Road Map to Murder

Summary

Podcast Summary: 20/20 – "Road Map to Murder"

Host: ABC News
Date: June 27, 2026
Episode Theme:
An in-depth narrative and investigation into the disappearance and murder of Bart and Krista Halderson, a suburban Wisconsin couple, unraveling a plot that exposes deception, family tragedy, and the digital footprints that cracked the case.

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Main Theme & Purpose

• Overview:
  This episode chronicles the disappearance and subsequent investigation into Bart and Krista Halderson’s murders. Through interviews with law enforcement, family, true crime podcasters, and those close to the family, the episode explores how a seemingly loving family in suburban Wisconsin became the center of a chilling true crime case. The story dives into family dynamics, an unraveling web of lies, the critical role of technology, and the search for justice.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Halderson Family Background

• Community Roots: Bart and Krista described as "salt of the earth," beloved by neighbors (03:21).
• Family Life:
  • Both parents devoted to their sons Mitchell and Chandler (04:45).
  • All-American family: "They poured themselves into their children. They did family nights, game nights…" – Barbie Townsend (04:51)
• Recent Events:
  • Spring 2021: Mitchell diagnosed with diabetes, Chandler suffered a head injury from a flight of stairs (05:53).
  • Chandler’s supposed big break with SpaceX, dreams of moving to Florida with his girlfriend Kat (05:28).

2. Disappearance and the Early Investigation

• Uncharacteristic Absence:
  • Krista fails to show up for work on July 2—raises serious concern as she never missed a day (07:09, 07:16).
  • No signs of Bart and Krista leaving, both cars still in driveway, no communication, missed medical appointment (07:44, 08:12).
  • Chandler claims they left with a mystery couple for a weekend at their rustic family cabin, but "no one saw the Haldersons that day." – Jill (07:57)
• Initial Search:
  • The family cabin, a beloved retreat, is untouched and overgrown. Investigators arrive expecting the worst but find nothing disturbed (18:47–20:22).
  • "It certainly didn't look like it had been used anytime recently." – Detective Groans (18:49)
  • Theories swirl: Were they kidnapped? Did the “other couple” exist? (13:44, 14:10)

3. Chandler’s Behavior and Digital Trail

• Chandler’s Actions:
  • Reported parents missing six days after their disappearance; helped lead initial searches (12:48).
  • Visited neighbors, asking about security camera footage (24:26–25:53).
  • Approached local news station, gave interviews but insisted on remaining off camera, citing "fears of retaliation" (27:33).
• Technology as Evidence:
  • A neighbor’s camera captured a “mysterious white van,” but led to a dead end (24:41).
  • Chandler’s girlfriend Kat provided key SnapMap evidence, revealing his location by Wisconsin River after parents vanished (50:17–52:19).
  • Forensic digital data—including texts and location history—became crucial to the investigation (52:19).

4. Discovery of the Crime

• Grim Findings:
  • July 8: Investigators search property in Cottage Grove after a tip—a farmer reports seeing Chandler at the property and turkey vultures circling nearby, indicating something dead in the area (31:02–31:36).
  • Discovery of Bart’s dismembered remains and tools (bolt cutters, saw) hidden in the woods (32:12–32:46).
  • Days later, Krista’s remains found near Wisconsin River, helped by the SnapMap location (61:31).
• Crime Scene Evidence:
  • Blood traces of Bart and Krista found throughout the home, particularly the basement (39:32, 58:16).
  • Fireplace analysis showed fragmented bones and evidence of burning (77:42–78:28).
  • Bart and Krista’s phones and IDs found wrapped in aluminum foil (56:58).
  • Murder weapon (SKS rifle) discovered at the girlfriend’s family farm (58:56).

5. Motive: Web of Deceit

• Revelations in Court:
  • Investigation revealed Chandler fabricated almost every detail of his life: false claims about a college degree, SpaceX job, and even his head injury (68:55–72:13, 74:24–75:37).
  • Key Phone Call: Bart, growing suspicious, impersonated Chandler to call the college and confirmed the lie about transcripts (68:35–70:10).
  • "The job at Elon Musk's SpaceX…all lies." – Narrator (72:39).
• Prosecution Narrative:
  • Prosecutors argue Chandler murdered his parents to prevent exposure of his entire web of lies (73:37).
  • The cases presented as a "catfish" scheme, where years of deception fell apart, culminating in murder to cover tracks.

6. Legal Proceedings & Verdict

• Trial Strategy:
  • Defense concedes Chandler is "a liar, but that doesn't make him a killer" (65:43).
  • Prosecution: "Solving a case…is like putting together a puzzle…we know that Bart and Krista went into that home and never came out" (79:18).
  • Defense does not call any witnesses (78:50).
• Verdict & Sentencing:
  • Jury finds Chandler Halderson guilty of first-degree intentional homicide and other charges after two hours of deliberation (80:21–80:32).
  • Sentenced to life in prison without parole; some convictions vacated on appeal but core sentence remains (81:40, 83:05).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On the Family’s Character

• "Absolutely salt of the earth people were Bart and Krista." – Neighbor (03:21)
• "They poured themselves into their children. They did family nights, game nights…" – Barbie Townsend (04:51)

On Chandler’s Deception

• "He gives this bizarre story of his parents leaving in an unknown car, going to a cabin with an unknown couple…" – Narrator (64:07)
• "Chandler was looping Bart in on some of these emails with Madison College. Just trying to show Bart this is why I'm not getting my transcripts." – Investigator (70:35)
• "The phone proved that Bart and Krista never left their house. They never went to the cabin. The only other person who was home was Chandler." – Richard (57:35)

On the Discovery of Evidence

• “We had a grand total of 230 bones, fragmented bones…found again inside the fireplace, on the grate.” – Richard (77:42)
• "The glow in certain windows of this home was indeed the fireplace." – Investigator (78:14)
• "It was just incomprehensible. Why would anybody do that? Did he not like them? Was there something else?" – Neighbor (63:06)

On Technology & Social Media

• "This case really highlighted how social media tracks everything, and that became so crucial in this case." – Richard (53:19)

Reflections

• "If Chandler would have just asked for help, what do you think Bart and Krista would have done? They would have given everything, anything to help him." – Barbie Townsend (82:21)
• "No remorse, no empathy, no love to his parents." – Barbie Townsend, after Chandler’s sentencing (81:35)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |-------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------| | Family background and Haldersons' reputation | 03:12–04:45 | | Discovery of Bart and Krista’s disappearance | 07:09–08:42 | | Early search and arrival at cabin | 18:47–20:22 | | Chandler canvassing neighbors for camera footage | 24:26–25:53 | | Discovery at the Cottage Grove farm and Bart’s remains | 31:02–32:46 | | SnapMap evidence & Chandler’s location by the river | 50:17–52:19 | | Blood and evidence found in Halderson home | 56:08–58:31 | | Motive: unraveling Chandler’s web of lies | 68:35–74:24 | | Opening statements at Chandler’s trial | 64:11–66:22 | | Verdict delivered | 80:09–80:48 | | Sentencing: Chandler addresses the court | 81:01 | | Final reflections by family and friends | 82:16–82:57 |

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Episode Style and Noteworthy Elements

• Tone: Haunting, methodical, and empathetic, with moments of disbelief and chilling detail—mirrored in both narration and interviews.
• Pacing: Follows the timeline of the investigation, from early concerns to legal conclusion.
• Unique Features:
  • Use of actual trial audio and interviews
  • True Crime Brewery podcast hosts provide community perspective and context
  • Heavy emphasis on the digital breadcrumbs—how modern tech helped solve the case
• Memorable moment:
  The revelation of Chandler’s fabricated life and the father’s fateful call to the college (68:35–70:10).

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Conclusion

"Road Map to Murder" meticulously lays out the Halderson case, revealing how a son’s fabrications and mounting desperation ended in a chilling double murder. The episode is both a testament to modern forensic and digital investigation and a sobering view of how even the most ordinary families can conceal extraordinary darkness.

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End of Summary

Transcript

[Narrator]

This episode is brought to you by Google Chrome. You think you know a browser, but Gemini and Chrome, that's new. It can help you with practically anything on the web, like restoring a vintage motorcycle from a 50 page restoration block. Or finally break down that long article you've had open for weeks. Gemini and Chrome is here for it, ready to make anything online make sense. There's no place like Chrome. Check responses set up required compatibility and availability various 18/ sheriff's office to make yourselves known. No, it's just no crawl space. This is a dark, creepy space. You gotta be ready for anything.

[Detective Groans]

Absolutely. The clock was ticking. We needed to find them. The steepest stairs I've ever seen.

[Neighbor or Family Friend]

The Haldersons are gone. They're missing.

[Barbie Townsend]

What do you mean they're missing? I can't even comprehend what that means.

[Narrator]

The story is a couple came and picked them up and took them to

[Barbie Townsend]

the cabin and nobody knew who that couple was.

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

There was a concern that Bart and Krista had been kidnapped by this couple that picked him up early that morning.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

There were all these questions. For each answer you get, there are 17 more questions.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

What's going on in the household? You know, what aren't we discovering?

