Killer Confession

Two murders, no suspects, zero clues On April 14, 2013, police in Davis, California, received a call to check on Oliver "Chip" Northup, 87, an attorney and bluegrass musician. The singer and guitarist had failed to show up for two gigs, and that was not like him. Chip was not answering his phone and neither was his wife Claudia Maupin, 76, an actress and pastoral associate. Police found a cut screen over an open window. Inside they found Chip and Claudia stabbed, mutilated and eviscerated. It was the first murder in several years in Davis, a low-crime college town near Sacramento. Local police had never seen an attack of such savagery. The killer or killers left no clues. Detectives logged thousands of hours, chased down leads as far as Nevada, served 35 search warrants and generated 218 police reports. The FBI joined the search but by mid-June of 2013 these marathon efforts rendered no suspects and police remained without a clue. Then police got a telephone call that led them to an address a stone's throw from the cemetery where murder victims Chip and Claudia lay in their final rest. There police picked up a high-school student, 16 years of age, and brought him to the station. As it turned out, he knew details only someone at the crime scene could know. And as the police learned, he had a lot to say for himself.