48 Hours - The Snapchat Reveal

Episode Date: August 20, 2024

When his parents disappear, Chandler Halderson’s social media helps investigators unravel the case. Erin Moriarty reports.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can listen to this podcast ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app today. Even if you love the thrill of true crime stories as much as I do, there are times when you want to mix it up. And that's where Audible comes in, with all the genres you love and new ones to discover. Explore thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. thousands of audiobooks, podcasts, and originals, with more added all the time. Listening to Audible can lead to positive change in your mood, your habits,

and even your overall well-being. And you can enjoy Audible anytime, while doing household chores, exercising, commuting, you name it. There's more to imagine when you listen. Sign up for a free 30-day Audible trial and your first audiobook is free. Visit audible.ca. In 2014, Laura Heavlin was in her home in Tennessee when she received a call from California. Her daughter, Erin Corwin, was missing. The young wife of a Marine had moved to the California desert

to a remote base near Joshua Tree National Park. They have to alert the military. And when they do, the NCIS gets involved. From CBS Studios and CBS News, this is 48 Hours NCIS. Listen to 48 Hours NCIS ad-free starting October 29th on Amazon Music. My name is Adam Duxter. I am a local news reporter and in the summer of 2021 I was working as a multimedia journalist for WISC News 3. News 3 Now in Madison, Wisconsin.

Madison is not New York City. It's not L.A. 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 Krista Halderson. Instead, spending today interviewing neighbors. There are too many unanswered questions.

You know, cars go off the road. Things happen. You know, there's a storm or there's a crash or X, Y, Z, 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 Krista through work at Zimbrick Body Shop.

And then I met her husband through her, obviously. And then, you know, they just did anything for anybody. Like even people they didn't know. So I'm on the Krista side. We are 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. 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 was just figuring out where they are. Police say the couple had planned to go to their cabin in Langlade 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. 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 Krista were missing, it didn't compute. Like what do you mean they're missing? Like they went up to the cabin and it didn't come back. I'm like, huh? Did you think possibly they'd 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 because of how remote it is and what 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. Erin Moriarty reports the Snapchat clue. Bart and Krista Halderson had everything a couple could want. A beautiful home in Windsor, Wisconsin, and two sons they adored, 24-year-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 Krista just didn't show up at the office. Dan Croninger remembers becoming concerned.

How unusual was it for, number one, for Krista not to show up for work, not to call, and just not show up? How unusual? Extremely unusual. Dan and Krista 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 Holderson 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. He 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 Krista.

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 Krista 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 gonna 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 really wanted to be at. I think it had been rescheduled before.

But Krista 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 persons report that morning. Chandler Halderson walked into one of our precincts to report his parents missing. Detectives Sabrina Sims and Brian Shunk with the Dane County Sheriff's Office would lead the team to track down the missing couple. We had a lot of detectives assisting us with the caseload. Their first stop, the Halderson home on Oak Spring 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 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 Townsend, 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 Krista 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 Krista'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 fiancee 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? 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 Hoddersons? You, okay, you are affiliated with them? Yes. The police met Mitchell and his fiancee 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 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? Note your presence, make yourselves known. I'm Erin Moriarty of 48 Hours, and of all the cases I've covered, this is the one that troubles me most. A bizarre and maddening tale involving an eyewitness account that doesn't quite make sense. A sister testifying against a brother. A lack of physical evidence.

Crosley Green has lived more than half his life behind bars for a crime he says he didn't commit. Listen to Murder in the Orange Grove, the troubled case against Crosley Green, ad-free on Amazon Music. Hot shot Australian attorney Nicola Gaba was born into legal royalty. Her specialty? Representing some of the city's most infamous gangland criminals. However, while Nicola held the underworld's darkest secrets,

the most dangerous secret was her own. She's going to all the major groups within Melbourne's underworld, and she's informing on them all. I'm Marcia Clark, host of the new podcast, Informants Lawyer X. In my long career in criminal justice as a prosecutor and defense attorney, I've seen some crazy cases, and this one belongs right at the top of the list. She was addicted to the game she had created. She just didn't know how to stop. Now, through dramatic interviews and access,