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

This case really highlighted how social media tracks everything. And that became so crucial.

[Kat Melander]

I was like, hey, where you at? Where you at? Like you're not responding to me on Snapchat.

[Narrator]

You've got to get to that cabinet. You've got to get to that cabin right now to figure out what happened.

[Neighbor or Family Friend]

Mine goes to did the worst happen.

[Narrator]

So what happens next?

[Detective Groans]

He kind of had the craziest phone call that I had in my law enforcement career that he couldn't say much, but I should probably watch the news the next day.

[Barbie Townsend]

Holy.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

I don't really have words for it, to be honest.

[Narrator]

Fourth of July, it's a day when people come together to celebrate our independence and the spirit of America. And that's what you'll see in Madison, Wisconsin. Fourth of July celebrations have been going on all weekend, but of course, Americans

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

are going all out today.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

The lakes are really core to the identity of Madison. Just being around water, being around nature is really big to a lot of people here.

[Narrator]

Madison is Wisconsin's gorgeous capital city. Built on a strip of land connecting lakes Monona and Mendota, generations of families have come here to lay roots. But as residents of a small town just north of here would come to know, secrets, lies, and betrayal don't stop at these shores.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Bart and Krista Halderson lived in a community called Windsor, just north Of Madison. Everyone who knew the Haldersons loved them.

[Neighbor or Family Friend]

We used to have a horseshoe league. Bart and Krista were on a horseshoe team. We competed against them two, three times a year. And just being neighbors, they were just people that ran into all the time. Absolutely salt of the earth people were Barton. Krista, Their house always looked good. It was well manicured. It was well mowed. It was always taken care of.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

There were competitions in the neighborhood about who had the best lawn and who cared the most about their yards. And Bart cared about his yard.

[Narrator]

Krista is an administrative assistant for a local auto shop, and Bart is an accountant.

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Bart and Krista, they weren't rich, but they were comfortable.

[Narrator]

Yeah, they were just regular people trying

[Detective Groans]

to do their best.

[Barbie Townsend]

She was the youngest cousin, Bright red hair. She was the baby of the family.

[Narrator]

Barbie Townsend grew up in southern California, but would often visit her younger cousin Krista at the family's rustic cabin in northern Wisconsin.

[Barbie Townsend]

Krista was fun, energetic, creative. She just was very exuberant, very outgoing, happy person. Very happy, yeah. Loved her a lot in life.

[Narrator]

I know you got to know Bart a little bit later, but what was he like?

[Barbie Townsend]

I was happy for her that she found her person. And they were a really good team.

[Narrator]

They complimented each other.

[Barbie Townsend]

Definitely, definitely. You know, he would have his strengths and she would have her strengths, but they always worked together.

[Narrator]

Barbie told me that nothing matters more to Krista and Bart than their two sons, Mitchell and Chandler.

[Barbie Townsend]

They poured themselves into their children. They did family nights, game nights. They would cook dinner, barbecue together. In spring 2021, Krista had sent a picture of them all standing together. She was so proud of him. Mitchell had been with his girlfriend at that time about seven years, and Chandler had been with Kat maybe two years on and off.

[Narrator]

Mitchell, the oldest, works in it, and he lives with his fiance not far from his parents home. And Chandler, an eagle scout, is a young man on the rise. He's working part time for an insurance company, living at home while finishing his college degree. And that's not all.

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Chandler had told his family about this great job opportunity he had been given with SpaceX. He would move to Florida, and actually he would bring his girlfriend with him.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Everything was going well for everyone. I don't know any family who wouldn't want to be in the situation the Haldersons were in.

[Narrator]

But In June of 2021, the Halderson's Good fortune takes a turn.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Their eldest son, Mitchell, was diagnosed with diabetes. And then right after that, their younger son, Chandler fell down a flight of stairs at The Haldersons home.

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

He was taken to the hospital and he was diagnosed with a head injury.

[Barbie Townsend]

In that picture on Father's Day of 2021, standing next to Bart, he's got the brace on. His neck was injured and it was going to affect his ability to walk. He might have a colostomy bag. He couldn't fly, so he couldn't go back to Florida for the job. Like his whole life was going to change because he had this fall.

[Neighbor or Family Friend]

I know once he was in that neck brace, his job situation with SpaceX was kind of pushed on the back burner.

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

It seemed like he would not be able to take the job at SpaceX. He wouldn't be able to help around the house. He wasn't even able to walk properly. And after that, Chandler required help. His mother would assist him. Going up and down stairs would bring him meals.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

Although Krista doted on her sons in their time of need, she rarely missed a day of work. So on Friday morning, July 2, when she fails to show up at her job, co workers are concerned.

[Narrator]

Christa was one of these people who was always at work, and she always

[Detective Groans]

let people know what her plans were.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

It's a Friday right before the Fourth of July holiday. But she hadn't asked off. She hadn't told anyone she wasn't going to be there. It was really unusual for her to not show up for work. She'd never done it before.

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

She wasn't answering her phone. A co worker decided to go over to the house and make sure she was okay. When he looked in the garage, both of the Halderson's cars were there.

[Narrator]

The Haldersons aren't here. The cars are here.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

Where are the Haldersons now?

[Narrator]

The Haldersons have a family cabin they love to go to on weekends. And initially there's some speculation that this is where Bart and Krista are. But none of the neighbors saw them leave.

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

As far as we know, no one saw the Haldersons that day.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

They told their neighbors when they were going up to the cabin, who they were going to be with, where they were going to be. So for there to be so many unknowns about what happened that weekend was a little unusual.

[Narrator]

And when Krista fails to make a medical appointment on Monday, it really raises red flags.

[Barbie Townsend]

She was recovering from some skin cancer, and so this was an important appointment for her.

[Narrator]

Is it like her to just miss that appointment or not tell anybody she

[Barbie Townsend]

wasn't going to make it?

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

No.

[Barbie Townsend]

Krista's not the person that would just not show up.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Everyone who knows her says she wouldn't have missed that appointment. She was planning to be there, and then she wasn't. And that's when people really start to get concerned because no one knows where Bart and Krista are.

[Neighbor or Family Friend]

All of a sudden, my wife comes in the bedroom. She says, the Haldersons are gone. They're missing. My mind went to the bad spot. Like, that is not right. It was just kind of disturbing for somebody that I know that well to suddenly be gone.

[Narrator]

What's going through your mind?

[Barbie Townsend]

Something's really wrong. I don't know what and why and how, but something's really.

[Narrator]

The strange disappearance of Bart and Krista Halderson is a mystery. Captivating local Wisconsinners. We're rolling now, including a pair of podcasters.

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

I'm Jill.

[Narrator]

And I'm Richard.

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

And we do the True Crime Brewery podcast. We're very fascinated with true crime and just love to really figure out what's going on behind the scenes.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Ready?

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

So, you know, we've been talking more and more about these cases.

[Narrator]

Their podcast, as the name suggests, mixes suds. We pick a beer from the area the crime occurred with sleuthing.

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Today, we're covering a case from Wisconsin.

[Narrator]

And have I got a beer for you.

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

I feel like it brings together the personality of the city where the crime happened. Bart and Krista Halderson. They are just everybody's neighbor, everybody's family member, just working hard, trying to take care of their children, trying to provide the best for their family.

[Neighbor or Family Friend]

Bart and Krista just loved the fourth of July. You could always catch them at the parade. It was probably their favorite holiday.

[Narrator]

But that weekend in July 2021, strangely, the couple are nowhere to be found.

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Bart and Krista had not told anyone that they had a plan to go away for fourth of July weekend.

[Detective Groans]

There's no explanation forthcoming as to why they're not there.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

So the only time people heard from Bart and Krista over the Fourth of July weekend was when Krista texted Chandler on July 4th.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

The text to her son Chandler says they arrived at the family cabin three hours north. It read, made it safely. Love you lots.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Their friends learned that she had reached out to him, which made sense. She was a mom who talked to her kids all the time.

[Barbie Townsend]

This is where we hung out and collected rocks and played games. So this is early aunts, my dad. And that's the cabin in the background.

[Narrator]

And that's Christa right there.

[Barbie Townsend]

This is Krista.

[Narrator]

I can always tell Krista by that shock of red hair.

[Barbie Townsend]

Shock. I mean, fiery red hair.

[Narrator]

Yeah.

[Barbie Townsend]

And she was the youngest.

[Narrator]

The cabin has been in Barbie and Krista's family since the 1940s, but it was built by their grandfather.

[Barbie Townsend]

That was like the heart and soul of our extended family. The cabin was our way to get back together and be together. There was no phone, no indoor plumbing. Very rustic.

[Narrator]

Sounds like this was a place where you and Krista really bonded.

[Barbie Townsend]

The cabin was where we would reunite.

[Narrator]

Chandler had told family members he knew his parents were going to the cabin for the weekend, but he was expecting them home by Tuesday the 6th. Now Tuesday's come and gone, and the couple seems to have vanished. How did you learn that Bart and Krista were missing?

