My Mother's Murder Trials: Part 2 | Full Episode | Forensic Files

[Music] They were found uh Sunday afternoon, July 7th. My dad and his fiance Karen were shot
and killed in their beds. I was 17 and my brother was 15. And there was just shock.
The killer made it downstairs, shot Karen Harkness multiple times, shot Mike Cisco multiple times. Whoever it was
that did this hated these people. The only person that hated them was my mom. Dana, what should people understand
about the fact that you, Dana Chandler's daughter, thinks Dana Chandler killed your father? I do have a mind of my own
and I'm not biased in this situation. I don't want it to be her. I want the truth to come out. I wanted to
help the police. So, I started to record my conversations with her. I think that the
only way I can really move on with a relationship with you is if we can get it. You know, if you can just tell me
yourself that you did it. Well, number one, I didn't do it. And number one, I don't And number two, I
don't know what happened to Haley. Did you know anything about the death of Michael and Karen? I have no idea what
happened. I hit a point where I didn't know if justice would ever be served. Both hands out of the car.
I needed justice for my dad and for Karen. We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of the crime of murder in the
first degree. I feel better in the sense that my dad's killer is paying for their
actions. I don't feel better that my mom is capable of killing my dad. And then the
Kansas Supreme Court comes and says, "This is prosecutorial misconduct. We're going to go ahead and overturn her
conviction. You have a new trial. My liberty, my freedom is hanging in the balance. If she could bring out
something to prove she didn't do it, that's for her and her own freedom. But she can't and she hasn't. I did not kill
Mike Cisco. She would not hesitate to get revenge on me. I did not kill Karen Hartness. I know the truth. I am an
innocent woman. The truth is that she murdered them. She scares me. Your mom scares you?
Yeah. [Music] [Music] I wanted to understand what happened and why and they actually know the truth of
what happened. For two decades, Haley Seal has been waiting for justice in the murders of
her father, Mike Cisco, and his girlfriend, Karen Harkness. This hasn't been resolved.
In 2002, multiple bullets struck 53-year-old Karen and 47year-old Mike as they lay in bed in Karen's Kansas home.
Authorities believed it was a crime of passion as the rest of the house seemed undisturbed with money and jewelry left
behind. And Haley believed it was her mother, Dana Chandler, who was responsible. The truth is that she was
in Karen's house on July 7th in the middle of the night with a gun and she shot them both multiple
times and she murdered them. I hate that that's the truth, but it is the truth. I've never seen a case
like this. Even Daryl Burton is co-founder of Miracle of Innocence, an organization that paid for Dana
Chandler's lawyers and supports individuals it believes are wrongfully convicted. No DNA, no fingerprints, no
confession, no weapon. This just doesn't add up. In the summer of 2022, Dana Chandler was on trial for the
second time for the murders of Mike Cisco and Karen Harkness. As in her first trial, the defense focused on all
that was lacking in the case against Chandler. There is no evidence that she was in the Harkness residence. No
evidence she was in Topeka. There's no evidence she was in the state of Kansas. Defense attorney Tom Bath insisted Dana
Chandler was in Colorado at the time of the murders, more than 500 miles away, and faulted investigators for zeroing in
on her. Everything they looked at, everything they examined excluded Dana. The lack of
physical evidence was acknowledged by Shaunie County Deputy District Attorney Charles Kit. Science is not going to
solve this case. This case is not based on DNA. This Instead, the state focused on
evidence such as Dana's hatred of her ex-husband and his girlfriend. This case is based on jealousy, rage,
and obsession. Prosecutors presented evidence they say showed that obsession, including records
of more than 600 phone calls Dana made to Karen and Mike in the 6 months before the murders. And they introduced
witnesses who said Mike and Karen told them some of those calls were menacing. Karen's coworker Kim Warer and she said
she had been up all night receiving phone calls from Dana. She told you she was afraid? Very afraid.
Erin Sutton also testified that her mother, Karen Harkness, was scared of Dana. She spoke about messages she said
she heard that Dana left on her mother's phone. She would call my mom horrible names.