I'll reveal the truth behind one of the world's most shocking legal scandals. Listen to Informants Lawyer X exclusively on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. And listen to more Exhibit C true crime shows early and ad-free right now. When the Haldersons disappeared, it stunned everyone who knew them. Barbie Townsend said neither her cousin Krista 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 Krista Halderson, asked deputies from the Langley County Sheriff's Office to help Mitchell, who brought along his fiancée, search 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 Krista 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 to door, asking homeowners if they had seen or heard from his parents. It's kind of difficult to track him down. Adam Duxter, now with the CBS station WCCO 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 my boss at the time, he was like, well, you can't just sit around. You know, you 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 message I got from them, they were going to White Lake for the 4th of July. And then their plan, or to my knowledge, they were going to Langlade County to a cabin, their cabin. At the time, I got this sense that 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 Gravatt knew Chandler well. I was roommates with Chandler for a little while. I call 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, 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 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 Catherine Mallander, known as Cat,

was his longtime girlfriend. He was a relatively attractive guy. I mean, 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 Kat'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 Kat 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, Kat.

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, 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 do you think? Six. 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 it, they were going to go with their friends. And I was like, oh, cool. And they said they were going to the cabin. Yeah. We were 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 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. 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, okay. I'm the lawyer.

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, what did you say? You know, I just couldn't believe what I was hearing. They had discovered human remains. On Thursday, July 8, 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 Bart and Krista Halderson's home.

At this point, it's very early in our investigation. Dane County Sheriff Calvin Barrett warned residents not to jump to conclusions. I don't want to make any uncorroborated speculations at this time. The gruesome discovery was made the day after Bart and Krista had been reported missing by their son. And it was something detectives Brian Shunk and Sabrina Sims had never encountered. The grass had been matted down and they followed it to a trail which led to the

discovery of a male torso that was 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 some cutting instruments that were hidden in an old oil drum, some scissors, pruning shears, 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 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.

Krista Holderson's cousin, Barbie Townsend. 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 or 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 Gravatt, his childhood friend, learned about it on social media. My eyes got wide. 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, Kat. 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? Like, they're his parents. For Christmas, they got him and his brother matching tool sets. Like, come on. 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. 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 Krista?

Krista Holderson remains a missing person, and we continue to ask for citizen involvement. Krista's co-worker, Dan Cronier, ran through all the different possibilities. Did you, at that moment, wonder, like, maybe Krista was involved in this, too? It had definitely crossed my mind to 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 Gravatt 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 seemed 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. He said, I don't see that you were admitted in any program. to be Chandler and got an answer he wasn't expecting.

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. The delusional reality that he concocted, that is shocking to me. 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 2 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 first-degree homicide, hiding a corpse, and mutilating a corpse. On July 15, 2021, Chandler Halderson was formally charged with his father's murder. Chandler is currently being held in the Dane County Jail. I mean, I don't know what else to say. Like, how could you do that to your father? But where was his mother, Krista? 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 catherine mallander 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. in the pacific ocean halfway between peru and new zealand lies a tiny volcanic island it's a little-known british territory called pit can and it harbored a deep dark scandal there wouldn't be a girl on pit can once they reach the age of 10 that would still a virgin. It just happens to

all of us. I'm journalist Luke Jones and for almost two years I've been investigating a shocking story that has left deep scars on generations of women and girls from Pitcairn. When there's nobody watching, nobody going to report it, people will get away with what they can get away with. In the Pitcairn trials I'll be uncovering a story of abuse and the fight for justice that has brought a unique, lonely Pacific island to the brink of extinction. Listen to the Pitcairn Trials exclusively on Wondery+. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

As a kid growing up in Chicago, there was one horror movie I was too scared to watch. It was called Candyman. The scary cult classic was set in the Chicago housing project. It was about this supernatural killer who would attack his victims if they said his name five times into a bathroom mirror. Candyman. Candyman? Now we all know chanting a name won't make a killer magically appear. But did you know that the movie Candyman was partly inspired by an actual murder? I was struck by both how spooky it was, but also how outrageous it was.