[Barbie Townsend]

I got an email from my cousin that said, please pray Bart and Krista are missing. And I remember thinking, what do you mean they're missing? I don't know. I can't even comprehend what that means. And so we started calling cousins, you know, like, what's happening?

[Narrator]

On July 7, six days after Bart and Krista were last seen, Chandler heads to the Dane County Sheriff's Office to report his parents missing.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Chandler says, I haven't seen my parents. We need to start looking for them.

[Narrator]

Detectives Sabrina Sims and Brian Schunk will lead the investigation, and they meet with Chandler later that day at the Halderson home in Windsor. At that point, you're here just trying to figure out what happened.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

Yeah. Just to ask more follow up questions and trying to get the timeline of events.

[Narrator]

His parents left around 5am Basically left without a peep from everything that you knew about Bart and Krista. Was that the kind of thing they do?

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

No. We were learning from friends and family that that's completely out of character for them to not tell people where they were going.

[Narrator]

Chandler tells detectives that his parents planned to fix a water pump and a fire pit up at the cabin and that both were damaged in a recent storm. So he says he helped them pack supplies, including a pipe wrench, a hatchet, and gas cans for a chainsaw.

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

He also said that they brought alcohol and cash with them.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

He mentioned they were maybe going to a casino to go gambling. We learned that it's out of character for them to go gambling and that the Haldersons, especially Bart, was pretty frugal with his money.

[Narrator]

When investigators inspect the Halderson home, they see both Bart and Krista's cars are still in the garage.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Both their cars are still there. What's going on with that? Chandler says, well, they went with this other couple. I don't know who they are, but they took the other Couple's car.

[Narrator]

Chandler tells detectives that his parents left in an unknown vehicle. And when detectives review neighbors home security cameras, they spot a white van driving down the Halderson street in the early morning hours on Friday, July 2nd. Could this van be the vehicle driven by that mystery couple?

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

We were looking for a van. It was an unknown vehicle and then we saw it on surveillance camera.

[Narrator]

Hoping he might know who the couple is, investigators speak to Chandler's older brother Mitchell, who lives close by. But he says as far as he knows, none of his parents, friends went with them to the cabin.

[Barbie Townsend]

Nobody knew who that couple was. No phone numbers, no names, nothing. I mean, for them to drive up to the cabin with somebody that nobody even knew who they were, that was very odd. Where's the other couple? That was the other thing. Where's the other couple? Because no one's heard from them. Whoever they are, they're gone.

[Narrator]

Their cars are here. What are you thinking?

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

I think at that point we decided we need to send a team up to the cabin.

[Narrator]

You've got to get to that cabin right now to figure out what happened.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Yeah,

[Narrator]

I have to imagine your mind starts going to terrible places.

[Barbie Townsend]

Yeah. Your mind starts thinking all kinds of things.

[Narrator]

And when investigators finally reach the cabin in the woods.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

Sheriff's office.

[Narrator]

Make yourself known what or who will be lurking in the shadows. Crawl space Hollywood. I'm Bill Callender. I'm a member of the Wolf River Fire Department and Rescue in Langley county, northeast Wisconsin. With all the recreation we've got here, and we've got a big area, people do get turned around, they go missing, and then that's usually then when we get called out. The Wolf river area is really a nice area, fairly lightly populated, but we've got a lot of great recreation. Got the Wolf river, very popular fishing stream, lots of recreational opportunities. We've got the rapids on the river, go up to class three. We've got heavily wooded area. Much of our township is in the Chamigen Nicolet National Forest. And Wolf river is the area where Bart and Krista Halderson had their family cabin and where they were supposed to spend the fourth of July weekend.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

It's a beautiful place, but it can be a dangerous place. Like anywhere that's completely natural and completely wild. There are pitfalls to that. A river can easily become someplace you drown. The woods can easily become someplace you're lost. And so it's not unheard of for people to go missing in this area.

[Narrator]

Back In July of 21, our chief got a call from one of the Langley county deputies and said that, you know, we may be needed.

[Detective Groans]

Cell service isn't fantastic out here either. Weather always seems to change, but crime never does.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Hi there.

[Detective Groans]

I'm Detective Sergeant Groans of Lane. On July 8th, I received a call to assist the Dane County Sheriff's Office with a search of the Halderson cabin. As an investigator, I was assigned a body camera, which was activated when we arrived at the property. What's your relation? You're their son. Okay.

[Narrator]

All right, so this footage we're looking at here, it's from recorded by your body camera? That's correct. Okay. And who are you speaking to here?

[Detective Groans]

This was Mitchell Halderson and his fiance.

[Narrator]

One week after his parents mysteriously vanished. Mitchell tells investigators that he's so concerned about his parents, well, being that he and his fiance make the three hour drive north to the cabin, they seem

[Detective Groans]

concerned and also as perplexed as we were about Barton Halterson's whereabouts. Maybe we could just take a walk around and see you. And so at that point, we took a walk around the exterior of the property. We noticed that the grass and the weeds had not been kept up. In some places it was waist or even chest high.

[Narrator]

Did it look like the cabin had been in use?

[Detective Groans]

It certainly didn't look like it had been used anytime recently.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

They start walking around and everything's still locked up. The grass is really tall.

[Barbie Townsend]

What first struck me when they were walking, I was like, that's our cabin. That's our family cabin.

[Narrator]

Was there a sense of urgency at this point?

[Detective Groans]

With the information we had and things not really making sense, our possibilities were dwindling. I was starting to just wonder what we were going to find next.

[Barbie Townsend]

I was worried they were going to be inside. That's what I thought. Something went horribly wrong. Yeah, that was very disturbing.

[Narrator]

Sheriff's office. Anybody inside?

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

There was a concern that Barton Kristen had been kidnapped by this couple that picked him up early that morning, and something had been done to them by themselves.

[Narrator]

Make yourselves known.

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

I think the police were very concerned that they were going to find two dead people there.

[Narrator]

But once inside, despite everyone's worst fears, the cabin appears empty to police.

[Barbie Townsend]

It was dark, so you could tell nobody had been there for a while.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Every single indication shows that this cabin has been emptied.

[Narrator]

The steepest stairs I've ever seen. As Detective Groans makes his way through the cabin, he spots a door to the cellar. So right about here, you draw your gun.

[Barbie Townsend]

Why?

[Detective Groans]

Yeah, whenever we go into an unknown space, that's something that we would do just in Our own safety.

[Narrator]

So for an outsider, this is like a. This is a dark, creepy space. You gotta be ready for anything.

[Detective Groans]

Absolutely.

[Narrator]

Personal crawl space.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Holy.

[Narrator]

But nothing there either.

[Detective Groans]

Nobody inside. And nothing looks like it's disturbed.

[Narrator]

So after searching the cabin, investigators make their way down to the lake to check on the shed.

[Barbie Townsend]

There's all these out buildings, boathouses and sheds, and all these little tiny buildings that could offer places for people to be. My thought was that Krista was being held in one of those. That's what I thought.

[Narrator]

Was there any concern that they might have been held captive in a place like this or been held against their

[Detective Groans]

will with the padlocks on the outside? It is something that we definitely considered.

[Narrator]

They break the padlock on the boathouse, but Bart and Krista are nowhere to be found.

[Detective Groans]

I don't know a ton of details about everything that's gone on.

[Narrator]

You're filming Mitchell. What are you hearing from him at this point?

[Detective Groans]

Mitchell seemed concerned. And I feel as we went further into the search and we weren't finding any signs of Bart and Krista, his concern became more and more greater as the search of the property continued.

[Detective Hendrickson]

He said his brother texted him that

[Narrator]

they did make it safely.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

I don't like reading back through stuff. They just said, we're going up north.

[Narrator]

So at this point, for you, this is a mystery, right?

[Detective Groans]

This is definitely a mystery. We don't know who Bart and Krista are believed to be with. There are no signs of Bart and Krista being at this property. Property.

[Narrator]

Do you know that they have any friends? Like they might have gone to their

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

cabin in the area?

[Detective Hendrickson]

I have to assume they came up

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

to someone else's cabin, But I don't know.

[Detective Groans]

Really nowhere for us to even suggest looking next. At this point, we didn't have anywhere to go. We didn't have a name. We didn't have a vehicle. We didn't have a location. Truly looking for a needle in a 900 square mile haystack, then the question

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

is, okay, if they're not at the cabin, where are they?

[Neighbor or Family Friend]

There were no bodies. There was no anything. So we didn't know what happened. But of course, your mind goes to, did the worst happen? Are Bart and Krista still alive?

[Narrator]

As investigators and volunteers prepare to scour the county in search of the missing couple, news is spreading about Bart and Krista's disappearance. We have team coverage on these breaking developments. Bart Halderson and his wife Krista have not been seen since July 1st. What happens next?