And like what kind of names would she call her? he would call her a [ __ ] In addition to testimony about calls
Dana Chandler made, there was also attention paid to when there was no call activity on her phone, specifically
during 27 hours the weekend of the murders. Authorities believe Dana Chandler's phone was turned off, so it could not be
traced as she traveled to Kansas, but the defense suggested it could have just been Spotty's cell phone service in
Colorado. Prosecutors told the jury about a purchase Dana made the day before the murders, but failed to
mention to investigators. Kit asked Richard Volley, the lead detective on the case, about the
purchase. Can you tell us what that is? This is an AutoZone receipt. It shows the p first
two purchases were $5 or 5 gallon gas cans. Authorities wondered why Dana didn't tell them about the gas cans and
why she would need gas cans unless she was planning a trip perhaps to Kansas and did not want to stop for gas along
the way. And there was the issue of Dana Chandler's alibi. According to Detective
Volo, a changing, unconfirmable one. One witness testified that Dana said she was
in the mountains in Colorado at the time of the murders. But Detective Volo testified Chandler told him she was at
home in her Denver apartment. Uh, she said she'd stayed at her house, had no guests or phone calls, and that she
turned in about 9:00. A friend of Dana's testified about something authorities thought might have been a dry run for
the murders. She said about a month before the killings, Dana called and told her about a trip she made to Mike's
home. She told me that she knew nobody was in the house and that she went into Mike's home through the window. After
that, she did go to um his girlfriend's house and sat outside her house waiting for them to come home, but they didn't
show up. Did she tell you what she did when she uh got into Mike's house? She wanted to see what it looked like on the
inside. But Dana's attorney questioned the reliability of her testimony, pointing
out she may have gotten some dates wrong regarding calls with Dana. It must not have been a Monday. Okay.
About 20 years ago, you said it was a Monday, right? Sure. Testimony about Chandler's behavior also came from Kathy
Boots, Mike's sister. She described an incident several years before the murders that she said she witnessed
while staying at Mike's house. We went to bed that night and I woke up in the early morning hours to a noise out in
the backyard and we had left the back porch lights on and I looked out through the blinds and Dana was jumping on the
trampoline out back. And Mike's brother-in-law, Mark Boots, recounted a disturbing conversation he
said he had with Mike 9 days before the murders. Mike told me that the patterns of
harassment had increased and that he feared for he and Karen's lives. Mike and Dana's daughter, Haley, was
going to be in the uncomfortable position of testifying against her mother. And who is Dana Chandler to you?
She's my mom. I was absolutely still nervous and and scared being up there. It causes
conflict. As Haley Seal reflected back on testifying against her mother, Dana Chandler, she recalled the stress she
was under. As a prosecution witness, Haley was asked to describe some of her mother's behavior. Behavior Haley said
she found obsessive. Was there a time where you were asked to spy on your dad? Yeah. Haley recounted an incident after
her parents split up when she said Dana drove her and her brother to Mike's home
and they all sat in the car to watch the house. She said, "Come on, we need to watch your dad. You can be my little
helpers." She had me go with her to the house after so long. And um and she wanted to look in the windows.
Did she look in the windows? Yeah, we both looked in the windows and she said, "Did you see that? did you see that? And
I said, "No, I didn't see anything." It was episodes like that which led Haley early on to think her mother could
be responsible for the murders. I always suspected she had something to do with it because of the history of her
harassment, stalking, hatred, talking bad about them to us all the time. Haley testified about some of the ways her
mother expressed that dislike of her father, like the demeaning ways Dana referred to him in emails and online
chats. Yeah. Including ones where Dana referred to Mike as if sent when Haley was 14 years old. Um, and did she call
him manipulative and deceiving? Yes. Uh, and then calls him a rapist. Yeah. And just a couple of lines down, I hate
his guts. Yeah. Are those things that you want to tie to? Yes. Nobody can say that you were in Colorado
that weekend. Also played in court were those conversations Haley secretly recorded with her mom as she tried to
learn more about Dana's possible involvement in the murders. In all the conversations you had with her over the
days, weeks, months, even years after this happened, she never told you something that made you think, "Well, at
least my mom didn't do it." No. Every time I talked to her, I felt more and more confident that she definitely had
something to do with it. And perhaps most telling to Haley was a conversation played in court where Dana said she had
thought about killing Mike. ever think about killing him? No, but I did. In one of those discussions, Haley
asked her mother about why she bought those two gas cans, which authorities thought could have been used to help
drive round trip from Denver to Topeka without stopping in Kansas for fuel. Dana, who'd been a problem drinker,
explained she bought them for someone else, a woman she met at AA. She asked me for money and we don't give people
money in aa. I think I'll go buy you some gas. The prosecutor asked Haley if she was able to learn anything more
about that woman from Dana. She wouldn't tell you who that person was. No, she didn't. But Dana's defense team argued
those recorded conversations proved nothing about the murders. And regarding the two gas cans, it
maintained that the 10 extra gallons the cans could hold would not have been enough for Dana to drive round trip from
Denver to Topeka without still needing to stop for fuel. The defense accused authorities of
tunnel vision, including not looking more thoroughly at other suspects. and her lawyer said Dana Chandler never
owned a 9mm gun, the type of weapon used in the murders, which was never found. What was found were unusual
bullets made in Israel. Israel Military Industries, that's the manufacturer. Dana's attorney questioned a firearm
examiner who had worked with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation about those bullets. Is
that a bullet you would ammunition you typically see? Actually, we had not seen that before and so it was a little bit
unusual to us. The prosecution though explained there were places one could buy those bullets. Could that ammo have
been brought into Kansas and sold at a gun show? Yes, sir. Could have been exchanged by individuals. Yes, sir.
