Exceptional Depravity: Dan Who Likes Dark and Double Murder in Davis, California.

• Author: Rapp, Cristopher
• Position: Book review

Exceptional Depravity: Dan Who Likes Dark and Double Murder in Davis, California

By Lloyd Billingsley

The first police officer to arrive at the scene of the murder of Chip Northrup, age 87, and his wife Claudia Maupin, 76, called it in as "a double homicide with one subject having been eviscerated." Soon enough, the authorities would learn that in fact both victims had been eviscerated, their abdomens sliced open, and intestines pulled out. As the police report stated, it was an act of "exceptional depravity." Two months later, in June 2013, a local teenager, Daniel Marsh, confessed to the crime, telling authorities he stabbed the couple to death in their bedroom just to see what it would "feel" like.

That the murder took place in the peaceful university town of Davis, California--a community so kindhearted it built a tunnel under a busy street so toads could cross without getting squished--made it all the more shocking.

Veteran journalist Lloyd Billingsley examines all aspects of the crime and the ensuing investigation and trial in a brisk, engaging style. Billingsley delves into Marsh's background, and shows that nearly all of the factors that make a person "at risk" for criminal activity were present in large doses. He came from a broken home, used drugs, engaged in sexual activity from a young age, and had a history of mental illness, including anorexia and severe depression. Perhaps more to the point, Marsh was obsessed with death and torture, and consumed a steady diet of violent music (the death metal band Slipknot was a particular favorite), and websites featuring videos of actual deaths. Chillingly, Marsh displayed a penchant for killing pet birds and stray cats. Marsh was apparently aware that these interests were atypical, and he described himself to his high school classmates as "I'm Dan and I like the dark."

Ironically, Marsh's victims were the kind of people who would have wanted to help him navigate the stormy waters of his troubled life. Chip Northrup, a Navy veteran and attorney, had helped found the local legal aid society and had spent his retirement handling appeals pro bono for prisoners seeking to have their sentences...