Corporal Scott Allen / Corporal Kir Bresnik (2:55)

I grew up with this person here in Davis, yes. And I've known him. I knew him better than anyone else.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (3:04)

But what this caller revealed was beyond anything they had imagined. The person the anonymous caller knew better than anyone else was named Daniel Marsh. He was 15 years old.

Corporal Scott Allen / Corporal Kir Bresnik (3:24)

He's. I think the word is psychotic. Basically, he's the kind of person that likes to see something hurt.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (3:35)

I'm 48 Hours correspondent Erin Moriarty, and this is 15. Inside the Daniel Marsh murders. Episode three, a strange tip after spending hours on the phone with police, the clearly nervous anonymous caller finally agreed to come down to the police station to talk in person.

Corporal Scott Allen / Corporal Kir Bresnik (4:09)

Can I get some water? Yes, please. Okay.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (4:14)

The teenage tipster was Alvaro Garabe. He arrived at the station early the following morning. There, police led him into a small room and offered to grab him some snacks. Alvaro was skinny, with long black hair that was pulled up into a ponytail. He wore dark frame glasses. A camera in the room captured Alvaro as he nervously rubbed his hands together and tapped on the table next to him until the officers came back into the room.

Corporal Scott Allen / Corporal Kir Bresnik (4:49)

How old are you? I'm 17. Okay. We just met. Do you mind if you spell anything? A L A.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (5:03)

At first, investigators weren't sure what to make of Alvaro's phoned in tip. Given his intimate knowledge of the crime, they had to consider the possibility that he himself could have been involved. So they read him his rights.

Corporal Scott Allen / Corporal Kir Bresnik (5:22)

So the other recommend, anything mistaken will be used against you in court of law. You understand? Yeah. Can't write to your attorney before and after questioning if you can't afford one. Be applied to you, no cost. Do you understand that? Okay, well, I don't really, but I've heard that tons of times on TV.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (5:43)

I later sat down with Alvaro Garabe in 2018, five years after Chip and Claudia were killed. Alvara was then 22 years old with a full beard. They thought you were involved?

Alvaro Garabe (5:59)

Yeah. Oh, yeah. I mean, I mean, retrospect, I totally get it. I mean, I'm like some random kid saying that this person committed a crime. I'm like, you know, kind of freaked out.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (6:10)

At the time, the story that he had shared with the police still haunted him. The story of his once close friendship with a teenage boy named Daniel Marsh.

Alvaro Garabe (6:26)

When I first met him, he was very shy and very quiet.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (6:31)

Alvaro met Daniel in seventh grade at Holmes Junior High School. Both of them were lonely, self described outcasts who bonded over their mutual love of the heavy metal band Disturbed.

Alvaro Garabe (6:45)

Like, we just hung out a lot.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (6:48)

What would you do when you'd hang out?

Alvaro Garabe (6:50)

Just like play video games and then just like watch music videos and go on YouTube. Like watch like the dumbest YouTube videos ever. And we just sit there and laugh for like hours, you know, like those like, like, like can't breathe kind of laughing.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (7:07)

Alvaro said that he and Daniel became fast friends, almost family. Daniel would talk to him about his rocky home life. When Daniel was 10 years old, his parents separated and his mother had an affair with a woman. When his parents divorced shortly after, Daniel said He felt abandoned. Alvaro told me that the situation infuriated Daniel, who over time directed his anger at the woman that his mother was involved with.

Alvaro Garabe (7:40)

He hated her, like, absolutely. Because 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. I remember him saying that to me.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (7:55)

Did you think he was serious when he talked about wanting to kill her? No.

Alvaro Garabe (7:59)

I mean, I knew, okay, well, I kind of empathize because I'm like, okay, I guess if this one, if there's a person, individual that was responsible for my parents divorce, I would hate them too, you know.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (8:10)

But enough to kill them?

Alvaro Garabe (8:11)

No. Well, he didn't kill her, but, you know.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (8:14)

No, but he talked about it.

