >> The Northup family, Tony in particular, felt persecuted. And even though his
name was eventually cleared, Tony still felt that neighbors had their doubts about him. 3 years after the murders, he
would commit suicide. Oliver got this tattoo in memory of him. >> You've gone through a lot, haven't you?
>> Yeah, I think so. >> 2 months after the murders, police got this call. >> What are you calling to report, sir?
>> Um, the double homicide that happened in Naple this year. >> What can you tell me about that?
>> Everything, actually. A 17-year-old Davis High School student called to say he knew who killed that
couple. It was his best friend, >> Daniel Marsh. >> Daniel Marsh. >> Yeah, Daniel Marsh or Dan Marsh.
>> Daniel Marsh was a name that Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Risk had heard
years earlier, but not in connection with a crime. >> All of a sudden, he passed out and sort
of flew back in. At the time he was viewed as a young hero. He had saved his his father's life,
>> right? He was the hero of the day. >> At 10, Marsh was given an American Red Cross heroes award after using CPR to
save his father from a heart attack. >> I remember thinking at that time, this kid's going places.
>> It didn't seem possible. Could that young hero really have grown up to be the vicious killer investigators were
hunting for? [Music] When you first saw Daniel Marsh, what was your reaction? >> Total shock that a a boy was responsible
for these crimes. No one imagined, says District Attorney Jeff Risig, that the depraved killer of Chip Northup and his
wife Claudia might turn out to be a 15-year-old teenager. And certainly not this teenager who had once saved a life,
his father's, Bill Marsh. >> This is Daniel in 2009. >> At the time of the murders, Bill Marsh
lived next door to Claudia and Chip. And I chose that location because it was in
walking distance of their mothers. >> That's where Daniel lived at his mother Sherry's house. And it's where he was
staying on the night of the murders. The day the bodies were discovered, Bill Marsh was home recovering from back
surgery when police showed up at his door. >> Knock knock knock on the door. Hi, I'm
so and so of the police. Um, do you know Chip and his wife? I said, "No, I don't
know anybody. And I just moved in. >> About 2 weeks after the murders, Bill Marsh says he could no longer afford the
rent and moved out. >> Remember very vividly one of the neighbors came up and said, "Hey, um, I
don't know if this is relevant or not, but several days after the murder, the guy in that house moved out." And we
didn't think much about it at that time. And investigators might never have focused on Daniel Marsh if not for that
phone call from 17-year-old Alvaro Garab 2 months after the crime accusing his best friend of murder.
>> Well, he talked about killing people a lot. I didn't really take it seriously
until well killed someone. >> So, help me understand that this was your best friend.
>> I know. Uh I don't know if I can help you understand that. Alvaro says he laughs when nervous. But
back then, investigators took him very seriously. He seemed to know way too much about the murders. Gory details
known only to a handful of investigators and the killer. He cut both of them open.
It's just to see the insides or something. And then uh he went to the woman, I think, and he uh he wanted to know how
an eye looked like. So he tried taking it out with a knife, but he said it was really hard, so he couldn't do it.
>> Gabbe was interviewed twice, leaving investigators wondering if he was the killer.
>> Why did it take you until now to speak to us? >> Because I don't know, actually. I was
afraid. Alvaro says he finally came forward because Daniel had threatened to kill again. Do you think your life was
at risk? >> Oh, yeah. Mine, my families, my friends. >> On June 17th, 2013, investigators asked
the high school resource officer to bring Daniel Marsh in for questioning. >> Daniel,
>> and he seemed more than happy to talk. It was now up to Davis detective Ariel
Paneda and FBI special agent Chris Campion to get to the truth. >> Did he seem worried about talking to you
at all? >> No, certainly not at the beginning. I think he figured he could talk his way
through it. >> What do you know, Dave? >> I just know that somebody broke into this old couple's
house and stabbed them, killed them. Investigators would spend the next three hours learning all they could about
Daniel, looking for a way in. >> I was that loner kid that you know how there's always that one outcast.
