Daniel was introduced as Llanview's district attorney, and Riley's father. A former alcoholic, his marriage broke down because of his drinking, and whispered hints of abuse. After a short-lived relationship with Lindsay, which ended once Daniel realized that Lindsay was again involved with the much younger Rex, Daniel began seeing Nora, and it wasn't long before the two of them were talking marriage, much to the dismay of Nora's young son, Matthew, who wanted his parents back together. As his marriage with Nora grew closer, Daniel found himself involved in the middle of two huge cases which turned out to be very much connected -- the murder of Paul Cramer, and the kidnapping of Ace Buchanan. Ace was eventually returned to his biological parents in Pine Valley, but Paul's murder was proving much harder to solve. The prime suspect was Jen Rappaport, the girlfriend of Daniel's daughter Riley, and Daniel's dogged pursuit of Jen caused trouble with not only his son, but also his soon-to-be stepson Matthew who considers Jen to be an older sister.

Despite all the troubles, Daniel and Nora managed to make it down the aisle, but the revelation of Daniel's real first name combined with sudden mysterious phone calls to a woman exposed Daniel as the murderer of Paul Cramer. While still attempting to frame Jen with Paul Cramer's murder, Daniel was discovered by Jen planting evidence in her car. When she tried to flee, Daniel grabbed her and suffocated her, then attempted to have her officially declared as Paul's murderer posthumously. The night that he killed Jen, Daniel went to meet his lover in a hotel room, who turned out to be Riley's friend, Mark Solomon. Bo and Rex were finally catching on to Daniel, however, and Daniel was spotted with Mark in a New York gay bar. Just as Daniel was being sworn in as lieutenant governor, Bo showed up to arrest him, and in the ensuing brouhaha, Rex revealed Daniel was gay, Mark revealed himself as Daniel's lover, Riley jumped Mark, and Daniel was arrested for murdering Paul Cramer and Jen Rappaport.