Alvaro Garabe (8:15)

Talked about it, yeah.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (8:18)

The conversations disturbed Alvaro, but he remained close with Daniel. In high school, they smoked marijuana together, played guitar, and watched YouTube videos. But eventually, Alvaro said Daniel started spending hours watching very deep, disturbing content videos of torture and beheadings. As I warned you earlier, what you're about to hear is disturbing.

Alvaro Garabe (8:52)

There was this one torture video that really, like, hit me that made me feel like more. More uncomfortable and more unsettled, which was a video of this person drowning somebody. They have like a video of somebody like, you know, like a scarf on their face and just like putting them under a tub and just drowning them.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (9:11)

Alvaro was upset by what he saw, but he said that Daniel seemed to enjoy the videos.

Alvaro Garabe (9:18)

He just sat there, you know, just kind of like, whoa, what's going on? I think, like, fascinated by it.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (9:27)

When we spoke, Alvaro explained that that he thought Daniel's interest in violence and hurting people was just a way to de stress, not something he'd try to replicate.

Alvaro Garabe (9:42)

That's how I took it. I never thought in reality, this person was actually going to go do something about it, you know?

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (9:57)

After Daniel's parents divorced, things became even more tense between Daniel, his parents, and his mother's new partner. According to Alvaro, Daniel, then 14 years old, became fixated with his weight. How thin did he get? I mean, was it really a problem?

Alvaro Garabe (10:16)

He got really thin. I think I have a couple photos of him and I hanging out, and he looks like bones.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (10:24)

Daniel would starve himself for extended periods of time, and he regularly talked about death. And was he taking medications?

Alvaro Garabe (10:34)

He was taking antidepressants.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (10:36)

Did he talk about what was going on in his head and his thoughts?

Alvaro Garabe (10:40)

He would tell me a lot about suicide.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (10:46)

Daniel was sent to various therapists, according to Alvaro, and doctors tried to deal with his behavioral and health issues. In 2012. Daniel told a school guidance counselor that he fantasized about killing people. The counselor called police, who hospitalized Daniel because of the danger he posed to himself and others. When Daniel would go through these depressive episodes, writing became an outlet for him.

Alvaro Garabe (11:19)

And he was like, yeah, I've been doing a lot of writing lately. And I was like, oh, cool. What are you writing? I was like, just stuff. And I was like, oh, okay. Like lyrics. And I was like, nope. I was like, oh, okay.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (11:29)

The police had shared with me pages copied from Daniel's personal journal from this time period. And I showed them to Alvaro.

Alvaro Garabe (11:40)

You want me to go through this?

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (11:41)

Yeah.

Alvaro Garabe (11:42)

Tell me crazy stuff.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (11:43)

Well, tell me why you say it's crazy stuff.

Alvaro Garabe (11:49)

Because it's like. It's just. Just random streams of consciousness. What the hell is this?

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (11:56)

Hard to read at all. That looks like someone with a gun.

Alvaro Garabe (12:00)

Yeah. Yeah.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (12:00)

In his mouth. I pulled out one page that Alvaro had already seen. Daniel himself had shown it to him. The page was covered with drawings of skulls mixed with references to serial kill, Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer, and song lyrics about sex and murder. This is kind of scary when you look at it.

Alvaro Garabe (12:29)

Oh, my gosh. Like, you don't even. Okay. So when I first saw this, I didn't think too much about it. Now I'm, like, 22 looking at this. It blows my mind that I, like, didn't even, like, think about what could happen.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (12:44)

Another page was covered in expletives.

Alvaro Garabe (12:48)

There's one that's like, kill, kill, kill.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (12:58)

Daniel seemed able to keep much of that anger bottled inside. In high school, he and Alvaro dated girls, and they all started hanging out together as a group. But then, over time, Daniel's girlfriend also observed troubling behavior. She called Alvaro.

Alvaro Garabe (13:21)

I remember her just being, like, kind of panicky and just very like, I don't think Dan's okay. You know, Like, I think he's, like, messed up or, like, he's got, like, something going on where he's like, he just, like, snapped at me.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (13:35)

Some of Daniel's journal entries involved his girlfriend. And these ones didn't just talk vaguely about murder. They showed just how seriously Daniel was thinking about killing.