[Detective Groans]

Had the craziest phone call that I had in my law enforcement career. He said that our services were really no longer needed at that point and then said that he couldn't say much, but I should probably watch the news the next day.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

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[Narrator]

Introducing Taco Bell's new jalapeno citrus salsa with bright citrus, real red jalapenos, guajillo chiles. Usually you add sauce to the food, but when the sauce is this good, the food is just there to get the sauce to your mouth. That rolled quesadilla. Not a rolled quesadilla anymore. Now it's a sauce shovel. Taco Bell's jalapeno citrus salsa. Get it with any item on the Cantina chicken menu while it's here. The participating U.S. taco Bell locations for a limited time only while supplies last contact store for availability. Authorities are still searching for a Windsor couple who have not been seen in days.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

My wife is pretty shook up, too. I mean, they're very nice couples, very nice family.

[Narrator]

It's been a week since Bart and Krista Halderson were last seen. And while Mitchell Halderson is up at the family cabin searching for his parents, his younger brother Chandler is back home in Windsor canvassing the neighborhood. He's seen on the neighbor's home security camera footage obtained by investigators. What are you seeing on the home security footage?

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

Later, Chandler was going around to neighbors. He would see that they had ring cameras or some type of security cameras on the outside of their homes. So he was going and asking them, you know, if they had reviewed the video footage.

[Narrator]

Remember one of those neighbors home security cameras captured this mysterious white van, but it led investigators to a dead end. And yet Chandler presses on. Chandler is recorded on one ring camera asking a neighbor about how their security system.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Anyone would have, like, security cameras and stuff like that.

[Narrator]

We do.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

He's going from neighbor to neighbor, asking them, hey, this camera, I see it. Does it point at the road? Does it see our driveway? What does this see take care thing?

[Detective Hendrickson]

Take care. Bye.

[Narrator]

Chandler approaches another neighbor's house and waves to the camera.

[Detective Hendrickson]

My name is Chandler Halderson. I live just down the road.

[Narrator]

Oh, yes.

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

And there's one house where they have more of a Professional surveillance system on the home. So he speaks to the woman there.

[Detective Hendrickson]

If you were able to capture the road or my house.

[Narrator]

They discuss camera angles and whether their camera has night vision.

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

He discovers that one is a wide angled camera. He looks to see what part of the street that would cover.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Yeah. Did it capture anything on?

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

We don't know.

[Narrator]

You can see he's really sleuthing, trying to uncover whatever evidence these neighbors may have.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

He was asking questions such as, can you see the road? Can you see vehicles drive by? He's out trying to figure out if anything was seen on the outside of his home. At that point, you know, from when his parents went missing.

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

He asks, could there be any footage of my parents being. Being driven away early in the morning? On the second, do you have any footage? It would be maybe helpful to the investigation to see what kind of car picked them up.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

Of course, one household actually told him that police had already collected the video.

[Narrator]

The police actually came in and downloaded everything they have. So they were here I think, till like 9 o' clock last night and

[Kat Melander]

downloaded all the video she's got.

[Narrator]

Chandler walks up to yet another neighbor's house and rings their bell. The neighbor, a retired detective with the Madison Police Department, tells Chandler to meet him in the garage so that they can talk.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Hey, I'll meet you in the garage, okay? Okay.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

The neighbor says he had a gut feeling that he should record the conversation, which he would later turn over to police.

[Narrator]

Sorry about what's going on.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

It's what it is.

[Detective Hendrickson]

But I was wondering if your door camera, they do have it right now.

[Narrator]

Does it kick up the road? Some, yes.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Some it does. Would you have any notifications from Friday morning?

[Narrator]

Early before 6:15? We can check. That's not a problem. Chandler's quest doesn't end there. Bart and Krista Halderson of Windsor had plans for the 4th. He heads to WKOW, an ABC News station in Madison, which has been broadcasting Bart and Krista's photograph.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

At this point, Chandler, he talks to reporters.

[Narrator]

But Chandler says he's reticent to go on camera, saying he fears retaliation from whoever may have taken his parents.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

He thinks people might be targeting him. He says, is someone out to get my family? I don't want to be on camera, but I want people to hear from me. I want people to know I'm looking for my parents. And so he does an interview with a reporter from our station, their son,

[Narrator]

Chandler Halderson, who asked to be off camera. Camera says whoever his parents were traveling with from this neighborhood were to do the driving. He says he received a text from his mother.

[Detective Hendrickson]

She got back to me. They made it safely. Their plans are going up with their friends and do some minor repairs on our cabin.

[Narrator]

Did you literally see them pulling out of the driveway, heading out?

[Detective Hendrickson]

No.

[Narrator]

With the town now buzzing about the missing couple, Chandler's back at home,

[Kat Melander]

and

[Narrator]

he notices a different kind of activity outside his window.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

Chandler sees this uptick in police activity outside his house, so he calls Detective Schonk to find out what's happening. That phone call was recorded.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

He was asking if everything was okay. He was asking why there were so many police in his neighborhood.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Little confused. I got two squads parked right outside my house. Is everything all right?

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

And I had to explain to him, you know, we were canvassing the neighborhood. Yeah, well, they're probably doing reports. Any news on your end at all? Have you gotten any phone calls, text messages?

[Detective Hendrickson]

Gotten any messages other than from concerned parents?

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

Well, I'll keep you posted if I hear anything there.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Yeah.

[Narrator]

Later that night, Chandler comes voluntarily into the Dane county sheriff's office, where investigators bring him into this room and seat him in this chair. So if you just want to have a seat right there. Perfect. Thank you so much. This or. Sure, that's fine. He's wearing a baseball cap, a sweatshirt, and a furrowed brow.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

Just so you know, I'm gonna record stuff. Okay.

[Narrator]

In that police interview, Chandler talks about the last meal he had with his parents on July 1, right before they left for the cabin.

[Detective Hendrickson]

That's where they told me, while we were eating it, they were gonna go with their friends. And I was like, oh, cool.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

And they said they were going to the cabin.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Yeah.

[Narrator]

Oh, we're going up north.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

That's very real.

[Narrator]

Chandler says that by the next morning, his parents had left, never to be heard from again. Except for that one reassuring text from his mother. Nothing else. Yeah, so that's.

[Detective Hendrickson]

That's fishy to me.

[Narrator]

But investigators are skeptical, too, and here's why. They know something Chandler doesn't. I can't tell you what we know, but we know you're not telling us the truth. Investigators have asked Chandler Halderson to come in for an interview, and they've also asked for his girlfriend, Kat Melender, to come in as well. Both agree to come in voluntarily, and they're in separate rooms. While police act on a new tip that's come to their attention.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

A farmer in Cottage Grove, a town about 20 miles away from the Halderson home in Windsor, reports a suspicious sighting earlier in the week.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

That's when they find something that really changes this entire investigation.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

One of the residents at the farm said that Chandler had come over to the house on July 5 with a vehicle and backed it up against some wooded property and saw him walking from the wooded area and found that to be unusual.

[Narrator]

You start searching the farm, you noticed something overhead. What was that?

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

One of the detectives noticed what he believed to be turkey vultures flying around over the wooded portion.

[Narrator]

What is a turkey vulture?

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

Turkey vultures are large birds that feed off typically dead animals. They're scavengers.

[Narrator]

What does that trigger in your mind?

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

He said that from his past professional experience, it kind of indicates that, you know, there's something dead in the area.

[Narrator]

And was this in the area or similar area where Chandler's car had been parked?

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

Yes. So the detective ended up walking the path that he believed that Chandler was on.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

They start to look a little bit closer. They go into the woods, and then they see a pile that doesn't look normal.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

There, amidst the matted grass, investigators discover what appears to be the torso of an unidentified male body.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

It was determined that the individual was shot, dismembered after they were killed.

[Narrator]

Hidden inside an oil drum near the body, investigators find a pair of scissors, a saw blade, and bolt cutters. But even with this grisly discovery, investigators will have to wait for the medical examiner to confirm that it is indeed Bart Halderson.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

I mean, things at that point really changed for everybody in the case.

[Narrator]

So right there at that moment, this goes from a missing person's case to a homicide.

[Kat Melander]

Yes.

[Narrator]

But here's what else has investigators intrigued. That farm has a link to someone very close to the Haldersons.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

So the farm in Cottage Grove. It's Chandler's girlfriend's family. They're there over fourth of July weekend. They're celebrating.

[Narrator]

While you have Chandler, you have Cat in another room. Oh, there's a Pooh bear.

[Kat Melander]

All right.

[Narrator]

You can play with it if you want to. Kat draws a smiley face on a sequined pillow and clutches a Winnie the Pooh bear. A detective offers Cat a cookie to help put her at ease.

[Kat Melander]

I can't eat well when I'm nervous, so.

[Detective Groans]

Okay.

[Kat Melander]

Nibble with the cookie. Baby steps.

[Narrator]

Sure there's no chocolate in there?

[Kat Melander]

Yeah. Test the water to make sure the police aren't trying to poison me.

[Barbie Townsend]

No, we're not.

[Narrator]

So tell me about what's happening here.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

We just wanted to hear her side of the story, as she's the one that was closest to Chandler.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

Talking to Kat Melander, Investigators Find out that Chandler visited the farm on the 4th of July with her. But the next day, he returns to the farm alone, unannounced.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

No one really knew he was coming. He came there alone.