There were other parts of the investigation that the defense argued supported its case. There was forensic
work it said eliminated Dana Chandler. Unidentified fingerprints found at the house did not match Chandler. None of
Dana's DNA was found at the murder scene, nor were any fibers found from her clothing or any of her hair. I did
not find any hairs that were consistent with the known samples coming from Miss Chandler. In 20 years, the state had no
evidence, no evidence whatsoever that placed Dana Chandler in Karen Harkness's home, in the city of Topeka, from the
state of Kansas. After 3 weeks of testimony, that lack of physical evidence would be the defense's theme in
its closing argument. Each and every time they tested something, it excluded Dana. From the beginning, I told you
this case is about obsession, jealousy, rage. The state focused on Dana's behavior, her calls, emails, and
her own family's testimony against her. The defendant clearly hated Karen and Mike. Words from her own mouth and her
own fingers typing those messages. A lot of evidence about Dana's bad behavior. That's true. That's not evidence. They
have not proven this case beyond a reasonable doubt. On August 25th, 2022, the case went to the jury and Haley was
waiting for a verdict. I've really tried to trust the process as I knew I didn't
have any control over it. So, it was going to be what it was going to be. But the wait to find out what the verdict
would be was a long [Laughter] When you retire to the jury room, you will first select one of your members as
presiding juror. The person selected will preside over your The case in the second trial of Dana Chandler for the
murders of Mike Cisco and Karen Harkness went to the jury on August 25th, 2022. That day came and went, as did
several more. Members of the jury, would you like to recess for the day? Yes, we would like.
After about 4 days, I started to get nervous and think, "Wow, this actually could not come back in a guilty
verdict." And I started to think about that possibility. And so I [Music] prayed and I just trusted that if she
did get away with this that life would have to go on. Right. Members of the gallery, I would ask that
you just please refrain from any outbursts at After 6 days of deliberating, Dana Chandler would learn
her fate. I understand that the jury is unable to reach a unanimous verdict at this time. Is that correct? That is
correct. The jury informed the judge they were deadlocked. You're hung at this time. Is that correct? There were
seven votes to convict and five to acquit. We did what we could with what we had.
Ben Alfred and Carrie Kimes were two members of the jury who voted to find Chandler not guilty. I never saw actual
evidence that Dana Chandler was ever in the Harkness home. I can't send somebody
to spend the rest of their life in prison if you can't even prove she left Colorado that weekend. The science is
not going to solve this case. Everything that was tested for DNA proved inconclusive. And that's pretty
remarkable. But for juror Randy Edwards, the state's depiction of Dana Chandler's
behavior was persuasive evidence. She was beyond upset. She was obsessed. He also found those conversations Haley
recorded with her mother to be convincing and voted to convict. Ever think about killing him? No, but I did.
When I was able to comprehend that Dana said that she had thought of killing Mike, that was probably the the piece
that pushed me beyond any question of reasonable doubt anymore. There was a split verdict, but the majority of the
jury was in favor of a conviction and that was meaningful. DA Mike Kge decided to retry Dana Chandler. The next issue
that we have before the court is a motion to modify bond. Her lawyers convinced the court to reduce her bond,
which allowed her to be released with supervision as she awaited the next trial. The court is going to direct that
she have GPS monitoring. Welcome home. Welcome home, Dana. After spending more than a decade
incarcerated, Dana Chandler celebrated her freedom with Daryl Burton and Miracle of Innocence. Anybody who's
getting out of prison after you've been in prison for any length of time, it is it's a joyous occasion. You're happy
that someone's been released and you, you know, also feel like, well, maybe it's a good chance that, you know, we
can, you know, mount a defense and know and get her totally acquitted. As a condition of her release, Dana was not
allowed to contact her children. Still, Haley worried about her safety. She is married to Chris Seal, her high school
boyfriend, and is a mother of three. I'm scared to death that she's going to hurt me or she's going to affect my
kids in some way. Haley's fear only grew when Dana made this post to her Facebook
page. Chandler complained about her treatment at trial, calling it a kangaroo court. And in the background,
she showed images of Haley's children. Haley says Dana somehow learned which church she attended and downloaded a
live stream of a service to create the photos. It was chilling and it was disturbing. I feel like it was a direct
message to me. And what was the message? Intimidation. I don't care about your boundaries. Her belief that her mother
committed the murders remains unwavering and she says disturbing. She's my mom, but if you're
my mom, why would you do that to my dad? For your kid's sake, maybe maybe that would be a reason not to do it.