Alvaro Garabe (13:49)

Okay, wow.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (13:52)

What is that?

Alvaro Garabe (13:54)

This is him planning to kill.

Corporal Scott Allen / Corporal Kir Bresnik (13:59)

Her.

Alvaro Garabe (13:59)

Ex boyfriend because he's writing I am ready.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (14:07)

In his original interview with police, Alvaro described the weekend of April 13, 2013. It was the weekend of Alvaro's 17th birthday, the same weekend that Chip and Claudia were murdered. Alvaro spent the time playing video games. He went to guitar center with his family. He, his friend Daniel didn't join him, but he did invite Alvaro to hang out that Sunday to talk about something important.

Corporal Scott Allen / Corporal Kir Bresnik (14:45)

He said, I want to tell you something important. Yeah. And he told me he had a. He had an interesting night and you wanted to talk about it.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (14:55)

Alvaro said Daniel wanted to tell him about the interesting night he had had hours earlier.

Corporal Scott Allen / Corporal Kir Bresnik (15:04)

Like, he started off by, like, telling me that he killed two people. And then I told him, I don't want to hear about it. I want to know about it.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (15:12)

According to Alvaro, Daniel said he killed two people. Alvaro didn't know what to make of what Daniel just told him, and he didn't want to hear anymore, so he laughed. But Alvaro told me that the next day, Daniel still wanted to talk to him.

Alvaro Garabe (15:32)

And then on Monday, I go to school, go to lunch, and I sit down with my friend group. Dan comes up to me, walks up to me, and he like, he's like, hey, man, I need to talk to you. I'm like, oh, okay, what about? And I was like, just come with me. And then like, brings me up to the side by locker room. And he's like, hey, man, I made the news. And I'm like, okay, what do you mean by that? You know, like, what do you mean you made the news? Oh, okay. Well, I'll just talk to you about it later.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (16:03)

Later on in social studies class, someone told Alvaro about a story they had read in the newspaper. It was about a double homicide that had taken place over the weekend.

Alvaro Garabe (16:18)

And I was like, oh, snap. All right. And then that's where everything kind of just like turns into a movie.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (16:27)

Alvaro began connecting the dots. Later, he received a text from Daniel to come over to his house.

Alvaro Garabe (16:38)

And then when I go to his room, like, you know, like, I just walk in, he's sitting on his, you know, rolling chair, you know, by his computer. And I sat on the side of his bed. And then he starts telling me like, you know, he's like, so I actually did it. And then I don't like talking about this too much.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (16:59)

I know, but tell me what. You can just describe what he told you he had done.

Alvaro Garabe (17:03)

So when he gave me, basically, I'd say like a rundown of what he did.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (17:14)

And this is what Daniel told him, that on Saturday, instead of attending Alvaro's birthday celebrations, Daniel had put on all black clothing and a ski mask over his face. He told Alvaro that he had grabbed his mother's six inch hunting knife and then left his home in the darkness of the night.

Alvaro Garabe (17:40)

He showed me the knife the weapon.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (17:44)

His shoes.

Alvaro Garabe (17:45)

Yeah, his shoes.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (17:47)

Daniel had thought of everything Alvaro said, even wrapping the bottom of his boots in duct tape so he wouldn't leave.

Alvaro Garabe (17:56)

Any footprints in his rundown. He told me how he broke into the house, and then the entire act of killing those two people, like, step by step, like, every move, did it.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (18:10)

Seem real at that point?

Alvaro Garabe (18:12)

No. No, Everything just didn't make any sense.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (18:19)

And why did he do this? Why did he tell you he was doing this?

Alvaro Garabe (18:24)

I have no idea. I honestly, I think about that a lot.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (18:28)

Did he seem proud of what he had done?

Alvaro Garabe (18:30)

Yeah. Oh, yeah. He seemed very, like, content and, you know, took a lot of. I mean, it sounded like he took a lot of pleasure out of it.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (18:40)

Did you get the impression he was kind of bragging to you about what he had just done?

