Erin Moriarty’s Killer Investigations | "48 Hours" Full Episodes | Forensic Files

[Music] the uh master bedroom. >> It was the most horrific, depraved murder I've ever seen as the district
attorney in this county. When you think about the terror that these two people just asleep in their
own bed where we all feel the most secure and you wake up to this horror movie happening to you.
>> Happy birthday. Happy birthday to you. >> My mom was my best friend. I never remember a day that I didn't speak with
her or giggle with her. She was my world. She had been single for a while and she
had decided that she was ready to settle down. Well, it wasn't a couple of months
and my mother called me and reported to me that she had met a man and his name was Chip Northup
and he was so smart and brilliant and they were like Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy meeting over the pews at the
Unitarian Church and from that moment they were inseparable. She didn't want to be away from Chip
and and she went with Chip. They went together in their home in their bed. [Music]
If you talk to many of the officers, they'll say that what an impact this case has had on them. Just going to the
crime scene and seeing how horrific the the torture inflicted on these two humans, Chip and Claudia, really was. I
was certain that they were going to find some forensic evidence in the crime scene. A fingerprint, DNA, um, shoe
prints, uh, something. They found nothing. >> How soon did you hear that there was no
evidence that this looked like the perfect crime? >> Well, I think we were 2 months into it.
>> Yeah. We brought 25 FBI agents, experienced task force officers from other areas,
and we really flooded that neighborhood. >> We thought it had to be somebody close
to Chip and Claudia. Something that um that happened where there was a disagreement, some family dispute um
because it did appear to be so personal. >> It was a very scary time because nobody
knew who had done it. >> Davis police emergency. >> Oh yeah. Um, uh, can this be anonymous?
>> What are you reporting? >> Uh, double homicides. >> When this tip came in, um, it seemed
really strange. It didn't seem to match what any of us had thought. >> The reason why I want to remain
anonymous is cuz if my mom if my mom finds out, she will send me to military school.
>> Dumbfounded. >> We were dumbfounded. How do you wrap your mind around a 15-year-old killer?
[Music] [Music] 48 Hours: Portrait of the Killer. Reported by Aaron Morardi. [Music]
Take a ride through Davis, California, and you'll see why the college town has been named one of this country's best
places to live, and why Claudia Mop Ben moved here. >> She loved living in college communities,
so she loved being around all the young people and all the new ideas. Victoria Herd says Davis was one of
California's safest cities when her mother first arrived in 1995 and started attending services at this
Unitarian church, hoping to meet her third husband. She had been a spiritual traveler through many different
religions and denominations and she just had fallen in love with the Unitarian Church. So she said to me, "My husband
is at the Unitarian Church." Claudia soon met Oliver Chip Northup, one of the church's founders. Well known for his
social activism, Northup was a World War II veteran and a prominent attorney. Like Claudia, Chip had been married
several times, but according to his firstborn daughter, Mary, the couple's families blended easily.
>> Claudia had that ability to make every person that she spent time with feel that special so that they would come
away and say, "She's my best friend." >> Both Chip and Claudia's families were thrilled when the couple decided to
marry in 1996. I would think then the church was filled with the family. >> It was packed.
>> It was filled. >> Did you two ever worry about their safety? >> No. Absolutely not.
>> No. >> No. They had an idyllic life. They had so many loved ones around them. They had
so many great neighbors. [Music] They lived in Davis. Claudia and Chip had been married for 17
years when on the night of Saturday, April 13th, 2013, they said good night to each other for
the very last time. The next morning at church, the couple was noticeably absent.
>> I called and I called his number and I called Claudia's number and they both went to voicemail.
Chip was in a local folk band when he didn't show up for a gig that afternoon. Chip's son, Robert, and a grandson paid
a visit to Chip in Claudia's condo. >> And rang the doorbell, and no one answered. Everything I saw indicated
they were out of town. >> Robert had a key, but chose not to use it. Later that evening, Claudia's
stepdaughter, Laura, also rang the bell. When there was no answer, she went around back and saw this open window
with its screen slashed. One looked through the bedroom window and Laura knew that something awful had
happened. >> She saw blood stains. She saw enough that she made a call to get other people
over there. The next morning, there's 12 missed calls from my sister. She said, "There's been a breakin
and there are two dead bodies in the house." And then I lost it. My brain couldn't
process that. Victoria had to call her daughter Sarah and break the news. But all the police would share is that
Claudia and Chip had been stabbed multiple times. >> I was like, "Multiple? What does
multiple mean?" You know, is there a certain number that we should know? And the coroner said,
>> "All I can tell you is that multiple means more than 12." >> It would be just over a year before they
learned that Chip had 61 stab wounds. Claudia had 67. That's 128 stab wounds. Has anybody even had the strength to do
that? And and why would somebody want to do that? But that wasn't even the worst of it.
Davis Police Lieutenant Paul Doris says the killer had experimented with the bodies and had placed a cell phone into
Claudia's abdomen and a drinking glass into Chip's stomach. We thought that well maybe there's some type of meaning
to it, you know, but we were trying to latch on to every detail we could to help us with this case the office.
>> But there was little to latch on to. There was no physical evidence, not even
a shoe print. >> The place isn't ransacked. There's no valuables missing. Clearly, this is not
a burglary that was interrupted. Former special agent Chris Campion says that even the FBI profilers were
stumped, unsure if they were dealing with one killer or more or if the open window was even the point of entry.
>> Appears that the screen is cut through on the edges. I think they had at this
point developed a story that somebody with the key had done it and that they'd cut this hole in the screen to divert
attention >> to make it look like >> when you if you come up with that theory then you have to look at family members
FBI agents had you know called us all individually and you know you could tell that they were doing everything in their
power to get answers but there was nothing >> until they got to Chip's son Robert and
his two sons Oliver and Tony Pony Oliver suffers from schizophrenia. >> We lived in the same town, not very far
away. It would have not have been logistically difficult for one of us to have gone over there and done that.
>> Robert also had that key to the condo. >> Oliver, did you know that the police
were looking at you and your brother? >> Well, yeah. They asked us to come in for
questioning and I agreed. >> That first day it was about 8 hours of questioning. The next day it was another
six. It was just day after day, long hours of questioning. >> Mhm. >> And u and I kept thinking, well, my
father would would want us to cooperate in every way. >> Without a lawyer. >> Were you scared?
>> Very nervous. >> And with good reason. When police searched Robert's home, they found the
kind of evidence that gets people convicted. First, carpeting that had been steam cleaned on the day of the
murders. Yeah, it was bad timing. I didn't I didn't anticipate that that would be the same weekend my father got
murdered. It looked like I was covering up removing evidence. >> Investigators also found a very
disturbing drawing by Tony. It was the image of a man with a knife standing over two children in a bed.
>> The only thing I can say is that the three of them, they're not violent. If if something had clicked and turned them
violent, it would never have been for these two people. >> Did either one of you think that was
possible? >> No. Never. >> Never. Not for a second. Because Chip spent so much time with those boys.
Those boys adored him. >> The family spent thousands of dollars hiring an attorney for Tony and
repairing all the damage done by investigators. Then they cut out the carpet. They took out some of the
plumbing fixtures looking for things that might have been put in the drain. And they also took out a little bit of
flooring. >> The Northup family, Tony in particular, felt persecuted. And even though his
name was eventually cleared, Tony still felt that neighbors had their doubts about him. 3 years after the murders, he
would commit suicide. Oliver got this tattoo in memory of him. >> You've gone through a lot, haven't you?
>> Yeah, I think so. >> 2 months after the murders, police got this call. >> What are you calling to report, sir?
>> Um, the double homicide that happened in April this year. >> What can you tell me about that?
>> Everything, actually. A 17-year-old Davis High School student called to say he knew who killed that
couple. It was his best friend. >> Daniel Marsh or >> Daniel Marsh. >> Yeah, Daniel Marsh or Dan Marsh.
>> Daniel Marsh was a name that Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Risk had heard
years earlier, but not in connection with a crime. >> All of a sudden, he passed out and sort
of flew back in. At the time he was viewed as a young hero. He had saved his his father's life,
>> right? He was the hero of the day. >> At 10, Marsh was given an American Red Cross heroes award after using CPR to
save his father from a heart attack. >> I remember thinking at that time, this kid's going places.
>> It didn't seem possible. Could that young hero really have grown up to be the vicious killer investigators were
hunting for? [Music] When you first saw Daniel Marsh, what was your reaction? >> Total shock that a a boy was responsible
for these crimes. No one imagined, says District Attorney Jeff Risig, that the depraved killer of Chip Northup and his
wife Claudia might turn out to be a 15-year-old teenager. And certainly not this teenager who had
once saved a life, his father's, Bill Marsh. >> This is Daniel in 2009. >> At the time of the murders, Bill Marsh
lived next door to Claudia and Chip. And I chose that location because it was in
walking distance of their mothers. >> That's where Daniel lived at his mother Sherry's house. And it's where he was
staying on the night of the murders. The day the bodies were discovered, Bill Marsh was home recovering from back
surgery when police showed up at his door. >> Knock knock knock on the door. Hi, I'm
so and so of the police. Um, do you know Chip and his wife? I said, "No, I don't
know anybody. And I just moved in. >> About 2 weeks after the murders, Bill Marsh says he could no longer afford the
rent and moved out. >> Remember very vividly one of the neighbors came up and said, "Hey, um, I
don't know if this is relevant or not, but several days after the murder, the guy in that house moved out." And we
didn't think much about it at that time. And investigators might never have focused on Daniel Marsh if not for that
phone call from 17-year-old Alvaro Garab 2 months after the crime accusing his best friend of murder.
>> Well, he talked about killing people a lot. I didn't really take it seriously
until well killed someone. >> So, help me understand that this was your best friend.
>> I know. Uh I don't know if I can help you understand that. Alvaro says he laughs when nervous. But
back then, investigators took him very seriously. He seemed to know way too much about the murders. Gory details
known only to a handful of investigators and the killer. He cut both of them open.
It's just to see the insides or something. And then uh he went to the woman, I think, and he uh he wanted to know how
an eye looked like. So he tried taking it out with a knife, but he said it was really hard, so he couldn't do it.
>> Gabe was interviewed twice, leaving investigators wondering if he was the killer.