[Kat Melander]

Chandler went to the farm because My mom's fiance lets him walk in the pool because it helps stretch out his legs, make him feel better.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

Except he wasn't using the pool. Kat's mom and her fiance say they saw his car park parked on the property, but no sign of Chandler.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Until when they're in the pool, they look up and they see Chandler now walking. He doesn't have his shirt on. He comes to the pool and says, hey, can I get in the pool, too?

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

He was supposed to be there swimming in the family pool because he needed to swim for some therapy he needed to do. He was not swimming. She saw him coming from the wooded area and found that to be unusual.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

Oh, okay.

[Narrator]

So what struck her is while he was supposed to maybe be there to swim for his therapy, he was not swimming.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

Correct.

[Narrator]

What I find interesting is, you ask her, would anybody want to harm the Haldersons? Any friends or relatives that they've been

[Neighbor or Family Friend]

having problems with that you can think of?

[Detective Hendrickson]

No.

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

No.

[Kat Melander]

I just can't see someone killing them. Like, that's the thing. Like. Like, I thought, like, maybe they got into a car accident. Like, maybe their car's on the side of the road. Like, I even thought, like, maybe that happened and someone took them to the hospital and they're just Jane and John Doe. Like, if someone killed them, it would have to be someone they, like, didn't know.

[Narrator]

She seems generally like, are you kidding me? No, not them.

[Neighbor or Family Friend]

Not them.

[Narrator]

What do you make of that? What do you make of her response to whether or not somebody would want to harm them?

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

I think that she's telling an accurate story there. Talking to friends and family members. No one would want to hurt the Heldersons.

[Narrator]

Did you get the sense that she thought that Chandler had anything to do with this? You don't think he had anything to do with his mom and dad being unheard from?

[Kat Melander]

No, I just. No.

[Detective Hendrickson]

No.

[Kat Melander]

All my friends I've talked to, they're like, no, not Chandler.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

No.

[Kat Melander]

Like, that'd be crazy. I just don't see him killing Mr. And Mrs. Halderson like, he had SpaceX. Like, why would he jeopardize something he, like, would dream of?

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

I don't think she thought he had anything to do with it.

[Narrator]

Not even suspicions? Not even maybe just nothing to do with it. Couldn't be Chandler.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

Now, remember Detectives in that interview room haven't told Chandler about any of these discoveries they've made. But that's about to change.

[Narrator]

How does him not knowing about that human torso affect the way you interview him, the way you talk to him?

[Detective Hendrickson]

Hey, Chandler.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

How are you doing? So the way we wanted to interview him initially was to have him lay out the story of what he was telling us from the first night.

[Narrator]

So I think it's time we start talking about what happened to your parents. Like the truthful version.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

So at that point, after we let him tell his entire story, we confront him and say that we know more than what he believes. We told him to come clean, basically not using those woods, and we told him to tell us the truth.

[Narrator]

Listen to me. This is the only chance you're gonna have to tell us the truth.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Okay? Okay?

[Narrator]

That's when investigators lower the boom on Chandler. This is your chance to tell us why.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Okay?

[Narrator]

I'm not BSing you.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Okay?

[Narrator]

So can we do that? Now it's time for the really hard questions.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

There's still another half of this couple that's missing.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

If this turns out to be Bart's body, where is Christa Halderson?

[Barbie Townsend]

So your mind starts thinking, well, what about Krista? You know, where is she? What happened to her?

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

No one's seen Krista. No one knows where Krista is. But they also haven't found a body. So the question is, is Krista still alive? If she is, where is she?

[Narrator]

And this all leads some to be asking, is Chandler covering up for his mom? Could she have had something to do with Bart's disappearance?

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

This wasn't a normal disappearance. This wasn't a normal homicide. Every new detail made the case stranger.

[Narrator]

The human remains found Thursday are connected to the missing couple, Bart Halderson and Christa Halderson. You have search teams up there. You have dogs.

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

So now where is Krista? Could it be that she was also involved in Bart's murder?

[Barbie Townsend]

Is she going to be held hostage? Is. Is she being tortured?

[Narrator]

Time is of the essence. You have to find Krista.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

Yes, this second time with the search warrant. We have crime scene investigators that are in the home going through everything.

[Narrator]

We're in the basement. What did you find down here?

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

Down here, we found traces of blood on both sides of the basement.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

I don't really have words for it, to be honest. I just don't know how somebody could do that to somebody else. Cameras all around, you know that Bart went into that home and never came out.

[Barbie Townsend]

Everything seems so evil, chilling, Unbelievable.

[Narrator]

It's July 8th in Madison, Wisconsin. It's been a week since Bart and Krista Halderson were last seen. It can really feel warm there in the summer, even when you're not under the microscopic lens of the police.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

What's going on?

[Narrator]

Bart and Krista Halderson's youngest son, Chandler, is being interviewed by police, but he hasn't yet been charged in their disappearance. Now police are playing coy with him. They haven't yet revealed the discovery of a body at that farm in Cottage Grove. Listen, I can't tell you what we know, but we know you're not telling us the truth. We know your parents are no longer with us.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Okay?

[Narrator]

And we know the reason why.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

So far, nothing Chandler's told police has panned out. He told them and everyone else. His parents went up to the the cabin for the fourth of July weekend with some other couple and nobody knows who they are. A search of the cabin clearly showed no one recently had been there.

[Narrator]

You need to tell the truth about what happened and just tell us why it happened, okay? If something happened, if you were defending

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

yourself or if you just got fed

[Narrator]

up with stuff, you need to tell us the truth.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Okay?

[Narrator]

This is your chance to tell us why.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Okay?

[Narrator]

I'm not BSing you.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Okay?

[Narrator]

So can we do that?

[Detective Hendrickson]

Okay. They're. Okay. Lawyer.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

I'm sorry, Say it again, Chandler.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Lawyer. Okay.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

Chandler asking for a lawyer effectively ends the interview on the spot.

[Narrator]

Tell me what you're taking from all this. As trained investigators who have to question

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

people like this, the first thing that really stood out in my mind is when Detective Hendrickson told Chandler that his parents are no longer with us.

[Narrator]

We know your parents are no longer with us.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Okay?

[Narrator]

And we know the reason why.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

There wasn't the huge shock reaction that I believe most people would display at this point.

[Narrator]

Chandler's not charged with murder, but he is charged with something else. Tell me about that.

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Yeah.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

Chandler was charged with providing false information in a missing persons case. He was telling us that his parents had gone to a cabin up north when in all reality, we found that his parents didn't go anywhere at all.

[Narrator]

Their son Chandler was arrested Thursday for allegedly providing false information to investigators. Four days after Chandler's arrest, the autopsy results on the remains found at the farm come back.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

The Dane county medical examiner confirms the human remains found last Thursday are those of 50 year old Bart Halderson. A preliminary autopsy indicates he was murdered.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

It was determined that the individual was was shot, dismembered after they were killed and was positively identified as Bart Halderson.

[Narrator]

Okay, so what did you think when you got those results back?

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

It confirmed our suspicions of who it was. But now we had more evidence that we could charge Chandler with the homicide.

[Neighbor or Family Friend]

When I found out that Bart was dead, it was anger. It was, wow, this is real life. And there was just this big void of Bart being gone and no idea where Krista was.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

A big question remained in our mind. Where is Christa Helderson?

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

So now where is Christa? Could it be that she was also involved in Bart's murder?

[Neighbor or Family Friend]

There were a few people that I communicated with. Well, maybe Christa's involved.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

One theory was this an incident where Krista killed her husband, but her son lives with them, and he loves his mom. Was he covering for her? Was she responsible? There were all these questions. Again, it was one of those things. One layer gets pulled back. You get one answer. But for each answer you get, There are some 17 more questions.

[Narrator]

You're asking the question of, where's Krista? There was some talk in the community about perhaps, maybe in some way, once the murder charges are out there, Christa had some sort of involvement in what happened with Bart. Did you pursue that theory?

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

No. I mean, we did not believe that she would have anything to do with it. Of course, as time is going on and days are passing, we're learning more information about their whereabouts. We had surveillance video we were reviewing, trying to get a timeline from July 1 to July 7. And so what we were learning did not suggest that Krista had any involvement

[Neighbor or Family Friend]

at all, because I knew Krista, and I knew her personality. I knew Krista was not involved.

[Barbie Townsend]

It seemed like something you read about not happening to our family. Somebody else. You read about that. Some happening somewhere else to somebody else, and that was happening to our family.

[Narrator]

What are you thinking there?

[Barbie Townsend]

We had this tiny little hope that she was alive somewhere.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

Authorities are holding out hope, too, and ask the public for help to somehow find Krista alive.

[Narrator]

We are optimistic in regards to her whereabouts and where she is at, and we will let the evidence of this investigation tell us otherwise.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

Perhaps the most troubling question authorities are left with, why? This was a loving family. Why would Chandler, or anyone else for that matter, want either of the Haldersons dead? It didn't seem to add up.

[Barbie Townsend]

I was starting to have that, like, sinking feeling in my stomach, like something went wrong in the family. I don't know what.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

Facing at least one murder charge, Chandler is lawyered up and not talking, but someone very close to him is.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

She had her cell phone back and had Found something in her cell phone that she wanted to provide to us.