Alvaro Garabe (18:43)

Yeah, he was chuckling. He was laughing about, you know, putting inanimate objects in their body.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (18:51)

The details were so upsetting to Alvaro, so difficult to absorb. He didn't know how to respond to Daniel's story.

Alvaro Garabe (19:01)

I felt like throwing up. I felt like I couldn't feel anything. Felt very numb. And I just walked out. My head's just running, spinning, and then I'm, like, looking at the door, and I'm like, oh, my gosh. Like, I need to get out of here. And, like, I had this feeling that the police were gonna break in here, and I'm, like, shaking.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (19:30)

Alvaro had told me that he was shaking and he felt like throwing up after hearing Daniel confess to the crimes. But still, Alvaro didn't immediately go to the police. You knew he had just killed two people. Why didn't you tell anybody?

Alvaro Garabe (19:50)

I. I don't know.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (19:51)

But you knew he might hurt somebody else.

Alvaro Garabe (19:55)

It was just like, one of those things that you just kind of. I just wasn't facing it.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (20:02)

So help me understand why not the two of you know, both of you, you both know.

Alvaro Garabe (20:08)

Okay, you're in high school. How do you. How do you approach this?

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (20:13)

You call the bullies?

Alvaro Garabe (20:14)

Yeah, well, I mean, that's. Obviously, that's easier said than done. I'm, like, freaking out about what's going to happen. What if I call the police? How's that. How's this going to affect me? Is this going to follow me on my whole life? You know? Is there any way I can do this? Anonymous.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (20:29)

After Daniel told Alvaro about the murders, Alvaro was too scared to go to the police. But the one thing he did do was cut off all contact with Daniel.

Alvaro Garabe (20:43)

That's when I stopped talking to him, stopped texting. Him. I told him I needed space. Hey, man. Like, hey, like, I just. Like, I need a moment, man. Like, I can't just, you know, I didn't. I tried my best to not let him feel like I was disowning or, like, you know, making him feel like you're unfriending him. Tried my best. I was just like, hey, man, like, I just need space, you know, Like, I didn't tell him why.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (21:10)

He didn't want to call the police at first. Instead, Alvaro said he reached out to Daniel's father, Bill.

Alvaro Garabe (21:20)

And I texted him. I was like, hey, man, Daniel was involved with the double homicide. I don't know what to do. I'm thinking about calling the police. Something along the lines of that.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (21:31)

Bill and Alvaro's accounts of this differ, but according to Alvaro, Bill was stunned by the accusation and refused to believe that Daniel could have committed such a crime. And so Dan's dad said, you're overreacting. He wouldn't do this. Yeah, he didn't believe you.

Alvaro Garabe (21:51)

I mean, it's his son, and it's just like, no, of course he didn't believe me, you know?

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (21:57)

So Alvaro kept his mouth shut and tried to go on with his life, but while police began investigating the murders. But a few weeks later, Daniel approached him at school.

Alvaro Garabe (22:13)

He came up to me, and he was like, dude, like, what. What are you doing? Like, you know, like, how come you're not talking to me? Like, why are you. And I told him, I. I just. I remember having just, like, this, like, public, you know, just, hey, man, I. I don't want to be your friend. You know, like, don't talk to me. And then, you know, he just, like, starts yelling at me, and I'm like, yeah, whatever. And I just, like, walk out of the school.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (22:34)

At that point, Alvaro had become scared of Daniel, Fearful to be around him. He knew that Daniel regularly carried a knife around. So he told a guidance counselor that Daniel had one at school. Alvaro said that got Daniel expelled. Afterwards, Daniel wasn't supposed to return to the campus, but he did. And while there, he approached Alvaro again.

Alvaro Garabe (23:07)

And he's just, like, threatening to, like, attack me if I don't, like, you know, talk to him. He wants to know what's going on. Why is he. Why am I not speaking to him? You know, that's basically it. And I just kind of, like, freaked out and, like, ran.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (23:27)

Soon after, Alvara was on the phone with Daniel's girlfriend, and suddenly she started.

