The Snapchat Clue | Full Episode

foreign [Music] duckster 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 La where there's news happening all the time a missing person especially a husband and wife that would be news the dean County Sheriff's Office shared this photo spending today doing neighbors 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 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 Christa 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 easy going 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 halthersons 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 Crystal 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 uh-huh did you think possibly they've 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 foreign [Music] foreign [Music] Crystal 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 I.T 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 halderson's 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 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 holderson home a neighbor's security camera shows them arriving you know knocked on the door didn't hear anything appeared through the window the only thing that seemed weird was there was a coffee table on its side if you look 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 uh emergency up at the cabin Dan says he was relieved to know that Barton Christo 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 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 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 detective 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 with the caseload the holderson 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 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 Chrissa had not mentioned to co-workers or their older son Mitchell that they have been planning to go to the cabin that weekend but according to Chandler another couple we 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 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 you know your mind just starts to go down really murky Trails because you're trying to figure out what's going on far affiliated with them yes the police met Mitchell and his fiancee at the cabin I thought maybe we could just take a walk around and see you wouldn't know the property probably better than we would prepared for the worst Sheriff's Office anybody inside no it's presents make yourself known [Music] [Music] when the holdersons 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 holdersons 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 foreign ERS anxious to find out what had happened to Bart and Krista halterson asked deputies from the Langley County Sheriff's Office to help Mitchell who brought along his fiancee 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 Kristen 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 heart 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 [Music] [Applause] 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 gotta 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 Fourth of July and then that their plan or from to my knowledge they were going to langlade County to a cabin uh 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 my parents just went missing he probably hasn't slept he's probably really nervous Alex garage 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'd make lots of jokes or poke fun at people Alex described Chaz as popular with women college student Catherine malander 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 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 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 Woodline 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 is it 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 they were going to go with their friends and I was like oh cool um and they said they were going 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 gonna have to tell us the truth 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 about what happened just tell us why it happened I'm not BSN yet okay so can we do that okay we'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 but 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 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 Barton Christa holderson'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 uh un corroborated speculations at this time the gruesome Discovery was made the day after Bart and Krista have 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 some that were hidden in a an old oil drum um some scissors pruning shears a broken bow saw where the holders and Son Chandler have been seen earlier in the week detective Sims had a pretty good idea who the victim was knowing him I got 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 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 cravat 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 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 Mrs holderson like he had SpaceX like why would he jeopardize something he like would dream of you know yeah like there's 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 played Mario Kart whenever his parents want to but on Saturday July 10 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 Krista Krista holderson remains a missing person and we continue to ask for citizen involvement Chris's co-worker Dan cronier ran through all the different possibilities did you at that moment Wonder like maybe Chris it 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 cravat 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 did 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 Barts on some of those as well talking to who he believes as employees of the school and do any of those people actually exist no foreign 2021 Bart halderson called Madison College pretending to be Chandler and got an answer he wasn't expecting so I don't see that you were admitted in any program he said they were you know the I.T degrees 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 I T 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 according to detectives Bart was planning to meet at the college with his son on Thursday July 1st around 2PM Bart 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 the corpse and mutilating a corpse [Music] 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 how could you do that to your father but where was his mother Krista chandlerhalderson 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 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 chat now with Aaron Moriarty on Twitter Chandler halderson was charged with his father's murder but his mother's whereabouts were still unknown lead detective Sabrina Sims and Brian chunk 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 to push on Detectives and 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 movement 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 holderson and his father were supposed to meet with Madison college officials Alderson whose online name was chazzle Dazzle message cat 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 foreign [Music] 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 of Chandler almost nine in the morning out by the Wisconsin River detective 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 it's a familiar place to the former High School 's Chandler holderson 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 was definitely far thicker than what you're seeing here now no sign of Krista halder said 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 holderson 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 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 halterson went on trial for the murder of his parents 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 happens a William Brown chandler-halverson 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 the Gmail account as their official Madison College email no and as fictitious internship with an insurance company I found no record of that person working for American family [Music] 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 halterson online how did you meet Chandler Alderson playing video games while I was stationed in Germany sir Alderson had wanted a gun smith testified he had no idea what Alderson 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 he gave him the gun oh he was happy what do you mean but how do you know he was happy or how do you how do you know that because he had a big smile on his face when I had given it to him as a gift [Music] 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 Alderson see more evidence at 48hours.com [Music] could you please State and spell your name for us uh Catherine melander for three hours cat mallander sat on the stand telling the jury about the young man she thought she knew Chandler Alderson 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 Kat 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 them I was not with him did you know that Bart and Crystal Alderson had died no according to investigators Alderson 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 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 believed Chandler halderson acted alone prosecutors showed the jury police video from inside the halderson home these walk-through 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 palderson's defense attorney Catherine Doyle did not address the bone and blood evidence found in the home but insisted that did not mean her client was the killer Chandler holderson 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 holdersons 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's 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 holders and we're asking you to find him guilty thank you it didn't take long for the jury to decide [Music] 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 halterson guilty of first degree intentional homicide as to bardet halderson guilty of providing false information ability of mutilating accordance 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 have 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 is 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 in all he did was ask for a lawyer to take an appeal what was your name I was actually disgusted I just couldn't believe it you're like you can't even say I'm sorry we are adjourned thank you Alderson was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole foreign do you miss them well I think about them 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 Chris'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 I.T 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 Chandler she can't help but wonder what would have happened if halterson 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 foreign [Music] Ed unsolvable prior to my involvement very small amount of DNA just a speck of a speck decades later can it help this expert catch the Killer and I scream today is your day Rock 48 hours Saturday on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus [Music]

Channel: 48 Hours

Views: 3,521,870

Keywords: 48 hours, cbs news, Chandler Halderson, Bart Halderson, Krista Halderson, murder, Snapchat, true crime, double murder, windsor wisconsin

Id: CA77P4rTrns

Length: 41min 41sec (2501 seconds)

Published: Tue Feb 14 2023