>> Why did it take you until now to speak to us? >> Because I don't know, actually. I was
afraid. Alvaro says he finally came forward because Daniel had threatened to kill again. Do you think your life was
at risk? >> Oh, yeah. Mine, my families, my friends. >> On June 17th, 2013, investigators asked
the high school resource officer to bring Daniel Marsh in for questioning. Daniel,
>> and he seemed more than happy to talk. It was now up to Davis detective Ariel
Paneda and FBI special agent Chris Campion to get to the truth. >> Did he seem worried about talking to you
at all? >> No, certainly not at the beginning. I think he figured he could talk his way
through it. >> What do you know, Dave? >> I just know that somebody broke into this old couple's
house and stabbed them, killed them. Investigators would spend the next three hours learning all they could about
Daniel, looking for a way in. >> I was that loner kid that you know how there's always that one outcast.
Dad and mom split when you were pretty young. >> Yeah. >> Wow. And then mom basically left,
abandoned you, your family is >> Yeah. For like 3 or 4 months. Daniel's mother ended her marriage after having
an affair with a woman, Daniel's kindergarten teacher, which enraged the 10-year-old.
>> He hated her. He would tell me that I know this woman was involved in my parents' divorce, and I just want to
like strangle her to death. >> Daniel even tried taking his anger out on himself.
>> I used to like harm myself. >> I see his scar too there. Yeah. >> Yeah. As near as I understood the
cutting phenomenon, it was people who just kind of have this flat, depressed, kind of dark outlook on life. And the
cutting actually brings that sense of living. >> Campion says Daniel was willing to do
anything to feel something, including starving himself. All the pain and depression and anger just like
I internalized it and I directed it towards myself. >> Daniel was voluntarily committed to an
eating disorder clinic for 25 days. And while his anorexia seems to have passed,
Alvaro says Daniel's anger continued to consume him. He would tell me a lot about suicide.
>> And how old were the two of you? When was it? >> Oh man, I think 14. >> I've attempted it four times in my life.
>> It seems there were several therapists and doctors who intervened, trying numerous medications.
And then in mid December 2012, Daniel made a stunning admission, telling a school counselor that he fantasized
about killing people. She was so concerned they brought the police to the school.
>> Marsh was shortly hospitalized, but upon release things got worse. Did he talk
about Kelly? >> He like brought it up more. He was just like, I wish that person would die.
>> But in his police interview, Daniel was denying it all, including the murders of
Claudia and Chip. >> I don't want to hurt people. Then after 3 hours and 38 minutes of questioning,
the facade finally began to crumble. And >> why the heck would you just sit here and
baldfaced lie to Ariel and me? >> I am. You guys are threatening me with what? The truth. Getting arrested for
two murders. I am so scared right now. Of course, I'm going to do anything I can to try and
say that I didn't do this. >> That was um the first sign that he was getting over that wall, that he was
getting ready to talk to us about what really happened. >> If you want to help me, then don't ruin
my life. If anything, send me to the psychiatric hospital. >> But Chris, were you really prepared for
what he told you next? >> Um, no. Every time I look at someone in my mind, I see
flashes of images of me killing them. [Music] For more than three hours, Daniel Marsh
insisted he knew nothing about the murders of Claudia Mopin and Chip Northup. But he began to reveal more and
more about himself to agent Chris Campion. >> And all this time I thought about and
plotted about killing the woman that my mother left my father for. What was your
plan? Just gonna slaughter her throat. Daniel says that was when he began to fantasize about killing people.
Eventually, he became obsessed with something called gore porn and a website devoted to it.
>> I remember just like walking into his room and he was like, "Dude, check this
out." And it's like literally people getting beheaded. >> And how did he react when he was
watching those videos? >> He just sat there, I think, like fascinated by it. But it's one thing to
be fascinated and another to actually take a life. >> Well, you strangled a cat in the street.
And then I was like, "Okay, well, why'd you do that?" It's like, "Well, I just wanted to do that. It just I hated that
cat's house." >> In the interview room, investigators still hadn't heard Daniel confess to
killing Chip and Claudia and pressed on. >> When was the first time you started thinking about killing these people down
the street? Yeah, I really am. I didn't. >> Now you start thinking about it that
night. I just I couldn't take it anymore. I had to do it. I lost control. >> There it was. The opening that
investigator Campion had been hoping for. Daniel admitted that he had been hunting for someone, anyone, to kill
that night when he came upon Chip and Claudia's open living room window. >> I got a hole in the screen, climbed in
through the back, went to their bedroom. I opened the door, and I just kind of stood over their bed
watching them sleep for a few minutes. My body was trembling. I was nervous but excited and
exhilarated. I was actually going to do it. I was there. It was finally happening.
>> Without any outward emotion, Daniel described how he repeatedly stabbed Claudia and Chip.
What you were about to hear is graphic, but these disturbing details would become key evidence in a family's battle
for justice. I cut open most of their torsos around here. And in the woman, I put a phone inside of
her and I put a cup inside the guy. >> Daniel said it was all part of his plan to confuse investigators and get away
with murder. He also taped the bottom of his shoes so he wouldn't leave prints and wore a ski mask and gloves so as not
to leave behind DNA or fingerprints. But hidden by Daniel in his mother's house.
Investigators found all the evidence they needed. Bloody clothing and the knife used to kill Chip and Claudia.
>> Did you wash blood off of it or did um it had been fairly covered? And I kept it as a souvenir.
>> A souvenir to forever remember how much he enjoyed taking two lives. I'm not going to lie, it felt
amazing. >> In fact, records show that Daniel was doing so much better in school. He was
named student of the month after the high of the murders. It was pure happiness and adrenaline and
dopamine just all of it rushing over me kind of >> after Daniel made a full confession.
Chris Campion did something unusual. >> You um mentioned that pretty much everybody you meet you have thoughts
about killing them and how you would kill them. >> Yeah. >> So, how would you kill me?
There's a lot of ways. Um, choking you to death with your tie. >> Okay. Uh, beating your face into the
mirror until it broke and using the glass to cut your arteries. Uh, gouging your eyes out and just smashing your
face into the wall. Nothing personal. >> Nothing personal. >> And I said I didn't take it personally
because I didn't. That's his fantasy life. I mean, Chris, do you believe that Daniel Marsh was a serial killer in
training? >> Absolutely. Abs, without a doubt. He actually talked about how he was going
to take his next victim. He was lurking in the streets of Davis at night with a baseball bat, intending
to beat to death some poor passer by. cuz I don't feel sympathy for other people
at all. Don't feel empathy for them. >> This was not the act of a broken child who had a rough life. This was the act
of somebody who, in my mind, is just evil. >> Daniel was immediately arrested and
charged with the murders of Chip Northup and Claudia Mopin. Was there any question whether he would be charged as
an adult and be tried in an adult court >> at the time? No. Because of the nature
of the crime, uh, he had to be tried in adult court. >> With Marsh facing life in prison, two
top public defenders were assigned to his case. Then Marsh plead not guilty by reason of insanity, something Chris
Campion had anticipated. That's why I'd spent some time with him. I wanted to make clear that he's not somebody who
had had a break with reality. Um, somebody who heard voices or had, you know, voices in his head telling him to
do things. >> Did you ever hear any voices talking to you? >> He wasn't anywhere close, in my opinion,
to legally insane. >> Even psychiatrist Dr. Matthew Sullier, who was hired by the defense, agreed
that Daniel was sane, even though when they met, Daniel threatened to kill him. >> I didn't find him to be insane. I found
him to be mentally ill, but responsible for his crimes. And I think my understanding is that they went ahead
and continued to pursue a defense of insanity. without Sulier as their expert witness.
A year after the murders, Daniel Marsh went on trial. The defense argued that the anti-depressant drugs given to
Daniel for his anorexia and suicide attempts had caused a temporary insanity. >> Zolaf made me do it.
>> Deputy District Attorney Amanda Zambour wasn't having it. But when you actually
looked at the medical records, he was having these thoughts and fantasies before he was ever on Zoloft.
>> Bill, I know that you believe that a lot of your son's problems are connected to
the medications he was taking, but he had fantasies about killing before he started on the drugs. He killed animals
before he started on these drugs. >> Yes. See, I don't know that that's true. There's a whole series of confessions by
people who have been on these drugs that have false memories. uh they believe certain things happened that never did.
>> The question now was would the jury agree? Would they find Daniel Marsh insane and decide a psychiatric hospital
was more appropriate than prison? >> Were you more nervous about that? >> Yes. The immediate thought is that
somebody would have to be insane to do something like this. On September 26th, 2014, the jury
deliberated for just under 2 hours before finding Daniel Marsh guilty of firstdegree murder.
They also found Marsh sane, allowing the judge to sentence him to the maximum, 52
years to life. >> We are very, very pleased with the verdict for me. We feel justice.
>> We all exhaled. >> Yeah. >> I mean, that was great. But it wasn't over yet, was it?
>> It wasn't over, Aaron. No, it wasn't over. That's because two years later, California voters passed Prop 57 and
gave Daniel Marsh a second chance. You'll recall that in this case, District Attorney Rice made the decision
to try Daniel Marsh as an adult. But under the new law, that decision would now have to be made by a juvenile court
judge. >> How do you call a family that sat through an entire trial? How do you call
them up and say, "Sorry, you have to come back because there's a chance he may end up being pushed back to juvenile
court where he would be potentially released at the age of 25." >> A judge would now listen to evidence and
decide if Daniel Marsh should have been tried as a juvenile. If so, the state might be forced to set Marsh free on his
25th birthday. He's 21 now. So in about 3 and a half, four years, he would be out with no
supervision, no parole. He would just be free. I went into PTSD immediately. And
I said, I I can't do this. I can't do this. I'm moving forward. >> But before a hearing date could even be
set, >> a striking video appeared online. Hurt people hurt people. >> Through a prison rehabilitation program,
Daniel Marsh took center stage in his very own TEDex talk. >> The secret down deep, deep down,
>> declaring that he's reformed and deserves a second chance. >> I came to realize that there are no such
things as evil people in this world, >> only damaged people. And I'm watching it
like a deer in the headlights. You know, I can't pull my eyes away. >> If I kept allowing myself to be trapped
by my emotions and to be disconnected. >> How dare you? Was all I could say to the
screen. >> Marsh also took the opportunity to raise a shocking new claim that he was the
victim here. >> When I was a child, I was sexually abused multiple times by two different
people. But he wouldn't say by whom and never even told his best friend. >> I don't recall anything like that.