Alvaro Garabe (23:34)

Panicking, and she's like, hey, I think. I think Someone's in my house. You know, because she hears noises in the backyard. And. And she's like, I gotta go. And she hangs up. Right? She texted me. Dan just broke into my house. I'm like, how do you get in? I'm like, through the doggy door. And I'm like, whoa. Okay. I'm, like, freaking out now. I'm, like, panting in my room, like, I gotta do something. I gotta do something. What am I gonna do? What am I gonna do?

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (24:01)

And that's when Alvaro grabbed a phone called 911 and became that anonymous caller that you heard at the top of the episode. Over the course of several more phone calls, he was eventually connected with Corporals Scott Allen and Kerith Bresnik. Alvaro didn't want to give them his name, but eventually he became more comfortable and started calling Corporal Bresnik kb.

Alvaro Garabe (24:32)

Officer kb. She was very nice. She was like, okay, well, in order for me to follow up with you, I need you to actually give me your name. And I'm like, okay, all right. I'm going to come over to your house, and we're going to talk about this. And I'm like, it's like. It's like two in the morning. I'm like, okay, gotcha. And, like, she comes over, and then we have a chat, and then she takes me to the police department.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (24:56)

Alvaro spent hours with police in that interrogation room. He told them about what Daniel had confessed to him about his actions on the weekend of April 13th.

Corporal Scott Allen / Corporal Kir Bresnik (25:09)

He told me he got a. Yeah, he got duct tape to put it under his shoe. So then you guys wanted to, like, find footprints or shoe prints or something like that. He went there. He. He went to the back of the house.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (25:22)

It was the first real break in the case. Investigators had closely guarded the details of Chip and Claudia's murders. And now inside that interrogation room, Alvaro was sharing gruesome details from the crime scene.

Corporal Scott Allen / Corporal Kir Bresnik (25:41)

You cut both of them open just to see the insides or something?

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (25:48)

Alvaroa told the investigators everything he knew the police were going to allow him to go home, but first, they wanted to try something. They asked Alvaro if he could call Daniel and ask him about the murders. While police recorded the call.

Corporal Scott Allen / Corporal Kir Bresnik (26:11)

Going back to a possible phone call or talking to Dan. Yeah, I can do that.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (26:19)

Alvaro tried contacting Daniel, but Daniel didn't answer any calls or texts. And that's when investigators decided it was time to bring Daniel Marsh in for questioning.

Alvaro Garabe (26:34)

That you were there.

Corporal Scott Allen / Corporal Kir Bresnik (26:36)

That you did those murders. Me?

Alvaro Garabe (26:40)

Mm.

Corporal Scott Allen / Corporal Kir Bresnik (26:43)

That's ridiculous. Why is it ridiculous? I'm a kid.

Narrator/Host (Erin Moriarty) (26:53)

Coming up next on 15 Inside the Daniel Marsh Murders. This series was reported by me, Erin Moriarty. Alan Peng is our producer, Maura Walls is our story editor, and Jamie Benson is the senior producer. Meghan Markus is the vice president of podcast editorial for CBS. Special thanks to 48 Hours executive producer Judy Tygard, along with 48 Hours producers Judy Ryback, Stephanie Slifer and Greg Fisher from Goat Rodeo. This podcast was written and produced by Kara Schillen, Max Johnston, Jay venables, Isabel Kirby McGowan, Megan Nadolsky and Ian Enright. Additional reporting and recording by Kara Schillen. Our executive producers at Goat Rodeo are Megan Nadolsky and Ian Enright. Original theme and music by Hans Del she with additional music from Paramount. Final mix by Rebecca Seidel. Fendel Fulton is our fact checker. Our production manager is Kara Schillen. I'm Erin Moriarty. If you're enjoying this show, be sure to give it a rating and review. It helps more people find it and hear our reporting. If you liked 15 inside the Daniel Marsh Murders, check out the rest of our 48 Hours podcasts by searching 48 Hours on your favorite podcast app. Thanks for listening.

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Corporal Scott Allen / Corporal Kir Bresnik (29:41)

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