Dad and mom split when you were pretty young. >> Yeah. And then mom basically left, abandoned
you, your family is >> Yeah. For like 3 or 4 months. Daniel's mother ended her marriage after having
an affair with a woman, Daniel's kindergarten teacher, which enraged the 10-year-old.
>> He hated her. He would tell me that I know this woman was involved in my parents' divorce, and I just want to
like strangle her to death. >> Daniel even tried taking his anger out on himself.
>> I used to like harm myself. >> I see a scar too there. Yeah. >> Yeah. As near as I understood the
cutting phenomenon, it was people who just kind of have this flat, depressed, kind of dark outlook on life. And the
cutting actually brings that sense of living. >> Campion says Daniel was willing to do
anything to feel something, including starving himself. All the pain and depression and anger just like
I internalized it and I directed it towards myself. >> Daniel was voluntarily committed to an
eating disorder clinic for 25 days. And while his anorexia seems to have passed,
Alvaro says Daniel's anger continued to consume him. He would tell me a lot about suicide.
>> And how old were the two of you? When was it? >> Oh man, I think 14. >> I've attempted it four times in my life.
>> It seems there were several therapists and doctors who intervened, trying numerous medications.
And then in mid December 2012, Daniel made a stunning admission, telling a school counselor that he fantasized
about killing people. She was so concerned they brought the police to the school.
>> Marsh was shortly hospitalized, but upon release things got worse. Did he talk
about Kelly? >> He like brought it up more. He was just like, I wish that person would die.
>> But in his police interview, Daniel was denying it all, including the murders of
Claudia and Chip. >> I don't want to hurt people. Then after 3 hours and 38 minutes of questioning,
the facade finally began to crumble. And >> why the heck would you just sit here and
baldfaced lie to Ariel and me? >> I am. You guys are threatening me with what? The truth. Getting arrested for
two murders. I am so scared right now. Of course, I'm going to do anything I can to try and
say that I didn't do this. >> That was um the first sign that he was getting over that wall, that he was
getting ready to talk to us about what really happened. >> If you want to help me, then don't ruin
my life. If anything, send me to the psychiatric hospital. >> But Chris, were you really prepared for
what he told you next? >> Um, no. Every time I look at someone in my mind, I see
flashes of images of me killing them. [Music] For more than three hours, Daniel Marsh
insisted he knew nothing about the murders of Claudia Mopin and Chip Northup. But he began to reveal more and
more about himself to agent Chris Campion. >> And all this time I thought about and
plotted about killing the woman that my mother left my father for. What was your
plan? Just gonna slaughter her throat. Daniel says that was when he began to fantasize about killing people.
Eventually, he became obsessed with something called gore porn and a website devoted to it.
>> I remember just like walking into his room and he was like, "Dude, check this
out." And it's like literally people getting beheaded. >> And how did he react when he was
watching those videos? >> He just sat there, I think, like fascinated by it. But it's one thing to
be fascinated and another to actually take a life. >> Well, you strangled a cat in the street.
And then I was like, "Okay, well, why'd you do that?" It's like, "Well, I just wanted to do that. It just I hated that
cat's house." >> In the interview room, investigators still hadn't heard Daniel confess to
killing Chip and Claudia and pressed on. >> When was the first time you started thinking about killing these people down
the street? Yeah, I really am. I didn't. >> Now you start thinking about it. >> That night I just I couldn't take it
anymore. I had to do it. I lost control. There it was. The opening that investigator Campion had been hoping
for. Daniel admitted that he had been hunting for someone, anyone, to kill that night when he came upon Chip and
Claudia's open living room window. >> I got a hole in the screen, climbed in through the back, went to their bedroom.
I 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. >> Without any outward emotion, Daniel described how he repeatedly stabbed
Claudia and Chip. What you were about to hear is graphic, but these disturbing details would
become key evidence in a family's battle for justice. I cut open most of their torsos around
here. And in the woman, I put a phone inside of her and I put a cup inside the guy.
>> Daniel said it was all part of his plan to confuse investigators and get away
with murder. He also taped the bottom of his shoes so he wouldn't leave prints and wore a ski mask and gloves so as not
to leave behind DNA or fingerprints. But hidden by Daniel in his mother's house.