>> He never talked about being sexually abused. >> He was asked routinely about trauma and
abuse and denied it every time. >> I believe he wouldn't say it if it wasn't true.
>> Bill Marsh stands by his son, >> but why wouldn't he have said it earlier? >> Knowing Daniel, he probably feels he has
some sort of loyalty. I felt alone and ashamed and disgusting. >> You don't believe he was ever abused?
>> I don't. Um I think it's a ploy to to get sympathy. Now >> embrace our humanity.
>> We knew our first and most important thing to do was to get the video taken down.
>> Right. Claudia Mopin's granddaughter Sarah took on the challenge >> and within 48 hours it was gone. It was
taken down off of YouTube. >> A small victory, but nothing compared to the battle ahead to keep Daniel Marsh
behind bars. >> All right. >> Marsh's fate was now in the hands of family court judge Samuel McAdam. Life
in prison or possibly just four more years. Let's go on the record in the matter of Daniel William Marsh.
>> Marsh's original defense team returned to represent him. Attorney Andra Pelino
>> and I think the court will be overwhelmed by the changes that he has made in a very short amount of time.
>> Remember Dr. Matthew Sulier, the psychiatrist who Daniel Marsh had threatened to kill? He recently
interviewed Marsh again and took the stand this time and said he thought Marsh had changed. There were distinct
differences in his maturity, his empathy, his insight into himself, his sense of responsibility.
>> I don't think he's worth throwing away in my opinion. >> He's killed two people,
>> right? >> I mean, isn't it possible that's the kind of person who just can't be saved?
I don't believe that. I don't believe that at all. >> Just when everyone thought the defense
was going to rest its case, the courtroom was stunned. Daniel Marsh had decided to take his fate into his own
hands. [Music] The families of Chip and Claudia were horrified when a 21-year-old Daniel
Marsh took the stand to plead for his freedom. >> And I stared at him the entire time.
>> I was a really damaged, screwed up, sick kid. Maybe that's still how I come across. And I really hope that's not the
case. Uh >> to me, he was doing everything in his power to say the things that would help
him in his case. >> I mean, it's night and day. You know, I no longer struggle with mental illness.
I've worked through the vast majority of my my anger and hate. I I'm not who I used to be.
>> While trying to convince the judge, Marsh also took the opportunity to address his victim's families for the
first time. I'm sorry I took them away from you. I can't even bring myself to look at
you. >> I think he didn't look cuz he realized he couldn't feain empathy. It >> It's hard for me to even
wrap my mind around how I could have done something that awful. And I guess I've just been afraid to actually
face that. But before Judge McAdam would decide if Marsh should be treated like a juvenile
and receive a lighter sentence, he asked the prosecution to call an expert on psychopaths.
>> Dr. Logan, good morning. >> Forensic psychologist Matthew Logan. >> Some of the traits are glib, superficial
charm, pathological lying, lack of responsibility, uh inability to feel remorse. While
Logan never met Marsh, he did examine his records. I spoke to Dr. Logan via FaceTime.
>> Is Daniel Marsh a psychopath? >> In my view, yes. >> After his conviction, Marsh scored a
whopping 35.8 out of 40 on the widely used psychopathy checklist, one of the highest scores Dr. Logan has ever seen.
means it's generally accepted as the gold standard for for uh diagnosing psychopathy.
>> Do you believe that Daniel Marsh could kill again and will kill again? >> I would say it's more likely than not
that he would kill again. >> And Dr. Logan says Marsh's testimony did nothing to convince him otherwise.
>> I've interviewed hundreds of psychopaths and they've all seen the light. And one
of the things that that is very typical of the psychopath is that ability to con
and manipulate. >> The twoe hearing culminated on October 24th, 2018 when a packed courtroom
convened to hear the judge's decision on Daniel Marsh's fate. >> Let's go on the record in the matter of
Daniel William Marsh. >> Judge McAdam first sent jitters throughout the courtroom. Marsh is
coping well with being incarcerated. He is not exhibiting the signs of a serious
mental illness. >> He said he found the testimony of Marsh to be credible, but in the end concluded
that Marsh's release just wasn't a chance worth taking. Marsh's original sentence would stand.
>> The defendant is remanded to state prison to serve the balance of an indeterminate life sentence with a
minimum of 52 years. You could kind of feel the relief in the courtroom when the judge read his final
decision from the family members. So relieved. >> I went outside and was like, "Okay, I
need to take a deep breath." And I could not catch my breath. And I still feel that way. Mhm.
>> I still feel that it's not over >> because it's not. In September 2018, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a
new law known as SB1391, which makes it impossible to ever try a 15-year-old offender as an adult, even
one like Daniel Marsh. So what 1391 says is that the DAs can never ever prosecute
a juvenile that's 14 or 15 years old as an adult. No matter how heinous the crime, no matter what torture they
inflicted, >> Marsha's lawyers have vowed to do what they can to have Daniel retroactively
included under that new law. >> We're going to fight that every step of the way. we might lose. And if we do,
Daniel Marsh will come back to our county and he will be sentenced as a juvenile where he would be eligible for
release at 25. If that happens, the state will have to argue every 2 years to keep Marsh behind
bars, which means a still grieving family >> may never fully heal. We just went through this entire year
having to rehash everything. It was literally like being in the trial all over again and even more so because
I had to hear him. >> It retraumatizes me every time. >> Special Agent Chris Campion is just as
traumatized at the idea of Marsh ever being set free. Daniel Marsh is in the top three of the people I'm most scared
of. >> What was your plan? It's going to [ __ ] through. >> Cuz he's got that combination of being a
psychopath and this this deep dark desire for murder and gore and bloodshed. It's
>> most exhilarating, enjoyable feeling I've ever felt. >> And it doesn't go away. It just doesn't
[Music] [Music] Court will come to order will arise. >> The case starts on Monday, June 29th,
2015. >> Hi, I'm Dr. Terresa Severs. >> Dr. Terresa Severs was due at work and she didn't arrive.
Teresa Severs is found on her kitchen floor dead. A pool of blood surrounds her head.
She is cold to the touch. This is Dr. Teresa Severs. High-profile doctor. did a lot of holistic medicine
and people uh you know said that she was just a little spitfire just a short little thing and always wearing you know
4-in heels clack clacking around >> so let's get started we got a lot of stuff to talk about ladies remember
walking into a room meant turning heads >> when I got into work that day we were
getting word that this um 46-year-old doctor was dead this beloved woman in our community had
been brutally killed inside her own house. Mark and Teresa have been a couple since
2003 uh when they got married in a beachside ceremony in St. Petersburg. She was sort of the bread winner and he
was the office manager at her practice and he helped raise the kids. They had a trip planned to New York and Teresa
would fly home that Sunday night to be at work Monday morning. So on Sunday night, she comes back here
to the Southwest Florida International Airport. She calls Mark, tells him she's safe, and then gets in her car and heads
back to their house. >> 911. What is your emergency? >> Uh I'm at a friend's house.
>> Mark had a friend come and check up on her. >> Uh he's out of town and she's dead on
the floor and there's hammer at the side and she's bashed in the back of the head. It will later be determined that
there are 17 impact wounds to her skull. >> Who would possibly want this feisty Florida doctor dead? That question led
investigators on a wild chase that ended more than a thousand miles away with a shocking arrest of three people.
A break in the case came from all places from the state of Missouri. There were electronic footprints. When you step
outside your home, folks, you're always being observed. >> Once you started to unwrap it a little
bit, it was nutty. It was weird, and it was hard to keep track of it all. >> This is a case in which 21st century
technology became vital. >> I've been told we have a verdict. [Music] [Music] I think anytime there is a beautiful,
successful woman who is murdered, that's sort of what society pays attention to.
For better or for worse. The shocking murder of Dr. Teresa Severs in Bonita Springs, Florida, was a huge
story, especially for Jessica Lipkcom, who covered crime for the Naples Daily News. To think of this mother of two who
was killed brutally inside her home was horrifying to people. >> The doctor had cut short a family
vacation in upstate New York and had flown home alone on Sunday night, June 28th, 2015 so she could see patients the
next morning. >> You kind of put yourself in her shoes rolling your suitcase through the door
and then to be attacked by someone from behind is It's hard to imagine. >> Investigators believe that as soon as
Dr. Severs walked into her kitchen, she was killed, struck repeatedly with a hammer.
>> The next morning, uh, her office staff got in. >> It's now 9:00. Now it's 9:05.
Now it's 9:15. I said, "Where's doctor?" >> Sandra Hoskins was Theresa Sver's longtime medical assistant.
I was texting back and forth trying to see if you know where you at and no response called. No answer. Mark's out
of town. He says, "I can't get a hold of her either." >> How unusual was it for Dr. Severs not to
show up. >> Even if it was 9:00 and 3 seconds after, you would hear her heels coming in.
was just so unbelievable. >> When Connie Reese heard the tragic news, she contacted her stepbrother, Mark
Severs, the doctor's husband. >> How did he react to the death of his wife? >> He couldn't speak.
He's not the kind of guy that has been overly emotional on the outside, but he couldn't speak.
>> Connie and Mark became family when her mother married his father. I asked him what happened to Teresa.
>> And what did he say? >> No idea. >> Mark met his future wife in 2003 when he was visiting St. Petersburg, Florida.
>> Pretty much love at first sight. >> Well, I think by the time that he introduced her to mom, uh, I think he
was pretty much done. He was off the market officially. >> Yeah. Really? He was working as a nurse
while she was a recently divorced physician. >> Teresa hung the moon. She was a remarkable human being and very special.
And that's the way Mark treated it from the beginning. You could just you could hear it in his voice.
>> They were married on the beach surrounded by friends and family including stepmother Jenny Wacklman.
>> Was a sunset wedding and she had a beautiful gown and it was very nice. Was he happy on that day?
>> Oh my gosh, he was very happy. >> 6 months later, their first daughter was born. The Severs built a large house in
Bonita Springs and in 2007 welcomed another daughter. >> How did Mark feel about being a dad?
>> It was everything to him. They were his reason for being, but he was also all
about Teresa and her mission. We talk about our physical health, mental health. That mission was to open a
holistic practice where she could heal patients by blending traditional and alternative medicine. She also spread
her message in speeches and videos. >> There's our spiritual and energetic health.