[Kat Melander]

It's from Snapchat. I don't know if you use the

[Narrator]

app and you know how Snapchat messages disappear. One of Chandler's didn't. You thought this was your run club era. Turns out it was more of a thinking about run club era. The good news? Someone's marathon training is about to start. Sell your workout gear on Depop. Just snap a few photos and we'll take care of the rest. They get their race day fit and you get a payout for trying. Someone on Depop wants what you've got. Start selling now. Depop. Where taste recognizes taste. Choice hotels get you more of what you value. Comfort Inn. It's calling your name. Save on the stay. Oh, and free waffles are yours to claim. Book [e-mail]. The man accused of killing his father

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

is now being held in jail on a tentative charge of first degree intentional homicide. Hiding a corpse and mutilating a corpse.

[Narrator]

Sheriff's personnel tonight remain at the Halderson home in Windsor. Investigators are leaving no stone unturned in the search for Christa Halderson. But with Chandler now in custody, hope is fading fast. Every minute that passes becomes more crucial.

[Neighbor or Family Friend]

And there was just this big void of Bart being gone and no idea where Krista was. I'm hoping she's alive.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

A big question remained in our mind. Where's Krista Helderson?

[Narrator]

But things are about to take a dramatic turn. When police first spoke to Chandler's grand girlfriend, Kat Melander, she voluntarily gave them her cell phone. And on it, they found a vital clue to their investigation. By the time Kat comes in for a second interview, both she and police realize how important it can be. Is there anything you want to tell us?

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

Right away she comes to the realization that she didn't tell us everything and that she had something on her phone that could be helpful and valuable to finding the Haldersons. And it wasn't something that she intentionally withheld from us.

[Narrator]

Tell me what you find on Kat's cell phone.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

During the review of Kat's cell phone, we found numerous clues and treasures that I don't even know she knew she had. We found all of their message history and we also found a screenshot of a snapshot location that she had had.

[Narrator]

That screenshot saved on Kat's phone shows Chandler's avatar labeled Hubby on the banks of the Wisconsin River. Snapchat is a social media app specifically designed to share photos that disappear once you open a Message. You only have a few seconds to take a screenshot before that picture is gone for good. In 2017, Snapchat added the feature Snap Map, which also lets you share your location with friends in real time. And why did she have him on Snapchat in the first place?

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

They had a time in their relationship where he had cheated on her. She had his location services on for Snapchat. It was an agreement they had. She wanted to be able to know his whereabouts.

[Narrator]

With her lawyer present and her cell phone in hand, she voluntarily talks police through what she now realizes could be critical evidence. A technological smoking gun.

[Kat Melander]

It's from Snapchat. I don't know if you use the app, but that's him by the Wisconsin river off of Gulf Road.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

Okay.

[Kat Melander]

And that's got a time stamp on it.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Okay.

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

In the morning.

[Kat Melander]

And then my phone always tells me what day it is. It's July 3, 8:58am

[Narrator]

the continued presence of sheriff's personnel at the Halderson home has become almost background for this neighborhood.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Here.

[Narrator]

Christa hall remains missing. With the case in the news, Kat and her lawyer decide this information could be useful to police and to Kat.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Right before Katt goes back for that second interview, we're getting updates from law enforcement, and one of those comes in the form of a press briefing. And a reporter asks, is the girlfriend a suspect? And the sheriff didn't answer. And that freaked Kat out.

[Narrator]

Is there any way you guys can change the narrative to indicate that she's not Girlfriend's not a suspect, and that she's not somehow somebody you suspected? How early did you clear, Captain Melander?

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

Pretty early on. Once we started looking at her phone and finding out other information about Chandler. But there were, you know, different investigators in the command post that had different theories. You know, was she in the circle? Was she out of the circle? And we just had to do our job and let the evidence lead us to the conclusion, and she was not involved whatsoever.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Law enforcement was very clear. They don't think Kat had anything to do with these murders.

[Narrator]

Why do you think she was so eager to offer all this information?

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

I think because she wanted to clear herself.

[Narrator]

Why did she do a screenshot of a snap map on Chandler at that time?

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

She had left Chandler's house that morning on Saturday, and he was supposed to go to do some chores. And then she later looked at his location and saw that he was up by the Wisconsin River.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

She goes, this is where he was middle of the morning on Saturday after his parents went missing. He told me he Was gonna be doing chores at his house, and then he wasn't answering. And I checked Snapchat, and he's in this random area right along the river.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

She didn't know why he was there, so she started questioning him about his location and what he was doing there.

[Kat Melander]

I was like, hey, where you at? Where you at? Like, you're not responding to me on Snapchat. And, like, we ended up calling, and he just said, like, he was in a dead zone.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Kat knows this area. It's a swimming hole. She's been with Chandler. They'd been that summer.

[Narrator]

Have you been to that spot? Do you know?

[Kat Melander]

I don't know if it's that specific spot, but we used to swim on the Wisconsin river.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Okay.

[Kat Melander]

And like, it's one of the spots we would just go to. And, like, I've only been there, like, maybe three times, but he's gone swimming there a couple times.

[Narrator]

In fact, other friends told police that was Chandler's favorite swimming spot. A year earlier. An ex girlfriend receives this picture, which she gave to police, of Chandler in that area posing with a tree and a knife in his hand.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

This case really highlighted how social media tracks everything, and that became so crucial in this case.

[Narrator]

But as enlightening as this Snapchat evidence is, a treasure trove of text messages between Cat and Chandler is even more intriguing. Investigators zero in on a couple of erratic texts from Chandler the morning Bart and Krista vanish, which sound ominous. I don't know. Stuff hasn't really been going well for me lately, so I'm trying to plan for the next thing to expletive me over. Yeah, I just had a great future planned, and it's falling apart. Kat replies, no, it's not. You're going to be okay. With suspicions of Chandler now high as ever, investigators obtain a search warrant and go back to the Halderson home.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

They go back to the nexus of this case case, the Halderson's home in Windsor. Investigators start walking through, and they find a lot in that house, A lot that tells us what happened. The Dane county Sheriff's office now considers this to be a homicide investigation. That's because they found the remains of Bart Halderson late last week in a rural area of the town of cottage grove.

[Narrator]

On July 11, a judge authorizes a search warrant of the Halderson home in Windsor.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

It's where they were living with Chandler. It was the last place we know Bart and Krista were. So investigators start walking through.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

Investigators are familiar with the home as they'd been there Just a few days

[Narrator]

earlier to step back a little bit. This isn't the first time you've been to the house, right?

[Detective Hendrickson]

Right.

[Narrator]

Okay, so what did you do the first time when you were in the house? What did you find?

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

When we were in the house the First Night on July 7, Chandler did walk us around after we interviewed him and showed us what he wanted us to see around the home.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

As the investigators entered the den on that initial search, they noticed the fireplace looked not quite right.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

It has a glass front. Four glass panels, or gl. There's supposed to be four, but one of them is missing.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

There was a glass panel that was broken out in the fireplace, and he had disclosed that to deputies and to us the first night we were in there and explained it that he was playing ball with one of the dogs, and the dogs broke the glass fireplace. And so that was his story.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Dog broke a panel. There was broken glass everywhere. I was cleaning it up. I cut my foot. I got some blood everywhere.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

Chandler's saying there's broken glass, and there was a lot of blood, but it's not related at all to this case. It was my dog's.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

And when they look at his foot, they realize it's not a huge cut. He didn't slash the bottom of his foot open. Looks kind of more like a pin prick, not necessarily something that seems like it would come from glass being all over the floor.

[Narrator]

Found his blood. But did that line up with what he said about cutting his foot and that's why that blood was there? Or was it that you might have gotten a sense that it was something different?

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

It could mean that Chandler had cut his toe near the fireplace, but it wouldn't explain why Bart and Krista's blood would be in the same area.

[Narrator]

And on that second search of the home, luminol testing would reveal traces of blood belonging to Bart and Krista Halderson in the living room, leading investigators to believe they've both been murdered. But as they continue their search, they find more ominous evidence.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

During the search warrant, we did find two cell phones and Barton Krista's driver's licenses wrapped in tinfoil and a shoe in the garage.

[Narrator]

What does that tell you?

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

That told us that Bart and Krista didn't go anywhere.

[Narrator]

And how does that poke holes in what Chandler told?

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

Chandler had told us that he was messaging back and forth with his mother, Krista, on Sunday and that Krista was messaging him, that they made it and that they were going to be watching the fireworks in the parade. We found that that Was not true.

[Narrator]

How could she be texting him if her phone is sitting right there, wrapped up in aluminum foil?

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

Yes.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

The phone proved that Bart and Krista never left their house. They never went to the cabin. The only other person who was home was Chandler.

[Narrator]

Do you have any sense of why they were wrapped in aluminum foil?

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

I think Chandler thought that would protect them from cell phone towers.

[Narrator]

Detectives also did an extensive search of Chandler Halderson's bedroom, resembling something like an armory.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

So in Chandler's bedroom, we actually located a case of approximately 480 SKS rifle rounds.