Investigators found all the evidence they needed. Bloody clothing and the knife used to kill Chip and Claudia.
>> Did you wash blood off of it or did um that had been fairly covered? And I kept it as a souvenir.
>> A souvenir to forever remember how much he enjoyed taking two lives. I'm not going to lie, it felt
amazing. >> In fact, records show that Daniel was doing so much better in school. He was
named student of the month after the high of the murders. It was pure happiness and adrenaline and
dopamine just all of it rushing over me kind of >> after Daniel made a full confession.
Chris Campion did something unusual. >> You um mentioned that pretty much everybody you meet you have thoughts
about killing them and how you would kill them. >> Yeah. >> So, how would you kill me?
There's a lot of ways. Um, choking you to death with your tie. >> Okay. Uh, beating your face into the
mirror until it broke and using the glass to cut your arteries. Uh, gouging your eyes out and just smashing your
face into the wall. Nothing personal. >> Nothing personal. >> And I said I didn't take it personally
because I didn't. That's his fantasy life. I mean, Chris, do you believe that Daniel Marsh was a serial killer in
training? >> Absolutely. Abs, without a doubt. He actually talked about how he was going
to take his next victim. >> He was lurking in the streets of Davis at night with a baseball bat, intending
to beat to death some poor passer by. cuz I don't feel sympathy for other people
at all. Don't feel empathy for them. >> This was not the act of a broken child who had a rough life. This was the act
of somebody who, in my mind, is just evil. >> Daniel was immediately arrested and
charged with the murders of Chip Northup and Claudia Mopin. Was there any question whether he would be charged as
an adult and be tried in an adult court >> at the time? No. Because of the nature
of the crime, uh, he had to be tried in adult court. >> With Marsh facing life in prison, two
top public defenders were assigned to his case. Then Marsh plead not guilty by reason of insanity, something Chris
Campion had anticipated. That's why I'd spent some time with him. I wanted to make clear that he's not somebody who
had had a break with reality. Um, somebody who heard voices or had, you know, voices in his head telling him to
do things. >> Did you ever hear any voices talking to you? >> He wasn't anywhere close, in my opinion,
to legally insane. >> Even psychiatrist Dr. Matthew Sullier, who was hired by the defense, agreed
that Daniel was sane, even though when they met, Daniel threatened to kill him. >> I didn't find him to be insane. I found
him to be mentally ill, but responsible for his crimes. And I think my understanding is that they went ahead
and continued to pursue a defense of insanity. without Sulier as their expert witness.
A year after the murders, Daniel Marsh went on trial. The defense argued that the anti-depressant drugs given to
Daniel for his anorexia and suicide attempts had caused a temporary insanity. >> Zolaf made me do it.
>> Deputy District Attorney Amanda Zambour wasn't having it. But when you actually
looked at the medical records, he was having these thoughts and fantasies before he was ever on Zoloft.
>> Bill, I know that you believe that a lot of your son's problems are connected to
the medications he was taking, but he had fantasies about killing before he started on the drugs. He killed animals
before he started on these drugs. >> Yes. See, I don't know that that's true. There's a whole series of confessions by
people who have been on these drugs that have false memories. uh they believe certain things happened that never did.
>> The question now was would the jury agree? Would they find Daniel Marsh insane and decide a psychiatric hospital
was more appropriate than prison? >> Were you more nervous about that? >> Yes. The immediate thought is that
somebody would have to be insane to do something like this. On September 26th, 2014, the jury
deliberated for just under 2 hours before finding Daniel Marsh guilty of firstdegree murder.
They also found Marsh sane, allowing the judge to sentence him to the maximum, 52
years to life. >> We are very, very pleased with the verdict for me. We feel justice.
>> We all exhaled. >> Yeah. >> I mean, that was great. But it wasn't over yet, was it?