>> We would have patients from all over the world. They would come to us after they
failed everything else. She wouldn't take no for an answer. Talking about the doctor still makes
Sandra emotional. >> And as a patient, she wouldn't allow you to say, "I'm never going to
get better." >> While patients love the doctor, Sandra and her husband, Frank Pays, who also
worked at the practice, admit it wasn't always easy working for Severs. She had a short fuse.
>> I would hear doctors screaming and yelling in the in back office. >> Dr. receivers would yell at the
patients. >> She was there to help you get better. Didn't have what they call the bedside
manner. >> Would she yell at you? >> Yes. Yeah. A wrist is a problem. The biggest problem.
>> She expected perfection and if it wasn't perfect, she would get upset >> because I need to maintain my mental
sharpness. She was a big presence and sometimes that meant that she got really feisty with people.
She was the the biggest figure in the room. >> While Teresa took care of her patients,
Mark managed her office and took care of their daughters. >> The girls were his pride and joy.
>> And according to her sister, Annie Lisa, Teresa was equally devoted to Mark. >> Teresa always said, "I'll never leave
Mark. I won't ever do that to my girls." >> Nevertheless, within weeks, Mark Severs
became a person of interest. Did he cooperate initially? >> Oh, yes. I think he thought he was doing
the right thing. >> Mark spoke to investigators without a lawyer present and even handed over his
cell phone and allowed them to download the contents. >> Was he worried he might be arrested?
>> He thought, "Why would they? What kind of evidence could they possibly have? Cuz I didn't do anything."
In fact, Mark Severs had an airtight alibi. At the time of Teresa's murder, he and their two girls were with
Teresa's family hundreds of miles away in New York. [Music] Eight days after Dr. Teresa Severs was
murdered, friends and family came together for her funeral, including Mark's stepmother, Jenny Wacklman.
>> There were a lot of people. Yes. Yeah. And it was sad, of course. >> Almost all her patients were there. I
was numb. Mark Severs reportedly had a gun strapped to his waist at his wife's funeral. Strange? Well, perhaps, but her
killer hadn't yet been arrested. And according to stepsister Connie Ree, Mark was on edge.
>> He's very much in protective mode. >> When you say protective mode, what do you mean? Well, I think, you know, he
always keeps an eye and an ear to the ground, so to speak, and is aware of his surroundings and, you know, he he was
concerned for their their safety. >> I think it was in the back of his mind that that there might be some danger to
his daughters because of what happened to their mother. >> It just didn't make any sense. Who would
want the vibrant and dedicated Dr. Teresa Severs dead? and why killer was such anger and force.
>> Could have been anybody. I really thought maybe it was just somebody that was in the area and broke in or
something. >> There were signs of a forced entry, primarks on a side door, but Mark's
extensive gun collection and $40,000 in cash discovered inside the Sever's home hadn't been touched.
So when this happened, everyone wanted to know what happened with the alarm. And as it turns out, it it hadn't been
activated. >> While the family was on vacation, Mark had asked his mother, Bonnie Severs, to
feed the family pets. She had trouble setting the alarm that Sunday and told detectives her son Mark said not to
worry about it. Monday morning, Dr. Severs was discovered dead on her kitchen floor.
This is Mark's mother speaking to investigators. >> So, I really feel that it's my fault.
>> You can't you cannot blame yourself. >> Around the time of Dr. Sver's murder,
the internet was buzzing with reports about the suspicious deaths of other alternative doctors in the US.
Did Mark think that her death might be connected with that? >> Yes. Yes, he did.
>> But with no real evidence to make that connection, investigators turned their
attention to the people who might have had an axe to grime with the energetic, often abrasive Dr. Severs.
>> I think the theory that I heard was that maybe it was a patient. Um, obviously
they were interviewing all of her friends and family members, so it was pretty much like a wide open field of
suspects at that point. >> Then a surprising name emerged. In her police interview, Dr. Sver's sister,
Annie Lisa, said she heard Sandra Hoskins was a disgruntled employee. That's the same Sandra who seemed so
upset by Dr. Sver's death. You may not like your boss, but you don't badmouth them to patients that are
coming in the doors like Dr. Severs. You know, she's she's a [ __ ] >> I'm like, "Oh my god, they think I did
it." >> Sandra, who claimed she had been treated harshly by Dr. Severs in the past, had
planned to hand in a resignation that very Monday, the doctor was found dead. According to Sandra, the doctor told her
she was bringing bad energy to the office. Now I know why I was not received very well at her memorial.
>> Why would anyone think that you did this? >> That is shocking to me. A lot of the
patients did know the way she treated me. >> And so people thought maybe you just had
enough. >> Yeah. Sandra Hoskins was cleared when nearly 2 months after Dr. receivers was murdered.
There was a stunning break in the case. Police made arrests and the suspects were not from Florida.
So, we showed up to a press conference, I believe that August, and the sheriff gets up there and tells us uh simply the
name of uh the first suspect, Jimmy Rogers. And he says he's from Missouri and he's been booked for the murder of
Theresa Severs. >> Never heard of him. So, I thought, "Oh, well, who is he and what's he got to do
with this?" And then about an hour later, he calls us in again and says, "We've now picked up a second suspect,
Curtis Wayne Wright, also from Missouri." It was so shocking. To solve this murder, investigators
would travel more than a thousand miles and they were in for a wild ride. They would soon discover this case had as
many twists and turns as the Missouri River. [Music] Terresa Severs was bludgeoned to death
with a hammer. >> Neighbors are still waiting for answers. I said to my husband,
>> the two arrests for Teresa Sver's murder made,00 miles away in Missouri seemed to
come out of the blue. Mark's stepmother, Jenny Wkelman. >> Why? You know, what's going on? Just
seemed like such a disconnect. >> No one had ever heard of the suspect, Jimmy Ray Rogers, but it was the mug
shot of the other suspect, Wayne Wright, that struck everyone. He had an uncanny
resemblance to the victim's husband, Mark Severs. >> They look alike. Yeah. >> At least in pictures, they look like
twins. >> And that's in that's that's when I be started to believe, you know, that
definitely there is not something right with with Curtis Wayight. >> As it turns out, Curtis Wayne Wright, he
goes by Wayne, was no stranger to Mark's family. He was Mark's very good friends
and ages and ages. So, I didn't believe it. I didn't. >> It just didn't make sense. Wayne and
Mark had grown up together in Missouri. Wayne was at Teresa's funeral. He had celebrated Mark and Teresa's wedding
with them. And just two months before the murder, Mark had been Wayne's best man at his wedding. Wayne was also a
familiar face around the office. Did you two know Wayne right? How did you know him? He
>> was the computer guy that looked just like Mark. >> Wayne would travel from Missouri to
Florida to work on the computers in Dr. Sever's office. How would you describe Wayne?
>> He was geeky. All he wanted to do was get the computers up and running, focused.
>> But to me, he just seemed like a very geeky creepster. >> Did he make you nervous?
>> A little bit. I can't explain it. It's just a woman's intuition. >> How would you describe Mark and Wayne's
relationship? They appear to be close friends. >> Yeah. >> He always said he's my brother from
another mother. >> Yeah, that was his lingo. >> Back in Hillsboro, Missouri, Greg Bolan
knew both Mark and Wayne when they both had hair. >> This here is Hillsboro Elementary
School. This is where me and Wayne met for the very first time in third grade. Greg Bolan remembers his high school
classmate Wayne as a tech wiz. The kid voted most dependable and as a fun guy to hang around with.
>> He actually ran for and became our class president. >> Smart. >> Very smart. Quite honestly, he was one
of the smartest people with computers that I ever met. >> But it wasn't long before Greg suspected
Wayne Wright had a dark side. In 1996, Greg's brother, Ronnie Bolan, a preacher, mysteriously disappeared. His
body has never been found. And according to police, Ronnie was last seen with Wayne.
>> Do you believe Wayne Wright killed your brother? >> Yes, I do. >> You have no question about that?
>> I have no doubt in my mind. >> Greg believes the motive was money that Wayne owed Ronnie. Reporter Jessica
Lipkcom. They found his car with the car keys still in the ignition in a car wash
in St. Louis. >> Wayne has never been charged in Ronnie's disappearance, but he is listed in a
police report as a person of interest. And Wayne's no stranger to the criminal justice system. In 2011, he was serving
time for drug possession when he befriended the other suspect in Dr. receivers's murder. A young inmate named
Jimmy Ray Rogers who was doing time on a weapons charge. >> You could just tell he needed a job. He
wanted a job. You know, >> Jimmy was released from jail. >> I'll show you. >> Tyler Juliet and Jeff Conway hired him
to work at a contracting company. >> He liked to tell a lot of stories. A lot of things he told at the time, nobody
really believed him. He liked to brag a little bit about the things he had done in the past. a colorful criminal past.
He says Jimmy would brag about con jobs ranging from stolen merchandise to counterfeit money.
>> I never felt Jimmy was a dangerous guy. I just felt like he was a blowhard, honestly. You know, I really felt like
he was just a talker. >> Conway recalls that he had asked Jimmy to work on Monday, June 29th.
>> But Jimmy texted him back and said he wasn't available. >> All it said was, "I can't do that. I'm
still in Florida. It was on June 29th that Dr. Terresa Severs was discovered bludgeoning to
death with a hammer inside her Florida home. And it didn't go unnoticed to investigators that Jimmy Ray Rogers had
a unique nickname. >> Supposedly Jimmy Rogers nickname was the hammer, but I think that was more of
like a self-given nickname. If you talk to some of his friends from high school,
they say nobody really called him that. But I think maybe going to jail for the first time, you know, trying to make a
name for himself, maybe that's something he sort of assigned himself to fit in. >> Why was Jimmy the Hammer Rogers in
Florida that fateful weekend? Was Wayne Wright with him? And what led authorities to believe they were
involved in a doctor's murder? Why would Wayne try to look like Mark? See more evidence from the case on
Facebook at 48 hours. [Music] Back in June 2015, practically everyone in Hillsboro, Missouri knew that Wayne
Wright was planning a weekend trip out of town. >> He let it slip to lots of people that he
was going down to Florida. told some people he was even going to visit the Severs.
>> And it wasn't long before police got a tip that Wayne had been in Florida at the time of Dr. Sever's murder. And he
hadn't gone there alone. He went with his jail house pal, Jimmy the Hammer Rogers.