Being a mother now I have a new perspective it becomes even more unreal now. Also unreal to Haley thoughts of a third
trial. What are your expectations for yet again another trial? Uh this time I'm not as confident.
For trial number three, jurors would be from Padawatami County, Kansas. The defense requested a change of venue and
the judge agreed, citing excessive media coverage. It would take place in West Morland, a smaller, more rural area 60
mi away from the last setting in Topeka. July 7th, 2002 was going to be a good day. Mike Cisco, Karen Harkness had been
in a relationship for a few years. The trial got underway with opening statements on February 7th, 2025.
One name just kept coming up. Dana Chandler. Charles Kit was back retrying the case, joined by prosecutor
Dan Dunar. Judge Cheryl Rios again presided. And in a lastminute change on the morning of opening statements, Dana
Chandler dismissed her defense attorneys. My name is Dana Chandler. And Dana Chandler decided the best person to
represent her was herself. I am innocent. I did not kill Mike and Karen. I think this case is a character
assassination. In February 2025, Dana Chandler was on trial for the third time for the murders of Mike Cisco and Karen
Harkness. But this time she was representing herself. She was exercising her constitutional
right. It was an unknown. It was certainly unexpected. One thing that was the same as in the
previous trials, Haley Seal testified. Good afternoon. Hi. Can you please tell the jury your name? Um, Haley Seal.
Haley was asked again by the prosecution about her mother's inappropriate behavior. What sort of things would she
say about Karen? She called her a home wrecker. Um, a [ __ ] Very bad names. Prosecutors
were also interested in an incident when Dana Chandler drove Haley and her brother to drop them off at Karen's
house. We waited there for a really long time in the car. Then my dad and Karen got there and my mom got out and yelled
at them and just was very angry with my dad. Haley, I don't have any further questions. Thank you. When it was time
to be cross-examined, Haley knew it would now be her mother doing the questioning. Well, let me see.
I really went up there with like my game face on, you know? I I knew it was war.
I knew it wasn't going to be a nice, a cordial, a thoughtful, you're the victim. This was your dad and I'm so
sorry place that she'd be coming from. Dana Chandler challenged Haley about her description of that drop off at Karen's.
Chandler said it was Haley's father, Mike, who was behaving badly, not her. When your dad Karen drove up, your dad
stormed over to the car. Oh, no. No, he did not. And he started banging on the window. What? No. No, he did not. I was
inside that car and my dad absolutely did not bang on the windows. And I didn't get out of I never got out of the
car. You were the first one out of the car. I was just in disbelief because I knew she just made that up because it
never happened. And he never did that. But I didn't get concerned. I just said, "No, you know, I'm glad you asked so I
could straighten this out." That never happened. And then it comes down to who's believable, and I wasn't worried
about that. As another way to seemingly explain some of her past behaviors, Chandler brought
up that she used to have a drinking problem. And I did tell you that I was I realized that I had a problem with
alcohol. You did tell me you had a problem with alcohol. Something Dana said she stopped by
1999, 3 years before the murders. I told you I was going to three AA meetings a day trying to get well. True. I knew you
were trying to get well. Yes. The state questioned though if becoming sober changed Chandler's behavior. When she
came back clean and sober, did that change how she treated you? No. Did it Did it change how she talked
about your dad? No. Did it change how she talked about Karen? No. Do you swear that the testimony you're
out in this case happened or the truth? The whole truth and nothing but the truth. Second thing, Dana Chandler not
only thought she was the best person to represent herself, but when it was time to put on her defense, she decided she
would be her own main witness. But I feel like that I need to kind of tell my story to kind of put things in
perspective. She testified over seven days. You have not seen evidence that I was in Topeka,
Kansas on July 7th of 2002. speaking for about 20 hours. I kind of like to review a little where I left
off. There was times when she would take so long to try to get her point across.