>> It wasn't over, Aaron. No, it wasn't over. That's because two years later, California voters passed Prop 57 and
gave Daniel Marsh a second chance. You'll recall that in this case, District Attorney Rice made the decision
to try Daniel Marsh as an adult. But under the new law, that decision would now have to be made by a juvenile court
judge. >> How do you call a family that sat through an entire trial? How do you call
them up and say, "Sorry, you have to come back because there's a chance he may end up being pushed back to juvenile
court where he would be potentially released at the age of 25." >> A judge would now listen to evidence and
decide if Daniel Marsh should have been tried as a juvenile. If so, the state might be forced to set Marsh free on his
25th birthday. He's 21 now. So in about 3 and a half, four years, he would be out with no
supervision, no parole. He would just be free. I went into PTSD immediately. And
I said, "I I can't do this. I can't do this. I'm moving forward." But before a hearing date could even be
set, >> a striking video appeared online. Hurt people hurt people. >> Through a prison rehabilitation program,
Daniel Marsh took center stage in his very own TEDex talk. >> The secret down deep, deep down,
>> declaring that he's reformed and deserves a second chance. >> I came to realize that there are no such
things as evil people in this world, >> only damaged people. And I'm watching it
like a deer in the headlights. You know, I can't pull my eyes away. >> If I kept allowing myself to be trapped
by my emotions and to be disconnected. >> How dare you? Was all I could say to the
screen. >> March also took the opportunity to raise a shocking new claim that he was the
victim here. >> When I was a child, I was sexually abused multiple times by two different
people. But he wouldn't say by whom and never even told his best friend. >> I don't recall anything like that.
>> He never talked about being sexually abused. >> He was asked routinely about trauma and
abuse and denied it every time. >> I believe he wouldn't say it if it wasn't true.
>> Bill Marsh stands by his son. >> But why wouldn't he have said it earlier? >> Knowing Daniel, he probably feels he has
some sort of loyalty. I felt alone and ashamed and disgusting. >> You don't believe he was ever abused?
>> I don't. Um I think it's a ploy to to get sympathy. Now >> embrace our humanity.
>> We knew our first and most important thing to do was to get the video taken down.
>> Right. Claudia Mopin's granddaughter Sarah took on the challenge >> and within 48 hours it was gone. It was
taken down off of YouTube. >> A small victory, but nothing compared to the battle ahead to keep Daniel Marsh
behind bars. >> All right. >> Marsh's fate was now in the hands of family court judge Samuel McAdam. Life
in prison or possibly just four more years. Let's go on the record in the matter of Daniel William Marsh.
>> Marsh's original defense team returned to represent him. Attorney Andra Pelino
>> and I think the court will be overwhelmed by the changes that he has made in a very short amount of time.
>> Remember Dr. Matthew Sulier, the psychiatrist who Daniel Marsh had threatened to kill? He recently
interviewed Marsh again and took the stand this time and said he thought Marsh had changed. There were distinct
differences in his maturity, his empathy, his insight into himself, his sense of responsibility.
>> I don't think he's worth throwing away in my opinion. >> He's killed two people,
>> right? >> I mean, isn't it possible that's the kind of person who just can't be saved?
I don't believe that. I don't believe that at all. >> Just when everyone thought the defense
was going to rest its case, the courtroom was stunned. Daniel Marsh had decided to take his fate into his own
hands. [Music] The families of Chip and Claudia were horrified when a 21-year-old Daniel
Marsh took the stand to plead for his freedom. >> And I stared at him the entire time.
>> I was a really damaged, screwed up, sick kid. Maybe that's still how I come across. And I really hope that's not the
case. Uh >> to me, he was doing everything in his power to say the things that would help
him in his 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 my anger and hate. I I'm not who I used to be.
>> While trying to convince the judge, Marsh also took the opportunity to address his victim's families for the
first time. I'm sorry I took them away from you. I can't even bring myself to look at you.
>> I think he didn't look cuz he realized he couldn't feain empathy. It >> 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. But before Judge McAdam would decide if Marsh should be treated like a juvenile
and receive a lighter sentence, he asked the prosecution to call an expert on psychopaths.
