Woman's Snapchat helps police unravel mysterious double murder | "48 Hours" Full Episode | Forensic Files

[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 Dane County Sheriff's Office shared this photo of Bart and Christa Helerson.
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 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 Christa 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. 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? Now it's your presents. Make yourselves [Music]
[Music] known. 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
Langlade 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 Gravat 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
Malander, 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 he 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 you 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, they're okay. Um, 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. Holderson. 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, 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.
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. Seven 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 Malander, 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, Be. 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 B. 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 Chunk 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 I was 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 about 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, Katherine Melander. 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 Bart and 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 Townson, 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 2nd 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 Durl, 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 Halderson. 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. 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 him? 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]

When Chandler Halderson reported his parents missing, authorities launched an extensive search around their home in Wisconsin. Halderson had shared his Snapchat location with his girlfriend, who noticed something odd that helped crack the case.

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

Chandler Halderson was convicted of murdering his parents Bart and Christa, revealing a shocking family tragedy in Wisconsin.

Key points

The Disappearance of Bart and Christa Halderson. A couple goes missing under mysterious circumstances, leaving their family and friends in shock.
A Shocking Discovery. Human remains are found, leading to a major shift in the investigation.
Chandler's Arrest. Chandler Halderson is arrested for providing false information about his missing parents.
Chandler Halderson Charged. Chandler Halderson is charged with first-degree homicide and hiding a corpse.
Trial Begins. Chandler Halderson goes on trial for the murder of his parents.
Guilty Verdict. Chandler Halderson is found guilty on all charges related to his parents' murders.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

What do you mean they're missing?

Adam's reaction to the news of the couple's disappearance.

2:42WatchMay 30, 2025

Tension

85/ 100High tension

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