Dana Chandler's supporter Daryl Burton was concerned when she put herself on the stand and sometime it seemed as
though she was just rambling, you know, and that was just unfortunate. She may have knew, she probably knew where she
was trying to go, but she'd get lost. But I continued drinking. She again addressed issues such as her drinking
and inappropriate conversations with Haley. I was writing emails drinking the black out. I'd get up the next morning
and not even remember those emails. I had a serious problem and horrible things I said about Karen spreading her
legs. I mean, seriously, Haley was 14 years old. I am just so ashamed and embarrassed about that. And I hated that
Haley that I put Haley through that. And Chandler in her own testimony addressed
again that incident when she waited outside Karen's house to drop off Haley and Dustin with the couple. She said it
was done out of necessity. I yelled through the window I could not afford to feed Haley and Dustin and that I needed
to leave them with him. Chandler contrasted those times to when she stopped drinking, showing videos of
her spending time outdoors with Haley and Dustin. This video was taken about 9 months into
my recovery. Dana also disputed making frequent harassing calls to Karen and Mike, saying when she called, there was
a reason. I was calling to speak with my children, Haley and Dustin. As to her having disagreements with Karen
Harkness, she testified there were none. I never ever had any confrontations with
Karen Harkness at all. Chandler also pointed out what she said was sloppiness in the police investigation. When
Chandler questioned lead detective Richard Voloy, she asked about whether police were too focused on her and
should have been looking more thoroughly at other possible suspects. Did you or did you not receive any leads for other
suspects besides me? Uh, early on in the investigation, there were several other people that were
looked at as possible leads. So, it's a matter of checking people off to dismissing people that couldn't have
done it. Uh, when we can't dismiss them, we keep focusing on them like we did with you. Chandler though said there was
an area where she felt law enforcement thoroughly investigated whether she bought a 9mm gun like the one used in
the murders and they came up empty-handed. I've never owned, purchased, or possessed a 9 mm firearm.
And throughout her defense, Dana Chandler was adamant that at the time of the murders, she was in Colorado and no
one could place her in Karen's house or even in Kansas. [Music] It seemed like a simple question Dana
Chandler was asking Detective Volley. Did you ever develop any information that I was into Kansas on July 6th or
7th of 2002? But in answering that question, Voy said there was a woman named Patty Williams who may have
spotted Chandler in the state of Kansas around the time of the murders. What do you know about Patty Williams? She was a
clerk at a convenience store in Waini, Kansas. The gas station convenience store in Wini, where Williams worked,
was nearly halfway between Denver and Topeka. It had been visited by an investigator searching for locations
where someone may have spotted Chandler around the time of the murders. There, the investigator showed Williams this
photo of Dana. She was seven out of 10 that it was you. According to Volo, the clerk was 70% sure she had seen Dana
Chandler and described some distinguishing features. She has said that she had gray near the
hairline for Chandler though told the jury she did not have gray hair back then. By the time of the trials,
Williams had died and could not be questioned again. Chandler also expressed concern that the investigator
only showed a single photo of her initially instead of an array of photos, including different people. Something
Voloy did do when he went to the gas station about 2 weeks later. We later later went out with a what we call a
six-pack photo. It's six photographs of people that look very similar and amongst those photos was Miss Chandler.
Volo said Patty Williams immediately picked out Chandler and again was 70% sure she saw her there, but Voloy
acknowledged using an array initially would have been better. There was still for law
enforcement the issue regarding Dana Chandler's alibi. Remember, Voloy said Dana told him she was home in her Denver
apartment the night of the murders, but she told others, including an acquaintance, Jeff Bailey, she slept in
her car in the Colorado mountains that night. I was confused. Dana Chandler told the jury she had been confused when
she spoke with Volo, but prosecutor Kit was not accepting that explanation. So, what you told Detective Oley is not
consistent with what you told Jeff Bailey, is it? Uh, as far as my trip to Miss Chandler, it's not consistent.
Okay. Yeah, I would agree with that. Um, I would That's true. Have you seen that document before? Once again, those
secret recordings Haley made with her mother were played in court. Ever think about killing it? No, but I did. This
time, Kit questioned Dana herself about its authenticity. Was that your voice saying, "Did you ever think about
killing him?" I did. It sounds like it is. When it was time for the final witness, Dana Chandler decided it should
be Dana Chandler. She knew the jury heard witnesses testify about her parenting and past behavior. Chandler
explained if she was a less than attentive mother, it was because of her drinking and a lack of money, not a lack
of love. I absolutely did want to have a relationship with my children. You know,
I think the financial the substance abuse combination um it just wasn't feasible.
