SO MANY QUESTIONS … the arrest of 16-year-old Daniel William Marsh for the savage murders of Chip Northup and Claudia Maupin has brought a measure of relief to our town, but also a whole range of troubling questions … and while murder is murder no matter the perpetrator, most of us had hoped this was one of those random, robbery-gone-wrong crimes committed by someone from out of town who simply hopped back onto the freeway after inflicting this horror, never to be seen again … not that any of that makes any difference to the victims or their loved ones … this crime was horrific, no matter who is responsible …

Still, we didn’t want to believe that someone from our town was capable of such a crime, but if the police and the DA are to be believed — and they say the evidence is “compelling” — these incredibly brutal acts were carried out by one of our own, just 15 at the time … and he apparently has been walking among us for the last two months, presumably capable of murdering again … compounding the senselessness of these murders are those images from four years ago of a 12-year-old Daniel Marsh being honored as a hometown hero by the Red Cross of Yolo County for saving his dad’s life after his father had a heart attack and passed out while driving to the hospital … seeing that seemingly innocent and heroic kid as a murderer is almost unimaginable …

Even worse, in addition to first-degree murder, he has been charged with an enhancement “in that the murders were committed in a way that manifested exceptional depravity” … he’s also charged with enhancements for “lying in wait” and inflicting “torture in the commission of murder” …

Clearly, if he’s guilty of these crimes, something went terribly wrong in his life and in his mind, but we may never know what exactly that was or how it might have been prevented … all we know for sure is that Chip and Claudia are gone and those who knew them miss them dearly …

A WOLK IN THE PARK … exciting to hear that the mayors of both Fairfield and Vacaville have endorsed Dan Wolk’s candidacy for the California Assembly … unfortunately for Dan, neither Fairfield nor Vacaville are in the 4th District, which means the mayors of those two cities will be voting for someone else come Election Day … still, if Dan can get endorsements from Kevin Johnson, Christopher Cabaldon and maybe Fiorello LaGuardia, he’ll be a shoo-in for that Sacramento job …

TURNAROUND IS FAIR PLAY … some folks have been blaming the messenger for the troubles at FamiliesFirst that include more than 500 recent calls to the police, so maybe it’s not surprising that the latest police complaint from FamiliesFirst concerns the press … according to the police log, concerning “Parking Complaint 130614182,” the incident “Occurred at FamiliesFirst on 5th St., Davis. News van parked in front of business in ‘No Parking Zone,’ request they be moved along.” … book ‘em, Danno …

A ONCE A YEAR EVENT … my friend Ann at aol.com writes to say she “was wondering” if I “know when the time/day is that this Water Storage thingy over here on Mace Blvd. is supposed to be aligned and we can read whatever message is supposed to say on the thing?” … that would be the summer solstice, Ann, when the stars and the moon and the sun and Mars and maybe a few cumulonimbus clouds all align to make the letters on the tank read: “No Davis artists were hired to do this project.” … don’t blink or you’ll miss it …

— Reach Bob Dunning at [email protected]

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