>> Jimmy's boss, Jeff Conway. >> He told me a story that his brother had graduated from law school and that he
had invited Jimmy down to Florida for the weekend. Uh, all expenses paid. >> But he told his pregnant girlfriend,
Taylor Showmaker, another story. He was going out of town for a few days to work
with Wayne. >> He had told her that he was going down to Florida to make some money.
>> Weeks after Jimmy and Wayne returned, detectives from Florida showed up in Hillsboro, Missouri. They confronted
Wayne about that tip placing him in Florida, but he refused to talk. He didn't need to. A rental car GPS gave
the cops what they needed to know. On the morning of June 27th, 2015, Wayne Ray got into a rental car here in
Hillsboro, Missouri, and then went to pick up Jimmy Ray Rogers. At some point, this address was put into the GPS and
then the two men took off for the 1100 mile ride to Bonita Springs, Florida. After driving all day and all night on
Sunday, June 28th, Wayne and Jimmy arrived at the Sever's home, the Bonita Springs address. It's all right there in
the GPS, a digital footprint for investigators. When Jimmy and Wayne arrived around 6
a.m., authorities believe they turned off the house alarm. That may explain why Mark's mother, Bonnie, was so
confused about the alarm system. >> I wasn't there at 6:09 in the morning. >> He was turned off at 609
in there. >> That's what I'm trying to work out. >> Oh my god. >> Then, according to the GPS, Jimmy and
Wayne left the Sever's home and typed in another address for a Walmart to do some
shopping. Obviously looking at that security footage from the Walmart, they're able to pretty quickly determine
that that's who who was with Wayne. >> They made no effort to cover their faces, disguise themselves.
>> They just waltz through like they were anyone else. They bought, among other things, trash bags, flushable wet wipes,
black towels, black shoes, and a lockpicking kit. They paid cash for their purchase with a $100 bill. After
shopping at Walmart, Jimmy and Wayne continued using the navigation system, even to find the beach and soak up some
sun. Does it make any sense that this guy who was so good with computers would have
left such a trail? >> It does, but it doesn't. Uh to a lot of people looking at it, it it kind of
makes it look like, you know, these guys were just dumb and dumber, but that's a
lot of how he operated. >> After their beach trip, according to police affidavit, Wayne and Jimmy
returned to the Sever's home where they hung out for hours in the garage waiting
for an unsuspecting Dr. Severs to arrive. In the early morning hours of Monday, June 29th, the GPS again shows Jimmy and
Wayne on the highway headed northbound for the 17-hour drive back to Missouri. The electronic trail would eventually
lead detectives to Jimmy Ray Rogers door. But like Wayne, he denied he had anything to do with the murder. But when
police brought in Jimmy's girlfriend, Taylor Shellmaker, which >> means you're going to swear to tell the
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Correct. >> Yes. >> What a story she had to tell.
Jimmy Ray Rogers took his girlfriend Taylor for a ride right along here, Route 47 in rural Missouri.
And along this road, he asked her to throw out parts of his cell phone, which he had smashed earlier, some gloves, and
a jumpsuit. [Applause] >> He said, "Throw this in the river." And it took me a minute to click in. And
then I threw uh the gloves out and waited a minute and then I threw out the jumpsuit.
>> Did you ask why or you just did it? >> No, I just did it. I was scared. >> Okay, it's understand.
>> Taylor told police that's when she pushed Jimmy to tell her exactly what happened in Florida.
>> And he told me about using a hammer on her. >> Okay. And he said that he killed Teresa
Siver, Mark's wife. Yes. >> With a hammer. >> Yes. Okay. >> Florida detectives now thought they knew
who killed Teresa Severs, but they still didn't know the why. Why would Wayne Wright want to kill his best friend's
wife? >> Did everyone then say, "Oh my gosh, Mark had to be involved." >> Definitely. I mean, there was really no
putting Wayne in Florida in Bonita Springs inside their house without Mark knowing about it.
Did it occur to either one of you that Mark might be involved? No. >> No. >> Not even a thought in the back of your
mind? >> No. No. Absolutely not. >> But when investigators downloaded Mark's cell phone, they discovered the Sver's
marriage was more troubled than anyone guessed. Despite having $40,000 in cash around the house, they had serious
financial problems. And when investigators discovered five insurance policies on Teresa totaling more than $4
million, it was a big red flag. Jimmy's girlfriend had told police that Teresa's death was a murder for hire and
that Jimmy was supposed to be paid $10,000. and then asked him how he was going to
make money and it was murdering Mark's wife. >> He said that Mark hired Wayne. >> Yes. And Wayne hired him. Mark didn't
know anything about Jimmy being hired. >> Where's the money supposed to come from?
>> Insurance from her death. >> Okay. And did he ever get paid? >> No. Then almost eight months after Teresa
Sver's murder, Wayne Wright, Mark's lookalike best friend, suddenly turned on him
and took a deal. >> Mr. Wright, why are you pleading guilty today to seconddegree murder?
>> Wayne Wright admitted killing Teresa. I'm I'm pleading guilty uh because of my
role in the planning and participating of the murder of Teresa Severs. >> He said the murder was all Mark's idea
and that's what police needed. >> Mark, did you hire Wayne Wright to kill your wife?
>> Did you? >> Mark Severs was charged with the murder of his wife. >> Did you hire anyone to kill your wife?
>> But Sever's stepsister says he would never risk losing his children. She believes Wayne Wright had long envied
his best friend's life and he's the one who killed Teresa on his own. >> Why would Wayne kill Theresa?
>> Because he's a sick man. >> Do you think Wayne was jealous of Mark? >> I think it's possible. Whether he's
jealous of Mark or wanted to be Mark, I don't I don't have any clue. Family and friends point to how Wayne
Wright began to model himself after Severs, even shaving his own head when Sver started to go bald. I can't
>> They didn't look alike when we were younger. How much they they morphed into each other over the years.
If it was by chance or by their plan, I don't know. More than four years after Curtis Wayne
Wright cut that deal to testify against Mark Severs and ex-con Jimmy Rogers, the
two men go on trial, but separately. Rogers case went first October 2019. Terresa Sver's mother and siblings were
in the courtroom. This case was about the the perfect marriage, the perfect friendship,
the perfect alibi, the perfect murder. >> Assistant state attorney Hamid Hunter told the jury that Terresa Sver's death
was a classic case of murder for hire. Mark Severs was miles away while Curtis Wayne Wright and Jimmy Ray Rogers killed
his wife. >> Mr. Right. Hit her with the hammer. Hit her again. [Music] >> Mr. Rogers came out of nowhere. Mr.
Rogers engages with his hammer and he starts hitting her, hitting her, hitting her.
>> Rogers defense attorney, Kathleen Fitz George. >> What you heard from the state attorney
is what they believe or expect or hope the evidence will show. But it's a bumpy road because they haven't told you
everything. [Music] [Music] The state actually believes Teresa Severs was killed with two hammers, but
only one was discovered on the Sever's kitchen floor. They showed the jury that weapon and the damaging video evidence
of the two men near the crime scene. [Music] >> Is this how you found this jumpsuit when
you took it into your custody on the side of the road in Cadet, Missouri? >> Yes.
>> A fiber from the jumpsuit worn by Rogers was found on Teresa's body. [Music] This time the state calls Taylor
Showmaker. [Music] >> Roger's former girlfriend, Taylor Showmaker, appeared shaken when she
entered the courtroom. She identified that blue jumpsuit. It's >> his jumpsuit >> and told the jury Rogers confessed to
her >> and then asked him how well how. And he said with a hammer. Then the state called their star
witness. >> Next witness. >> State calls Curtis Wright. >> In exchange for his testimony at both
trials, Wright was allowed to plead guilty to secondderee murder and will spend 25 years in prison.
>> Mr. Wright, who killed Dr. Terresa Severs? >> Uh, I did. And Jimmy Rogers. >> How many times did you hit Dr. Severs
with that hammer? At three, >> Mr. Rogers came from somewhere and he started hitting her. What did he do?
>> Just just started hitting her over and over. >> How would you describe how I was hitting
her? >> In a frenzy. >> Rogers did not testify, and his attorney, Donald McFarland, called no
witnesses, but told jurors they should not believe Curtis Wayne Wright. Curtis Wright's the only one who ever hit that
woman and he's lying to you to save his own worthless skin. Jimmy didn't have a hammer.
>> The jury was out nearly 2 days and then >> I've been told we have a verdict. Is the
state ready? >> Yes, sure. >> The defendant is guilty of secondderee murder. >> Rogers showed no emotion. He was
sentenced to life in prison. And then in November 2019, Mark Severs went on trial for the murder of his
wife. He spent much of the prior 3 years in jail, still denying he had any involvement, and his family was still
behind him. >> Just haven't seen any evidence that makes any sense as far as Mark
being involved. Both his stepmother Jenny and stepsister Connie vowed to support him through the
trial. >> I will do everything that I can to be there. >> Are you nervous about it?
>> Yeah. Yeah. >> Please be seated. >> Mark Severs, charged with firstdegree murder of his wife, appeared unfased
even though he faced the death penalty. The same prosecutors who tried Jimmy Rogers will use much of the same
evidence in front of a different jury. >> This is a case in which 21st century technology became vital. Cell towers,
cell tower dumps, called detail records that allowed massive amounts of data to be sorted,
organized, and searched. But Sver's defense attorney, Michael Mummer, says all that evidence only points to Curtis
Wright and Jimmy Rogers as the killers. >> Curtis swings that hammer bam right in the side of the head,
followed by another one across the bridge of the nose. Curtis says, "I struck Teresa three times in the head
with a hammer, but Jimmy did the rest." >> Testifying again is Jimmy Rogers former
girlfriend, Taylor Shellmaker, now with a new look. She says her ex was promised
a payday, but she can't connect Severs to it. >> And did he tell you how much money he
expected to be making from this? Yes. >> And what did he tell you? >> I think it was 10,000.
>> The case again comes down to that star witness, Curtis Wayne Wright, who will
now come face to face with his mirror image and once closest friend, >> Mr. Wright, who killed Dr. Terresa
Severs? Uh Jimmy Rogers and I physically did it, but uh Mark Severs was also involved in
the planning. >> For several hours, Wright testified against Severs, the man he affectionately called his brother from
another mother. >> Why did you do it? >> Um I was asked to do it >> by whom? >> Mr. Severs.