>> Dr. Logan, good morning. >> Forensic psychologist Matthew Logan. >> Some of the traits are glib, superficial
charm, pathological lying, lack of responsibility, uh inability to feel remorse. While
Logan never met Marsh, he did examine his records. I spoke to Dr. Logan via FaceTime. Is Daniel Marsh a psychopath?
>> In my view, yes. >> After his conviction, Marsh scored a whopping 35.8 out of 40 on the widely
used psychopathy checklist, one of the highest scores Dr. Logan has ever seen. means it's generally accepted as the
gold standard for for uh diagnosing psychopathy. >> Do you believe that Daniel Marsh could
kill again and will kill again? >> I would say it's more likely than not that he would kill again.
>> And Dr. Logan says Marsh's testimony did nothing to convince him otherwise. >> I've interviewed hundreds of psychopaths
and they've all seen the light. And one of the things that that is very typical of the psychopath is that ability to con
and manipulate. >> The twoe hearing culminated on October 24th, 2018 when a packed courtroom
convened to hear the judge's decision on Daniel Marsh's fate. >> Let's go on the record in the matter of
Daniel William Marsh. >> Judge McAdam first sent jitters throughout the courtroom. Marsh is
coping well with being incarcerated. He is not exhibiting the signs of a serious
mental illness. >> He said he found the testimony of Marsh to be credible, but in the end concluded
that Marsh's release just wasn't a chance worth taking. Marsh's original sentence would stand.
>> The defendant is remanded to state prison to serve the balance of an indeterminate life sentence with a
minimum of 52 years. You could kind of feel the relief in the courtroom when the judge read his final
decision from the family members. So relieved. >> I went outside and was like, "Okay, I
need to take a deep breath." And I could not catch my breath. And I still feel that way. Mhm.
>> I still feel that it's not over >> because it's not. In September 2018, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a
new law known as SB1391, which makes it impossible to ever try a 15-year-old offender as an adult, even
one like Daniel Marsh. So what 1391 says is that the DAs can never ever prosecute
a juvenile that's 14 or 15 years old as an adult. No matter how heinous the crime, no matter what torture they
inflicted, >> Marsha's lawyers have vowed to do what they can to have Daniel retroactively
included under that new law. >> We're going to fight that every step of the way. we might lose. And if we do,
Daniel Marsh will come back to our county and he will be sentenced as a juvenile where he would be eligible for
release at 25. If that happens, the state will have to argue every 2 years to keep Marsh behind
bars, which means a still grieving family may never fully heal. We just went through this entire year
having to rehash everything. It was literally like being in the trial all over again and even more so because
I had to hear him. >> It retraumatizes me every time. >> Special Agent Chris Campion is just as
traumatized at the idea of Marsh ever being set free. Daniel Marsh is in the top three of the people I'm most scared
of. >> What was your plan? It's going to [ __ ] through. >> Cuz he's got that combination of being a
psychopath and this this deep dark desire for murder and gore and bloodshed. It's
>> most exhilarating, enjoyable feeling I've ever felt. >> And it doesn't go away. It just doesn't
[Music] [Music]

A teenager said after he killed an elderly couple “it felt amazing.” Now a controversial new California law could set him free at 25. "48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty reports. Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

The episode details the brutal murders of Chip Northup and Claudia Mopin by teenager Daniel Marsh and the ensuing investigation and trial.

Key points

The Horrific Crime Scene. District attorney describes the shocking details of a brutal double homicide.
A Mother's Love. A child remembers their mother as their best friend and world.
The Shocking Confession. Daniel Marsh reveals the chilling details of the murders he committed.
Daniel Marsh's Confession. Daniel admits to feeling amazing after taking two lives, revealing his chilling mindset.
The Jury's Verdict. After deliberating for just under 2 hours, the jury finds Daniel guilty of first-degree murder.
Daniel's TEDx Talk. In a TEDx talk, Daniel claims he deserves a second chance and discusses his past.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

My mom was my best friend. She was my world.

A child reflecting on their mother.

0:51WatchFeb 10, 2026

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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