We're going to talk to the people who were there. And we're also going to uncover the larger story. My architect was shocked when he saw how this was created. Literally shocked. And we'll look at what the story tells us about injustice in America. If you really believed in tough on crime, then you wouldn't make it easy to crawl into medicine cabinets and kill our women. Listen to Candyman, the true story behind the bathroom mirror murder,

early and ad-free on Wondery Plus and the Wondery app. on Wondery Plus and the Wondery app. Chandler Halderson was charged with his father's murder, but his mother's whereabouts were still unknown. Lead detectives Sabrina Sims and Brian Schunk knew if Krista 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 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, you know, would track his location. Kat 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. 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 Chazzle Dazzle, message Kat at 7.30 a.m. I hardly slept. I'm sorry, B, 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, expletive, me over.

B, it's gonna be okay. Yeah, I just had a great future planned, and it's falling apart. According to detectives, the tone of those messages worried Kat. So two days later, when Kat checked Snapchat and noticed her boyfriend's avatar, that's hubby on her screen, indicated that he was nearly 25 miles from home. Kat saved the image to her phone. It was a Snapchat screenshot of Chandler almost nine in the morning out by the Wisconsin River. Detectives Sims and Shunk took us to that location on the river where they had hoped to find Krista.

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 Dane 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 Krista 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 Krista Halderson.

The concerned son, who had reported his mom and dad missing, was now charged with both of their murders. Krista's cousins were horrified. You couldn't write this. It just wasn't 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 Dane County courthouse, Chandler Halderson went on trial for the murder of his parents. All rise 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 Halterson 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. 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 at a station 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? How do you know that? Because 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? A screenshot of Chandler by the Wisconsin River. What do you make of the prosecution's case against Chandler Halderson? See more evidence at 48hours.com. Have you ever wondered who created that bottle of sriracha that's living in your fridge?

Or why nearly every house in America has at least one game of monopoly introducing the best idea yet a brand new podcast from wondery and t-boy about the surprising origin stories of the products you're obsessed with and the bold risk takers who brought them to life like did you know that super mario the best-selling video game character of all time only exists exists because Nintendo couldn't get the rights to Popeye? Or Jack, that the idea for the McDonald's Happy Meal first came from a mom in Guatemala? From Pez dispensers to Levi's 501s to Air Jordans, discover the surprising stories of the most viral products. Plus, we guarantee that after listening, you're going to dominate your next dinner party. So follow The Best Idea Yet on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can listen to The Best Idea Yet early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus. It's just the best idea yet. Could you please state and spell your name for us? Catherine Melander. For three hours, Kat 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? Yeah, we would grab dinners, have movie dates, just sit at home and watch movies, go on walks quite often.

Kat told the jury that she was working on July 1st when authorities believed 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, Halderson asked Kat 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. Kat, did you have absolutely anything to do with cleaning anything up or their disappearance?

No. Investigators say there's no evidence that Kat 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 Townsend,

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.

Holderson's defense attorney, Catherine Dorrell, 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. A first degree 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 Halverson. And 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 first-degree intentional homicide as to Bardet Halderson. Guilty of providing false information. Guilty of mutilating a corpse.

Guilty of first-degree intentional homicide. Guilty of mutilating a corpse. 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, 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 reaction? I was actually disgusted. I just couldn't believe it. Like, you can't even say I'm sorry. We are adjourned. Thank you. Palderson 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. You know, they would love to see that and love to be a part of it. Mitchell Halderson, Bart and Krista's oldest son, is now living with an unimaginable loss. Barbie shared a text and this photo that Krista 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 see in her text how proud she was of her boys and how 100% completely believing Chandler. She can't help but wonder what would have happened if Holderson 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 truth-telling, 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. In April 2023, Halderson's convictions for hiding his parents' remains were vacated. His other convictions and his sentence still stand. If you like this podcast, you can listen ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app. Before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a quick survey at wondery.com slash survey.