[Narrator]

So we're in the basement now. What did you find down here?

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

Down here, we found traces of blood on both sides of the basement. We had the shell casing that we had located over here. There was some other blood evidence on different items down here.

[Narrator]

Okay, so you have the blood, the shell casing. Did this tell you along with the other evidence where Barton Crystal were killed?

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

It did, yeah. They were killed down here.

[Narrator]

So you had the shell casings, you had the ammo, but you didn't have the murder weapon. Where was that recovered?

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

The rifle was recovered at the farm and Cottage Grove.

[Narrator]

The weapon was found hidden in a barn on the farm's property. No one had any idea it was there.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Chandler really liked first person shooter video games. And in those games, you can choose what weapon you use, and he liked to try a variety. You know, he wasn't a single gun type person, but he liked the SKS rifle in those video games. He used it a lot.

[Narrator]

Now, you have a link between the shell casings and the ammo and this gun at the farm.

[Neighbor or Family Friend]

Yes.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

The picture that we were seeing at that point is that Chandler had murdered Bart and Krista Elderson in the home and went through extensive work to dispose of their bodies.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

What was the reason for it? All in all, they were a loving family. From what we were told by everybody.

[Narrator]

Those questions prosecutors promise.

[Detective Hendrickson]

All right.

[Narrator]

Are about to be answered. The lawyers will now make opening statements. Got a GPS on the phone.

[Kat Melander]

It's from Snapchat. I don't know if you use the app, but that's.

[Narrator]

You been to that spot?

[Kat Melander]

I don't know if it's that specific spot, but we used to swim on those.

[Narrator]

Investigators already have the snap map from Chandler Halderson's girlfriend placing him at the Wisconsin River. But it's a second tip of a random sighting that piques their interest.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

We had sent a detective up to the Wisconsin river area. One of the neighbors happened to come over to that detective and tell him that she had seen a stranger, suspect, male, in that area the week prior. We arranged for a larger team of detectives to go up to the area and we want to do a land search of that property.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

They go where Chandler was. It's a dense, vegetative area, wild state land in between, you know, a road and the river.

[Narrator]

You have search teams up there. You have dogs. What's going through your mind?

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

We were hopeful that we would find something.

[Narrator]

Time is of the essence. You have to find Krista.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

Yes.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

As they're walking around, some of the people searching start to smell something and then they walk a little bit further and they see something.

[Narrator]

What did you find at that location?

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

In close proximity to each other, there were dismembered body parts.

[Narrator]

The Dane county medical examiner's office, working in partnership with the Wisconsin state crime lab, has confirmed the DNA obtained from part of the dismembered human remains as matching 53 year old Christa Halderson.

[Neighbor or Family Friend]

I was just angered. I was shocked, Felt sick to my stomach. I mean, these are honest to goodness friends.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

It's just so graphic. I don't really have words for it, to be honest.

[Narrator]

I see you thinking about it and it's kind of. It almost brings about some emotion in you for sure.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

I just don't know how somebody could do that to somebody else, especially if it's their parents.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Right.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

We go to homicides all the time, we go to murders all the time. And a lot of that stuff is in the heat of the moment. This is just a whole nother level of emotional motion.

[Narrator]

The location where Krista's remains are found seems familiar to at least one detective. And then it clicks when he sees a unique tree trunk, the same one in that photograph given to police by Chandler's ex, showing Chandler near his favorite swimming spot. Chandler Halderson is now officially charged in the death of both of his parents. Chandler Halderson pleads not guilty to all the charges.

[Barbie Townsend]

Everything seemed so evil and chilling and unbelievable.

[Neighbor or Family Friend]

It was just incomprehensible. Why would anybody do that? Did he not like them? Was there something else that we didn't know that was going on? I just personally could not think of a reason why this wonderful kid did something so dastardly.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

From what we were told by everybody, all in all, they were a loving family. What was the reason for it?

[Narrator]

And just a couple of months later, prosecutors set out to answer those questions as Chandler goes to trial.

[Kat Melander]

Thanks.

[Narrator]

You can be seated, everybody.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Thank you. Good morning.

[Narrator]

The city of Madison, Wisconsin rings in the new year. With confetti, cocktails and a double murder trial, prosecutors set out to prove Chandler killed Bart and Krista Halterson. And a big part of their strategy is to prove their theory as to

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

why juries always want to understand why someone would commit a murder. Why would you kill your parents? And if prosecutors don't explain it, it's kind of a hole in their case.

[Narrator]

The lawyers will now make opening statements. Attorney Brown, thank you. Chandler Halderson murdered his parents, dismembered their bodies and hid them around southern Wisconsin. How does this happen? How does this kid, with everything in the world going for him, promising new jobs, school, a girlfriend that loves him, willing to move across the country for him, how does this happen? The jury hears about Chandler Halderson's IT degree, studies in renewable energy, a dream job at SpaceX, and a new life with his girlfriend in Florida. He was about to embark on a career that people in the IT field could only dream of. But they also hear about what prosecutors say was a concoction, a total fabrication of the events leading up to Bart and Krista's disappearance. He gives this bizarre story of his parents leaving in an unknown car, going to a cabin with an unknown couple with an unknown amount of money for really an unknown reason. Attorney Darrell thank you.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

The defense should be demonstrating why they say there's reasonable doubt in this case. Why maybe he didn't do it.

[Narrator]

Chandler Halderson did not murder his parents.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

He is not guilty of those crimes

[Narrator]

and he lived peacefully in his parents home. He was just a normal kid.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

The defense comes out at the beginning opening statements and admits their client is a liar. Chandler Halderson is a liar, but they say that doesn't make him a killer.

[Narrator]

When someone is on trial for a very the most serious crime possible, and every little thing they do, every little lie they might have told is blown up and thrown against someone. That's when proof beyond a reasonable doubt matters.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

And that's actually an excellent strategy because you want to let the jury know from the beginning all of the bad facts about your case.

[Narrator]

As prosecutors begin to call witnesses, there's one who has a haunting story. My name is Omar Jobe O m a R J O V e About a phone call he receives just before the murders. A conversation not only revealing, but stunning. This episode is brought to you by Google Health.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

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[Narrator]

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[Investigator or Prosecutor]

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[Narrator]

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[Investigator or Prosecutor]

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[Narrator]

The trial continues for Chandler Halderson, who's accused of killing and dismembering his parents,

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Bart and Krista Halderson.

[Narrator]

Chandler Halderson is on trial for the murder of both his parents. And from jump prosecutors promised the jury they'd hear the reason why. And in their opening statements, prosecutors told the jury it all started because that promising future Chandler supposedly had was a mirage. Called to the witness stand, Omar Jobe, a Madison College enrollment officer who says his phone rang on June 29. It's a call he says he won't soon forget. Was that call recorded?

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

Yes.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Okay. What's your first name, Chandler? C H A n D L E R. Last name is H A L D as in David. E R S O N. It's a

[Narrator]

normal phone call that we receive every day. This person was trying to request a

[Detective Hendrickson]

transcript, trying to get an appointment scheduled to meet with somebody to mainly just get a copy of the transcript.

[Narrator]

On this call, Job is hearing a complaint from Chandler that for months now, he hasn't received his college transcripts.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Okay, so it looks like you owe a balance. So that's what he. That's why you can't request it. Hello?

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

The jury listens as Omar Jobe then tries to confirm what classes Chandler is taking.

[Detective Hendrickson]

You were taking IT Classes, right? I don't see that. You were in a program prior to the it. There was a solar program, too. Yeah, but I don't see that the IT Degree is in there, right? No, those are just classes.

[Narrator]

I found that Chandler was taking classes at Madison College for a couple of semesters, and then he stopped. But here's the thing about that phone call. It's not at all what it appears to be at that time. Like, it didn't register in my mind on the other Line. It is a Halderson, but it's not Chandler. It's actually Bart Halderson pretending to be his son.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Prosecutors play it during trial. The jury got to hear what Bart sounded like as he figured out his son was lying to him.

[Narrator]

Bart has been trying unsuccessfully for months to get the transcripts from Chandler, and he was beginning to get suspicious.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

According to prosecutors, the phone call was a ruse by Bart to see if his son was actually enrolled in college. And it turns out he wasn't. He failed out.

[Narrator]

Prosecutors also alleged that Chandler had set up fake email accounts in an attempt to deceive his father about why his transcripts weren't coming.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

Chandler was looping Bart in on some of these emails with Madison College. Just trying to show Bart that this is why I'm not getting my transcripts.

[Narrator]

But the problem is, according to detectives, they're fake too. He asked me two people's names that walk in advising because they were trying to set up something with them.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Do you know, do you have an Alyssa Brandt that works in that area or anywhere in the campus? Said the first name is Alyssa. Alyssa, yeah. A L, Y, S S A. No. Today is no. Alyssa. Does Daniel Spice still work there? No.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

Chandler had made up fake emails with fake school employees to email back and forth about the transcript issue.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

Can I ask you, what is the end part of every employee's email who works for Madison College?

[Narrator]

Madisoncollege.edu.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

no one uses a Gmail account as their official Madison College email.