Wright told the jury that Severs and his wife were having marital and money problems and that Severs believed Teresa
was planning to leave him and take the kids. >> The only option that he had was for her
to die. Um, and he said that he needed to have her killed. >> When the judge asked Mark Severs if he
wanted to testify, >> I'm not going to testify. >> Okay. >> But I like to go home.
This time the jury was out just four hours. The families gathered in the court for the verdict.
>> The jury find as follows as to the defendant in this case. Count one first-degree murder. The defendant is
guilty of first-degree murder. >> Svers, stoic at first, began to cry. In addition to the guilty verdict, the jury
asked the judge to sentence Severs to death. This is how former employee Frank Pays
felt before the trial. What should happen to Mark Severs? He's facing the death penalty.
>> I I I think the death penalty is the easy way out. I think the the pain and torture that he
deserves is to sit in jail to the rest of his life thinking about his two pride and joy
daughters. That should be his punishment. [Music] On January 3rd, 2020, Mark Sever, now a
convicted killer, returned to court to find out if he will get life in prison or be sentenced to death.
>> Is it okay if I refer to my notes? >> Yes, sir. Absolutely. >> This time, he agreed to speak to plead
for his life. >> Although a jury found me guilty, I am innocent of all charges, as I've
maintained since this heinous crime took place. Our girls have tragically lost their mommy
and now they're about to lose their daddy as well. >> It didn't take long for the judge to
rule. >> I judge uh people's actions. I don't judge people's souls. That's for somebody else to do. Sir, I'm going to
go ahead and adjudicate you guilty on each count on the first countderee murder. And it's the order of the court
that you be sentenced to death, sir. >> For Teresa's family, it's the end of an agonizing nearly 5-year wait for
justice. >> This has been an incredible nightmare from the beginning. Teresa took down three guys
that took her from us. She was my modern bday mother Theresa. I always called her that
because she always was trying to help people. >> Our focus now is to go on to take care
>> take care of the girls and uh give them the love and support that they need. And we're glad that it's
over. Justice has been served. [Music] [Music] CBS next Saturday. 48 hours brings you
backtoback episodes all summer long. Next week, unsolved. >> I want to find out who murdered my
sister. This is a woman that has fought this battle alone since 2015. >> 48 hours prime time double feature next
Saturday 98 central on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus. [Music] My name is Adam Dexter. I am a local
news reporter. And in the summer of 2021, I was working as a multimedia journalist for WISC News3.
News3 now in Madison, Wisconsin. Madison is not New York City. It's not LA where
there's news happening all the time. A missing person, especially a husband and wife. That would be news.
>> The Dean County Sheriff's Office shared this photo of Bart and Christa Herson.
Instead, spending today interviewing neighbors. >> There are too many unanswered questions.
you know, cars go off the road. Um, things happen. You know, there's a storm or there's a crash or XYZ. You just
don't know. >> My boss was calling her or emailing her or texting her. I was doing the same. I
was texting Bart and there was just never any response. I met Christa through work at Zimre Body Shop and then
I met her husband through her obviously and then um, you know, they just did anything for anybody like even people
they didn't know. So, I'm on the Christa side. We related through my dad's side of the family, and
we mostly saw each other in Wisconsin at our family cottage cabin during summers
and family reunions. They both gave 100% to raising their boys. Mitchell was a little more outgoing, very easygoing. Uh
Chandler was a little more sensitive, a little quieter. Her whole goal for her being a mom was, and I'm quoting her,
she said, "I want my children to be the best men they can be. >> The biggest concern for me is just
figuring out where they are." >> Police say the couple had planned to go to their cabin in Langlaid County.
>> Our investigation began on July 7th when Chandler reported his parents missing.
>> We knew exactly what Chandler had told us. We knew that his two parents were gone.
Uh they had left for the Fourth of July weekend supposedly to go to their cabin in northern Wisconsin.
I've never been assigned to a case where a couple is gone. >> We ask even more questions to try to get
a story and get a timeline of when did the Haldersons go missing and everything was just happening so fast in those
first couple of days. When we first got the email saying that Bart and Christa were missing, it didn't compute. Like,
what do you mean they're missing? Like they went up to the cabin and then it didn't come back. Huh?
>> Did you think possibly they had been in a car accident and just hadn't been found?
>> I thought about that or I did think about the boat. >> Did something happen out on the lake?
>> All these stories are swirling around and not making any sense and it's, you know, taking weirder and weirder turns.
and we needed to search this area um because of how remote it is and wooded it is and the access to water to see if
we could find any evidence. >> No way I would have ever ever guessed what was about to be revealed. Never.
Nobody saw this coming. [Music] [Music] Bart and Christa Halderson had everything a couple could want. A
beautiful home in Windsor, Wisconsin, and two sons they adored. 24year-old Mitchell, who worked in tech, and
23-year-old Chandler, a college student living at home. Chandler had big ambitions. He talked of getting his IT
degree of his promising internship at an insurance company and was especially excited about a new job he landed at
SpaceX founded by one of the richest people in the world, Elon Musk. Everything seemed to be going well for
the Haldersons. So on Friday morning, July 2nd, when Christa just didn't show up at the office, Dan Croninger
remembers becoming concerned. How unusual was it for number one, for Kristen not to show up for work, not to
call. Yeah. >> And just not show up. How unusual? >> Extremely unusual. >> Dan and Kristen not only worked
together, they were close friends. >> So when she hadn't said anything to me, I was like, "Well, that's kind of
weird." It wasn't something that she would ever do. Dan says he texted and called her several times, but got no
response. Later that afternoon, he and his girlfriend drove over to the Halderson
home. A neighbor's security camera shows them arriving. >> You know, knocked on the door, didn't
hear anything. Peered through the window. The only thing that seemed weird was there was a coffee table on its
side. You looked through the door. It was kind of off to the right over by they had a fireplace over there.
>> Then Dan says he walked over to the garage window. >> I looked in. Both cars were there. I was
like, "Why are both cars here?" And I was starting to go around the back of the house and then Chandler came out the
side door and he came out in a towel saying, "Oh, I just got out of the shower, you know, hey, what's going on?"
I was like, "Oh, we're just looking for Bart and Christa." And he said, "Oh, yeah. They went had to go up north this
morning for an emergency up at the cabin." Dan says he was relieved to know that Bart and Crystal were at the family
cabin over the holiday weekend. He kept in touch with Chandler to see if he had heard from his mom and dad. But he said,
"Yeah, they don't have very good service up there, so you kind of have to wait till the clouds clear before they get a
message." >> On Sunday, July 4th, Dan says Chandler called him and said he was bored and
needed something to do. So Dan invited him over to watch the fireworks and asked Chandler about his parents.
>> He mentioned that he talked to them and they're going to be back Monday. >> All right. When he said that he had
talked to them, did he say he talked to both his parents or just his mom? What did he say? Do you remember?
>> I don't think he was specific. I mean, I was asking about his mom because I knew
she had a doctor's appointment coming up that she was really wanted to be at. I think it had been rescheduled before.
But Christa didn't show up for work on Monday and again on Tuesday. By Wednesday, July 7th, when there was
still no word, Dan knew something was wrong. >> And now she's missed her appointment.
>> So now it's all out concern. Right. >> You know something's happened to her now.
>> Right. Right. >> Dan pushed Chandler to file a missing person's report that morning.
Chandler Halderson walked into one of our precincts to report his parents missing.
>> Detectives Sabrina Sims and Brian Shunk with the Dayne County Sheriff's Office
would lead the team to track down the missing couple. >> We had a lot of detectives assisting us
with the with the case load. [Music] Their first stop, the Halderson home on Oak
Springs Circle Drive. So, when you first got there, who was home? >> It was just Chandler.
>> We're inside the house with him and detectives are getting information outside. And so, we're either getting,
you know, phone calls or text messages of, you know, hey, maybe ask about this. We're walking around the house with him.
He's pointing out things at the house, things that were missing that his parents took when they traveled to the
cabin. >> While deputies began interviewing neighbors and friends, Barbie Townsen,
Chris's first cousin, who lives in Southern California, knew only what she had seen on the news, that the
Halderson's 23-year-old son, Chandler, had gone to the police telling them his parents were missing.
>> What does that mean? What does missing mean? and that they had gone up to our
cabin, family cottage, and didn't return. >> Bart and Chrissa had not mentioned to
co-workers or their older son Mitchell that they had been planning to go to the cabin that weekend. But according to
Chandler, another couple who he didn't know, picked up his parents and drove them there.
The cabin was a remote rustic lakeside retreat and a treasured family heirloom. Barbie and Chris's grandparents built it
in the 1940s. >> You know, you start to think of crazy things because our cabin's up in the
woods. And so that's we were worried that are they being held hostage somewhere? Are they tied up somewhere?
>> The day after Chandler reported them missing, his brother Mitchell and his fiance drove three hours up north to see
if he could find any sign of his parents. >> Why would they not call? Why wouldn't
there be a text or something? You know, your mind just starts to go down really murky trails because you're trying to
figure out what's going on. >> Hi there. >> Hi there. >> Are you guys um >> the Halderson?
>> You okay? You are affiliated with them? >> Yes. >> The police met Mitchell and his fiance
at the cabin. >> Maybe we could just take a walk around and see. You would know the property
probably better than we would. >> Prepared for the worst. >> Sheriff's office. Anybody inside?
announce your presents. Make yourselves known. [Music] [Music] When the Haldersons disappeared, it
stunned everyone who knew them. Barbie Townsen said neither her cousin Christa nor her husband Bart would just leave on
a whim. He was more structured. She was the more nurturing, you know, indulging mom. It was a wonderful combination.
>> She worked as a customer service representative for an auto body shop and loved art projects. He was a managing
director for an international accounting firm and enjoyed woodworking. >> They were 100% about the family. He was
very involved in the scouting and all the things they did. The Haldersons worked together on Father's Day in June
2021, less than a month before Bart disappeared. Mitchell is smiling, and Chandler, who had a mild concussion from
a fall, is wearing a neck brace. Investigators anxious to find out what had happened to Bart and Christa
Halderson asked deputies from the Langlay County Sheriff's Office to help Mitchell, who brought along his fiance,
searched the family's cabin, a three-hour drive north of the family home. When they got inside, it was dark. There
were no signs of Christa and Bart. They also checked a shed. The canoe was there. It was obvious no one had been to
the cabin in a very long time. >> They're believed to be with another couple. >> Someone else at least.