That's all I have. Thank you, Mr. uh during this time that you couldn't afford to feed your children,
you were buying booze, correct? I was. You buying enough alcohol to get black out drunk? I was. Okay. Thank you for
the question. And with that, after 18 days of testimony, prosecutor Charles Kit and
Dana Chandler presented their closing arguments. Why are Mike and Karen dead? And the
evidence shows one simple answer. control. I think Kit nailed it when he said it was about control. The state
described Chandler losing control of Mike as he planned his future with Karen and the rage that followed. And that's
what led to the defendant traveling to Topeka, Kansas on July 6th and murdering them on July 7th. Kit spoke about
Chandler's depiction of events not lining up with the testimony of others. It's the defendant versus everyone. You
can believe the defendant's testimony or you can believe everybody else that you heard from in this case.
In Dana Chandler's closing, she used a scam to make her point that prosecutors, whom she called her accusers, did not
have enough evidence to tip it in their favor. the um the accusers must uh tip the
scale here. I'm innocent. I have my infirmities and I have my shortcomings, but I do stand here before you all today
and proclaim that I am an innocent woman. She acknowledged the life she led was not perfect, but said that doesn't
make her a murderer. The state has woefully failed to meet its burden to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that I
killed Mike Cisco or Karen Harkness. About 4 hours later, the jury delivered its verdict.
We the jury find Dana Chandler guilty of murder in the first degree is charged in
count one verdict for guilty of the murders of Mike Cisco and Karen Harkness. After hearing the verdict, Dana Chandler
turned away. And while it was the verdict Haley hoped for, the end result is nothing she ever wanted. It is so
much worse that my mom is the one behind these murders because we lost my dad and Karen, but
then through all this now, we've lost our mom. I really wish it was someone else.
I don't believe that they have proved this case beyond a reasonable doubt. Chandler supporter Daryl Burton remains
undeterred. He still believes she is innocent. The evidence just doesn't, you know, prove that she's guilty of
anything. Dana Chandler is filing motions for an appeal. 48 Hours reached out to Chandler again for this episode,
but did not receive a response. I am very confident in this verdict. District Attorney Mike Kge is certain the jury
convicted the right person. I have every confidence in my prosecutors and how they handled this case. The focus of
this case has gone almost completely to Dana Chandler and that the victims has really
been lost which is really sad. More than 20 years have passed since Mike Cisco and Karen Harkness were
murdered and Haley wants to make sure the lives lost are not forgotten. I was trying to tell my daughter about
who my dad is and I said he was a really fun, supportive, encouraging guy who believed
in me and my brother and Karen was so kind, so accepting. I miss him a lot. [Music]
I can only describe it as evil. Something horrible from 48 hours. This is trained to kill the dog trainer, the
ays, and the bodyguard. He couldn't control his obsession. Who was the hunter and who was the hunted? Follow
and listen on the free Odyssey app or wherever you get your podcasts. [Music]

A daughter suspects her mother of a double murder. Years later, courtroom drama brings unsettling answers. CBS News chief correspondent Jim Axelrod reports for "48 Hours." Watch more full episodes of "48 Hours" on Pluto TV.

True crime. Real justice. "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

Haley Seal testifies against her mother Dana Chandler in the murder case of her father and his girlfriend, revealing deep family conflicts and emotional turmoil.

Key points

The Shocking Murders. In July 2002, Mike Cisco and Karen Harkness were found shot in their beds, leading to a complex investigation.
Haley's Struggle for Truth. Haley Seal seeks justice for her father and grapples with the possibility of her mother's guilt.
The Trial's Tense Moments. Dana Chandler's trial reveals deep family conflicts and the struggle for justice over two decades.
A Deadlocked Jury. After six days of deliberation, the jury was unable to reach a unanimous verdict in Dana's trial.
Dana's Self-Representation. In her third trial, Dana Chandler decided to represent herself, a surprising turn in the case.
Dana Chandler's Defense. Chandler testifies for seven days, claiming her past behaviors were due to alcohol abuse.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I did not kill Mike Cisco. She would not hesitate to get revenge on me.

Dana Chandler's denial of the murders and her fear of being wronged.

2:27WatchJun 6, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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