[Kat Melander]

No.

[Narrator]

But college wasn't the only alleged deception Chandler carried out. Prosecutors call in witnesses who reveal things like that internship at American Family Insurance.

[Barbie Townsend]

I found no record of that person

[Narrator]

working for American Family. The job at Elon Musk's SpaceX, were there ever any emails regarding a job application or employments with SpaceX?

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

No.

[Narrator]

Prosecutors argued that essentially everything he supposedly had going for him, none of it was real.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

The defense did not cross examine these witnesses.

[Narrator]

Cross examination?

[Jill (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

No.

[Barbie Townsend]

Thank you.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

The defense always has to balance between aggressively cross examining witnesses and alienating the jury.

[Narrator]

So the insurance company internship, the SpaceX opportunity, the going to school, all lies, all eyes.

[Barbie Townsend]

Yep.

[Narrator]

So you're hearing this, the trial. What did this make you think of him?

[Barbie Townsend]

That he's not anybody who I thought he was.

[Narrator]

It's an explosive claim. In court, authorities say Chandler has been perpetrating this catfish scheme for at least a year. The call to Madison College would turn out to be fateful. And the last recorded words of Bart Holderson.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Okay, that should have been okay. Thank you for your help.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

Bart then sends Chandler a text. I spoke with Omar Jobe.

[Narrator]

Bart sets up a meeting for July 1st with a school administrator and plans to bring chandler along. Around 2pm that day, Bart sends this text to his son. I'm ready whenever you are.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

It's the last text message from Bart and the last day bar. Bart and Krista are seen alive.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

And Bart figured it out. Chandler realized he could lose everything. Prosecution the story they painted was that Chandler gave himself no other option.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

Not long after that, Chandler asked his mom to stop at the gas station and pick up soda.

[Narrator]

Chandler's text says, dad's phone text or call me and get soda on your way home. I have an extra hour of work. Krista replies, K. I can smiley face. That would be the last text from Christa Halderson.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

As if the alleged motive wasn't already shocking enough, there was Chandler's whole history of a debilitating head injury, which prosecutors say was also untrue.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Late June, early July 2021, Chandler had just fallen down the stairs. He had this injury that he said could cause lifelong side effects. By all accounts, the fall stopped Chandler's life.

[Narrator]

Prosecutors entered this photo into evidence at trial to support their theory that Chandler's fall is part of an alleged web of lies. Prosecution calls the ER doctor to dispel that myth. I am an emergency physician at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

What in this case did you diagnose Mr. Halderson with?

[Narrator]

I believe he was diagnosed as having a mild concussion. The patient had some residual neck pain, so he was given a collar to go home with for support.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

The defense pushes back on the prosecution's claims, cross examining the the ER doctor about Chandler's injury.

[Narrator]

You did diagnose Chandler Halderson with a mild concussion, right? That's correct. You didn't give him a set number

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

of days to wear the collar, is that right?

[Narrator]

I don't believe so, no.

[Barbie Townsend]

In that picture on Father's Day of 2021, standing next to Bart, he's got the brace on because he did go to the er.

[Narrator]

That Father's Day brunch photo, which is shown to the jury by prosecutors, is just weeks before the murder.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

But then there's surveillance video of Chandler the night of July 1st at a nearby quick trip carrying two bags of ice. Ten pound bags of ice.

[Narrator]

But prosecutors also point out, conspicuously missing on this quick trip surveillance video, Chandler's neck brace. And they claim it's the same story when he visits a local store.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

He's at Fleet Farm. Again, no neck bracelet just normal 23 year old dude walking into Fleet Farm to buy a tarp.

[Reporter or Courtroom Narrator]

And that tarp, prosecutors say is part of what Chandler used to dispose of his parents remains.

[Narrator]

The prosecution calls one last star witness, Chandler's ex girlfriend, Kat Melander, who testifies about the impact of sharing the SnapMap discovery on her phone. Why was it important to you to cooperate at that time?

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

Because I, I just believed his parents

[Kat Melander]

were missing

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

and I just want them to be found.

[Narrator]

And later, she recalls something else she noticed during the initial search for Bart and Krista. When you first go in the house that day, did you notice anything off?

[Kat Melander]

There was a spirit.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

Smoky smell.

[Narrator]

That smoky smell, a neighbor's security camera and a flickering light are about to reveal another dark secret inside the home. It turns out prosecutors say Chandler has one more big thing to hide. It's day seven in Chandler Halderson's trial as he stands accused of the murder of his own parents in what prosecutors say was a desperate attempt to conceal a secret web of lies. But what the jury hears next is some of the most disturbing evidence yet.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

We had a grand total of 230

[Narrator]

bones, fragmented bones that were found again inside the fireplace, on the grate and

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

also on the ash disposal area.

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

So we found video footage from one of the neighbors that actually watched the backside of the house. And through a forensic analysis of that video, our examiner was able to determine that the glow in certain windows of this home was indeed the fireplace.

[Narrator]

What was the most disturbing moment of the trial for you?

[Barbie Townsend]

They showed the fireplace burning all night when he was trying to cremate the skulls of his parents. I almost got sick watching that.

[Narrator]

The defense didn't challenge Dr. Figueroa Soto's testimony. After eight days of testimony, it's the defense's turn. Everyone's wondering what Chandler's case is going to be. But in a surprise move, the defense rests without calling a single witness. Attorney Doral, will other witnesses being called this morning?

[Barbie Townsend]

No, you, Honor.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Watching this trial, it was so one sided. There were eight full days of testimony from the prosecution. They had so much evidence. The defense was the opposite.

[Narrator]

This time, I will invite the state to present its closing argument. Enclosing arguments, the prosecution urges the jury to look at this image of Bart and Krista likening the pieces of evidence to that of a jigsaw.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

Solving a case and thinking about whether or not a person is guilty or not guilty is like putting together a puzzle. And it's your job as the jury to put that puzzle together. It's not a Whodunit? We know that Bart and Krista went into that home and never came out, at least as whole people.

[Narrator]

Attorney Vera, would you please present the defense?

[Investigator or Police Interviewer]

Closing.

[Kat Melander]

Thank you.

[Narrator]

While the defense says all the state was able to prove was that Chandler is a liar, not a killer. Kids lie to their parents all the time. Motive does not mean intent.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Do you know if it was an awful accident? Do you know if it was intentional? Do you know if there was someone else involved?

[Kat Melander]

You don't.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

And that's a problem.

[Narrator]

Just after 3pm News breaks that the jury has reached a verdict. Breaking news in just about a little over two hours, a jury has reached a verdict in the Chandler Halderson case.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

When we found out that the verdict was in, it had been two hours. No one knew what was going on. People were waiting on pins and needles to figure out what that was.

[Narrator]

We the jury, find the defendant, Chandler M. Halderson guilty of first degree intentional homicide. Chandler Halderson is found guilty on all eight charges. So what was your reaction to the verdict?

[Barbie Townsend]

I would like to say it was relief. It really wasn't because it's still sad, it's still grotesque. Everything about it, there was some closure for the family. To me, it was just and fair.

[Narrator]

In March of 2022, at sentencing, Chandler breaks his silence for the first time. Your Honor, I want to take this opportunity to state my intent to appeal my convictions. If there are any lawyers listening and willing to take on my appeal, take a moment to please, please reach out to me. It's not that I do not have feelings. It's that I was warned to not show them. Due to the scrutiny of this case.

[Detective Hendrickson]

Thank you.

[Barbie Townsend]

No remorse, no empathy, no love to his parents.

[Narrator]

Chandler is sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, still leaving his family in of front with far more questions than answers as to why he murdered his mother and father.

[Neighbor or Family Friend]

The Haldersons and I were friends for about 25, 26 years, and there was never a crossword. They were just good people. If there were more Barton Christas in the world, it would be a better world.

[Narrator]

If Chandler would have just asked for help, what do you think Barb and Krista would have done?

[Barbie Townsend]

They would have given everything, anything to help him. They would have been there. That's the kind of people they were.

[Narrator]

If you could talk to Krista one

[Barbie Townsend]

more time,

[Narrator]

if you just had one more moment to say something to her, what would it be?

[Barbie Townsend]

I would say you were a great mom.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

A beautiful sentiment about a mother whose murder still leaves so many unanswered questions.

[Investigator or Prosecutor]

David.

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

In April of 2023, two of Chandler's

[Narrator]

convictions for hiding his parents remains were vacated. His other convictions and sentence still stand tonight and his most recent appeal was denied.

[Detective Groans]

That's our program for tonight. Thank you for watching.

[Narrator]

I'm David Muir. And I'm Deborah Roberts.

[Neighbor or Family Friend]

From all of us here at 2020

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

and ABC News,

[Narrator]

Ryan Reynolds here from IT Mobile. I don't know if you knew this, but anyone can get the same Premium Wireless for $15 a month plan that I've been enjoying. It's not just for celebrities. So do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today. I'm told it's super easy to [e-mail]

[Richard (True Crime Brewery Podcast Host)]

Switch upfront payment of $45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See full [e-mail].