>> Okay. >> When Mitchell was with the police searching the family's cabin, Chandler
was on his own hunt throughout the neighborhood. Here he is seen on video doorbell
cameras going door todo asking homeowners if they had seen or heard from his parents.
>> It's kind of difficult to track him down. >> Adam Duer, now with the CBS station
WCCCO in Minneapolis, worked in Madison, Wisconsin at the time. He immediately started calling his sources. So, waiting
to hear back from the sheriff's office and um my boss at the time, he um was like, "Well, you can't just sit around,
you know, you got to got to go start shooting something." And so, packed my gear in my car and drove out there to
their street in Windsor. >> He knocked on the Halderson's front door. The missing couple's son,
Chandler, answered. >> And so, I'm like, "If you'd be willing, I'd love to do a quick interview." and he was like,
"Yeah, I'll do that, but I don't want you to film me. I don't want to be shown, but you can record my voice."
>> So, my last uh message I got from them, they were going to White Lake for the
4th of July. And then that their plan or from to my knowledge, they were going to
Langlaid County to a cabin, their cabin. >> At the time, I got this sense like he
was in shock. This is someone who's roughly my age. And so I'm thinking like, yeah, if my parents just went
missing, he probably hasn't slept. He's probably really nervous. >> Alex Gvat knew Chandler well.
>> I was roommates with Chandler for a little while. I called him Chaz. >> The two friends shared an apartment from
2019 to 2020. >> We grew up together and we played soccer together, did Cub Scouts together, um,
and just hung out together. He was a great swimmer, so I know that the swim team really got along with him.
>> Alex says his friend Chandler, who went by the name Chaz, could be a playful guy.
>> He was a a goon, a hooligan in a lot of senses. >> What do you mean by that? >> Yeah, I mean, he would so he would play
pranks and he would make lots of jokes or poke fun at people. >> Alex described Chaz as popular with
women. College student Katherine Mander, known as Cat, was his longtime girlfriend. He was a relatively
attractive guy. I mean, he he looked good. He had great hair. He kept up on appearances.
>> According to Alex, when they were roommates, Chaz often bragged to friends about hooking up with different women
behind Cat's back when she found out about it. >> She grilled him. She was like, "Are you
seeing other people?" And he just kept denying it. >> But Cat remained suspicious and began
tracking her boyfriend on social media. Alex says Chaz became more secretive and
moved back home with his parents and now those parents were missing. Detective Shunk and Sims began follow-up
interviews. >> At that point, you know, what do we really have? We don't know what we have.
>> Then they got a tip they desperately needed from the owner of a farm outside town.
We received information from someone that yes, Chandler had been out to my property over Fourth of July weekend.
>> The owner was a friend of Chandler's girlfriend, Cat. The owner said she was with the couple at her farm on July 4th.
She told deputies she was surprised to see Chandler again the very next day, and this time she was alone.
>> And I saw him coming from the wood line. His car was parked backed up to the field. So, of course, right from that
interview, um, well, we want to go search that property. >> As deputies began searching, detectives
wanted to know why Chandler had never mentioned he had gone back to the farm by himself.
Police picked up Chandler and took him to the station. >> What's going on? >> Detective Brian Shunk asked him to once
again describe the last time he had seen his parents. >> It's Thursday morning. I wake up. What time is it? 6.
>> Chandler said his dad, Bart, was at home working and that later he had dinner
with both parents. >> That's where they told me while we were eating at they they were going to go
with their friends and I was like, "Oh, cool." Um, >> and they said they were going to cabin.
>> Yeah. >> We're going up north. While detectives questioned Chandler, deputies were out
searching the farm and made a discovery that quickly changed the tone of the interview.
>> Listen to me. This is the only chance you're going to have to tell us the truth. Okay? Okay. What we Listen,
listen. I'm I can't tell you what we know, but we know you're not telling us the truth. You need to tell the truth.
>> There's Listen, listen. You need to tell the truth about what happened and just
tell us why it happened. I'm not BSing you. Okay. >> So, can we do that? >> Okay. Sure. Okay. Um I'm here.
>> Chandler's request for a lawyer ended that interview. Detective Sims remembers
the moment she learned what deputies told her they had found near that field. >> You know, Brian and I were in the
command post together and I said, "Um, what did you say?" You know, I just couldn't believe what I was hearing.
>> They had discovered human remains. On Thursday, July 8th, 2021 in the village of Windsor, Wisconsin,
the community struggled to make sense of the disturbing news. The remains of an adult male have been
found on a farm 20 miles from Bard and Christa Halderson's home. >> At this point, it's very early in our
investigation. >> Dne County Sheriff Calvin Barrett warned residents not to jump to conclusions.
>> I don't want to make any uh un corroborated speculations at this time. The gruesome discovery was made the day
after Bart and Christa had been reported missing by their son, and it was something detectives Brian Chunk and
Sabrina Sims had never encountered. The grass had been matted down, and they followed it to a trail which
led to um the discovery of a male torso that was um concealed with sticks and twigs. That was really the moment,
right? >> It was huge. >> I think of other death investigations or homicide cases we've worked and I don't
remember a time that I've worked a dismemberment case. >> And what other evidence was found out
there? We found um some cutting instruments, some um that were hidden in a an old oil
drum, um some scissors, um pruning shears, uh a broken bow saw, and it was all in the same wooded area where the
Halderson's son, Chandler, had been seen earlier in the week. Detective Sims had
a pretty good idea who the victim was. knowing in my gut that that um was most likely Bart Halderson and his son was
seen in that area. >> Police turned their full attention to Chandler Halderson. He was now a person of interest and the
prime suspect. While tests were being done to confirm the victim's identity, detectives arrested Chandler and charged
him with lying to them. The arrest was based on him providing false information in regards to a missing person.
>> Christa Holderson's cousin, Barbie Townsen. What did you think? They arrested him for giving false
information about a missing person. >> That was the first day that I started to suspect foul play from
their own son. I checked my phone and I saw that and it was that he had been arrested and it was pretty wild.
>> Alex Cvat, his childhood friend, learned about it on social media. >> My eyes got wide. I I kind of just sat
there for a second reading it. My first thought was if he's being arrested for giving misinformation to the police, I
didn't think that there was really much of a chance that he wasn't involved somehow.
But there's someone who had a hard time imagining Chandler was involved. His girlfriend Cat. She spoke to police just
before his arrest. >> You don't think he had anything to do with his mom and dad being unheard from?
>> No. I just No. That'd be crazy. But 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, you know? >> Yeah. >> Like they're his parents for Christmas.
They got him and his brother matching tool sets. Like come on. >> Okay. >> He cooks dinner for them. They have root
beer floats together. They play Mario Kart whenever his parents want to. But on Saturday, July 10th, 2021, the
victim found in the woods was identified as Bart Halderson. >> It just changed everything. Like, that
moment changed everything. >> Preliminary autopsy results would reveal Bart had been shot at least two times in
the back. And there was still the troubling question, where was Christa? Christa Holderson
remains a missing person and we continue to ask for citizen involvement. >> Christa's coworker Dan Cronier ran
through all the different possibilities. Did you at that moment wonder like maybe
Chris was involved in this too? >> It had definitely crossed my mind start to wonder well why is Chandler lying? Is
he covering for himself or is he covering for perhaps his mother? Is she involved?
But the more investigators looked, it seemed the only person Chandler Halderson was covering for
was himself. >> You know, he just lied to everybody. >> And in his lies, police started to
believe they found a motive for murder. For months, he had been telling everyone, including his childhood
friend, Alex Gravat, that he was enrolled at Madison College during the 2021 spring semester.
Did you have any idea he had flunked out? He didn't tell you? >> No. >> It was surprising.
>> Detectives believe his parents had no idea he wasn't in school. They say when his parents questioned him
about his transcripts. The computer savvy Chandler Halderson crafted a chain of emails that seem to come from the
college. >> Chandler creates people that work for Madison College and communicates via
email with them. You know, Bart's on some of those as well, talking to who he believes is employees of the school.
>> And do any of those people actually exist? >> No. >> In June 2021, Bart Halderson called
Madison College pretending to be Chandler and got an answer he wasn't expecting.
>> Said, "I don't see that you were admitted in any program." >> You said they were, you know, it's the
IT degree is in there, right? No, those are just classes. You might have just took the classes but not be in the
program. >> Bart learned that not only had his son been lying about that IT degree, but
there was no internship with an insurance company either. And remember that big job with SpaceX. Turns out that
was just another elaborate lie. today and always >> the delusional reality that he concocted that is
shocking to me. >> According to detectives, Bart was planning to meet at the college with his
son on Thursday, July 1st. Around 200 p.m., Bart, who was working from home, sent his son this text. I'm
ready whenever you are. That text is believed to be the last message Bart sent. 7 days later, Bart's remains were found.
Investigators got a search warrant for the Halderson home. No weapon was found there, but a shell
casing was discovered in the basement and several areas inside the house tested positive for blood.
>> Chandler, middle initial M. last name Halderson, age 23 of Windsor, is now being charged with firstdegree homicide,
hiding a corpse, and mutilating a corpse. [Music] On July 15th, 2021, Chandler Halderson
was formally charged with his father's murder. >> Chandler is currently being held in the
Dayne County Jail. >> I mean, I I don't know what else to say. like how how could you do that to your
father? >> But where was his mother? Christa Chandler Halderson had lawyered up and
wasn't talking, but someone very close to him was. >> She had communicated with him that whole
weekend. >> That loyal girlfriend, Katherine Mander, had a potentially damning piece of
evidence about her boyfriend on the social media app Snapchat. She actually consented to a download of her phone. So
that was a breakthrough. >> How do you feel about allowing people to track you on social media apps? Join the
conversation now on social media. [Music] >> Chandler Halderson was charged with his
father's murder, but his mother's whereabouts were still unknown. Lead detectives Sabrina Sims and Brian
Chunk knew if Christa was alive, they needed to find her fast. At that point, we were hoping for the
best. It was one of those things where we just needed to to push on. >> Detectives turned to Halderson's
girlfriend for help. She had given them permission to download information from her phone.
>> Chandler had lied to her before and had cheated on her before. And so she um you
know would track his location. >> Cat had convinced Halderson to let her track his movements using Snapchat,
the popular social media app, which allows users to send messages and share their location in real time.
>> Um and that was an agreement that yes, you will have your locations on so I can
see where you're going. >> Detectives were most intrigued by messages posted early on the morning of
July 1st. The day Chandler Halderson and his father were supposed to meet with Madison College officials. Halderson,
whose online name was Chazled Dazzle, messaged Cat at 7:30 a.m. I hardly slept. I'm sorry, Bee. Why? 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 exploitative
me over. Be it's going to be okay. Yeah, I just had a great future planned and it's falling apart.
According to detectives, the tone of those messages worried Cat. So, two days later, when Cat checked Snapchat and
noticed her boyfriend's avatar, that's hubby on her screen, indicated that he was nearly 25 miles from home. Cat saved
the image to her phone. >> It was a Snapchat screenshot. um of Chandler almost 9 in the morning um out
by the Wisconsin River. >> Detectives Sims and Shunk took us to that location on the river where they
had hoped to find Christa. >> So where are we exactly? What would you call this area?
>> It's the Wisconsin State lower riverway. And it's a familiar place to the former
high school swimmer Chandler Halderson, close to his favorite swimming hole. This is him at the same place in a photo
taken a year earlier holding a large knife. Law enforcement throughout Dayne County
searched the wooded area. And how long was he here? >> 45 minutes, I believe. Just keep in mind
in July, but it's definitely far thicker than what you're seeing here now. >> Still no sign of Christa Halderson, but
search teams refused to give up. >> Let's go hit one more area. And that was where they ended up discovering the
remains. >> And what exactly did they find there? >> They ended up finding two legs cut into
different sections. >> DNA tests confirmed it was Christa Halderson. The concerned son, who had
reported his mom and dad missing, was now charged with both of their murders. Christa's cousins were
horrified. You couldn't write this. It just wasn't um anything that you could possibly
come up with in your head. >> How do you make sense of it? >> We don't. And that's the hard part. We
don't have a why. >> In January of 2022 at the Dayne County Courthouse, Chandler Halderson went on
trial for the murder of his parents. >> All right, for the jury. >> He was also facing charges for lying to
the police and for mutilating and hiding their bodies. >> Our job is to over the course of the
next couple of weeks present evidence to show you the path of what we believe happened. Assistant District Attorney
William Brown >> that Chandler Halderson killed his parents, dismembered their bodies,
and hid them around southern Wisconsin. >> Prosecutors laid out a motive. They say
Chandler murdered his parents when his lies were about to be exposed and that for months he had been trying to hide
the truth from them. Among the evidence, those fake email accounts he created. No
one uses a Gmail account as their official Madison College email. >> No. >> And his fictitious internship with an
insurance company. >> I found no record of that person working for American Family.
>> Investigators believe the murder weapon was a semi-automatic rifle that had been
hidden in a barn at that farm where Bart's remains were discovered. >> Good afternoon, sir. Could you please
state your name and then spell it out? Andrew Smith. >> And how do you spell it?
>> Alpha, November, Delta, Romeo, Echo, Whiskey. >> The rifle came from this man, Andrew
Smith, who testified that he was in the military when he met Halderson online. >> How did you meet Chandler Halderson?
>> Playing video games while stationed in Germany. Sir, >> Halderson had wanted a gun. Smith
testified he had no idea what Halderson wanted to do with the weapon. And in June 2021, he gave him that
semi-automatic rifle as a gift. >> I'm going to give it to someone who might actually appreciate this weapon
and take care of it. >> And nearly 480 rounds of ammunition. >> How did Chandler react when you gave him
the gun? >> Oh, he was happy. >> What do you mean, but how do you know he was happy or how do you how do you know
that? >> Cuz he had a big smile on his face when I had given it to him as a gift.
But the most anticipated witness in this trial, >> good morning. >> Would be Halderson's girlfriend.
>> Did you verbally answer yes to the oath? >> Yes. >> Who gave police that Snapchat
screenshot? >> What is that >> screenshot of Chandler by the Wisconsin River? >> What do you make of the prosecution's
case against Chandler Halderson? See more evidence at 48 hours.com. [Music] Could you please state and spell your
name for us? >> Uh, Catherine Melinder. >> For 3 hours, Cat Melander sat on the stand telling the jury about the young
man she thought she knew, Chandler Halderson. >> Did you go on a lot of dates together?
>> Uh, yeah. We would um grab dinners, um have movie dates, just sit at home and
watch movies, go on walks quite often. Cat told the jury that she was working on July 1st when authorities believe the
murders happened and didn't see her boyfriend in person that day. >> But you weren't with him.
>> I was not with him. >> Did you know that Barton Crystal Halderson had died? >> No. According to investigators, Alderson
asked Cat to bring a few cleaning supplies to his home the following day. He told her he had stepped on some
broken glass from the fireplace. She brought him a Swiffer mop and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide.
>> Kath, did you have absolutely anything to do with cleaning anything up or their
disappearance? No. Investigators say there's no evidence that Cat had any involvement in the
murders. They believe Chandler Halderson acted alone. Prosecutors showed the jury police video
from inside the Halderson home. >> These walkthrough videos will document the home as is.
>> At first glance, it seemed neat and clean, but test results revealed what appeared to be blood. Is that all blood
that it's reacting to? >> This could be blood that it's reacting to. Yes. And that appears that there's
been some wiping or cleanup. >> For Barbie Townsen, the most disturbing part was when the jury was shown a view
of the Halderson home from a neighbor's security camera. >> I was talking to one of my cousins. We
said one of the images that is going to be seared in our minds is when they showed that video of the window
>> flickering window from July second >> and it was the flickering glow from the
fireplace for like hours. That is haunting knowing what was happening. A forensic expert testified that more
than 200 bone fragments were discovered in the fireplace. >> There's a white area in the middle of
that burnt. >> Based on my training experience, that appeared to be bone. >> Halderson's defense attorney, Katherine
Dorl, did not address the bone and blood evidence found in the home, but insisted
that did not mean her client was the killer. >> Chandler Halderson did not murder his parents.
He is not guilty of those crimes. >> She reminded the jury there were too many unanswered questions.
>> What happened to the Haldersons? What happened in that Halderson's home? You just aren't going to know what happened.
>> Chandler Halderson himself didn't testify and his defense didn't call any witnesses. you have to go back and look
at everything. >> Instead, attorney Crystal Vera closed the case and urged jury to find
reasonable doubt. She admits Halderson told a lot of lies, but she argues there isn't enough direct evidence to tie him
to the murders. I guarantee you that the 12 of you that are going to go back and
deliberate are all going to have 12 different theories on what happened. And that's a problem. I'm asking you to find
him not guilty of firstdegree intentional homicide. >> Prosecutors had the final word.
>> This is a first-degree intentional homicide. You cannot shoot someone in the back.
You cannot chop them up. You cannot scatter their remains and come to any other conclusion.
And there is only one person who did those things here and that is Chandler Holders. We're asking you to
find him guilty. Thank you. >> It didn't take long for the jury to decide. >> Breaking news. In just about a little
over two hours, a jury has reached a verdict in the Chandler Halderson case. All right.
>> We the jury find the defendant Chandler M. Halderson guilty of firstdegree intentional homicide as to Barde
Halderson. Guilty of providing false information. Guilty of mutilating a corpse. Guilty of firstdegree
intentional homicide. Of mutilating a guilty of hiding a corpse. >> Guilty on all eight charges.
>> I think it was just overwhelming from all the work that we put in on it. In March 2022, at his sentencing
hearing, >> "Good afternoon," >> Halderson, who had been silent during his trial, surprised everyone by
indicating he finally had something to say. >> Mr. Halderson wishes to make a statement.
>> 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 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. Thank
you. >> What was your reaction when he had the chance to speak and all he did was ask
for a lawyer to take an appeal. What was your >> I was actually disgusted. I just
couldn't believe it. Like you can't even say I'm sorry. >> We are journed. Thank you.
Halderson was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. >> When do you miss them?
>> Oh, I think about him just about every day. >> Really? >> Yeah. We're building a pond in our
backyard. You know, they would love to see that and love to be a part of it. Mitchell Halderson, Bart and Christa's
oldest son, is now living with an unimaginable loss. Barbie shared a text and this photo that Christa sent to the
family just three months before she died. Happy Easter. Yes, the boys and their women. Mitchell is still at Epic
Systems and will turn 25 this year. Yikes. Chandler is currently interning with American Family Insurance as an IT
administrator, but his other degree, sustainability management, has given him an edge. You see in her text
how proud she was of her boys and how 100% completely believing Chantler. >> She can't help but wonder what would
have happened if Halderson had just been honest with everyone. If he had just gone and thrown himself at the mercy of
his parents, what do you think Chris and Bart would have done? >> They would have helped him. They
definitely would have confronted him on it. But after the confrontation and the truthtelling would have come the grace,
how do we go forward? How do we help you? How do we get your life back on track? They would have helped him.
[Music] CBS next Saturday. 48 Hours brings you backtoback episodes all summer long.
Next week, Vanished. >> She disappears without a trace. >> We thought we might have taken her here.
How many miles did you cover? It was hundreds of miles. >> 48 hours crime time double feature next
Saturday on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus. [Music]

“48 Hours" correspondent Erin Moriarty looks back at some of her notable crime investigations. Watch the YouTube mini-marathon, which includes "Portrait of a Killer," "The Plot to Kill Dr. Sievers" and "The Snapchat Clue."

00:00 Portrait of a Killer 42:31The Plot to Kill Dr. Sievers 1:23:51 The Snapchat Clue

Crime. Social justice. Impact. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

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Brief Summary

The episode details the brutal murders of Chip Northup and Claudia Mopin and the confession of their teenage killer, Daniel Marsh.

Key points

A Daughter's Heartbreak. A daughter recalls her deep bond with her mother, who was tragically murdered.
The Chilling Confession. Daniel Marsh reveals his chilling thoughts before committing the murders.
Daniel Marsh's Confession. Daniel Marsh made a full confession after the murders, revealing his chilling thoughts.
Daniel's TEDx Talk. Daniel Marsh claims he deserves a second chance, stating there are no evil people, only damaged ones.
The Judge's Decision. Judge McAdam decided to keep Daniel Marsh incarcerated, rejecting the defense's plea for leniency.
Curtis Wright Testifies Against Severs. Curtis Wright admits to killing Teresa Severs and implicates Mark Severs in the planning.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

Multiple? What does multiple mean?

A family member grappling with the horror of the murders.

7:54WatchAug 9, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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