WI v. Chandler Halderson Trial Day 1 - Mitchell Halderson - Defendant's Brother

anything from the defense nothing thank you all right all right for the jury please be seated everyone i didn't get there myself but i heard it's cold outside ladies and gentlemen thank you for being prompt we had a couple of issues to take up outside of your presence let me inquire of you whether anyone inadvertently or intentionally was exposed to any information any discussions or participated in any discussions or investigation about the case while we were separated over the noon hour i see no hands as a housekeeping matter i want to draw your attention to one thing we are we do in this courtroom and we're using this courtroom because it has a media room which is behind you and that's intentional because the media is directed to not show the faces of any jurors that's an important part of our protection and our honoring your participation as citizens unwillingly although i hope willingly through this process it was pointed out to me that if i do at any point in time invite you to go ahead and stand and stretch that if you turn around in that process towards the media window you might inadvertently be photographed or or recorded and so i just wanted to mention that to you so that if you're doing that at any point in time or even if you're deciding your neck is stiff and you're gonna just uh aim your your head in a different direction be cautious about the fact that over your left shoulders there's a camera on the other side of the wall and they're certainly doing their best to not accidentally record anyone but they're also relying on your position within the courtroom as they're filming other things that go on so i just wanted to mention that to you folks thank you let's proceed with testimony attorney raymond yes the state's going to call mitchell hellerson to the stand do you solemnly swear firm the testimony you're about to give in this matter is the truth [Music] mr halperson if you are able to safely and responsibly i would appreciate your testifying without a mask if you could yes sir thank you so much go ahead good afternoon could you please state your name for the record and spell both your first and last name my name is mitchell holderson and that's e l m-i-t-c-h-e-l-l and then holderson is h a l d isn't david e r s o n what are the names of your parents mitchell uh bart and christa holderson um and do you have any siblings i do and who's your sibling chandler elderson um where'd you grow up was born in this area in dane county and then between third and fourth grade moved up to plymouth wisconsin which is in sheboygan county and then have lived around here for college and work after high school okay and i'm going to show you what has been marked as exhibit 27. do you describe exhibit 27 please that would be a picture of my parents uh actually a crop photo that i am also in we are at the new glarus brewery okay um and that was a somewhat recent last couple of years photo yes within the last four i forget exactly an accurate copy of that picture yes okay i would move exhibit 27. any objection no objection it may be published it is received so how old was your dad if you know in july of this year uh he was born in 71 so in july he just turned 50. and your mom she was a few years older correct about three what did your dad do for a living he was an accountant do you remember the name of the firm that he worked with uh yeah uh bdo usa um taxes and things like that uh yes specifically with small businesses was his specialty um so was he kind of a money savvy sort of person i would say so definitely had finances understood them well do you believe in banks yeah okay um how old was your mom my mom was 53. what'd your mom do for a living was a stay-at-home mom for us growing up and has recently gone back to work as a receptionist at a car company um describe what was your dad like as a parent just very briefly he worked a lot so slightly absent during the time but i would say had good expectations for us and overall was a good parent how did you describe your mom a bit of the typical helicopter parent very involved in her everyday lives but again for the because she cared okay um so she stayed in communication with you often is that a fair statement yes what is the age difference between you and your brother chandler 18 months and are you the older or younger sibling i am the older and just for the record um i think the judge is going to ask everyone but the jury to remove their mask for a few seconds do you see your brother chandler hulderson in the courtroom today if everyone could lower their masks briefly and after one two three replace your mask thank you i do could you please describe by where he's seated and what sort of maybe the color of his shirt table to the right uh with a purple shirt and a suit i would ask the record to reflect that the witness has identified the defendant it shall so mitchell if you're 18 months older are you 24 or 25 i just turned 25 okay um and in july of 2021 where were you working and what did you do i work at epic systems and i am a technical services representative a computer guy sure yes okay and are you married single something else uh engaged engaged okay and how long have you been engaged a little over a year okay um and you live in the dane county area yes um in a house a condo something else in a house okay um and just briefly in june of this last year 2021 you had a significant health episode is that a fair statement yeah i'd say so okay what occurred i went to the doctor for a regular scheduled appointment since i hadn't gone during covit and wanted to get blood work done and i was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and in fact you were hospitalized for a period of time yes that's true was your mom or dad did they seem concerned to you at all yes you kind of laughed there why'd you laugh my mom was overly concerned how did she express that not as much to me trying to not show me that but i have heard later on that she called her best friend many times crying okay growing up and moving into recently what sorts of things did you and your brother chandler do since we didn't live in the same house we would do things online like play video games and just talk that way okay what sort of video games did you play wide array but generally uh first person shooter games okay um and did your brother have a favorite weapon or gun in these games usually those of russian descent okay like the sks that's correct and in fact during your um illness your brother gave you a gift is that fair to say yes what did he give you a unknown type of bullet with the words get well soon on it i'm going to show you exhibit 26. how would you describe exhibit 26 that is the same one that's the bullet that your brother gave you and wrote to get well on yes move exhibit 26 into evidence any objection no it is received it may be published i don't think the overhead it is does get well i want to turn your attention uh to when your parents went missing this year how did you learn that your parents were potentially missing i don't remember the exact date but i did receive a call from my mom's best friend that had let me know that they had gone up that she had heard that they had gone up to the cabin okay so i did not suspect them missing at that time i just had heard that okay um and what is the your mom's best friend's name that would be jane hilgendorf okay so you get a call and in fact you call her aunt jane i do okay so you get a call from your aunt jane um what do you do if anything in response to that call i don't recall the exact events but i did not think much of it because they would be known to go up to the cabin during the summer let's talk about that um so your parents own a cabin correct where is that cabin langley county wisconsin okay um and how would you describe that cabin my grandpa had built it so it was mostly wood logs uh pretty run-of-the-mill which you would think of as a rustic cabin okay uh is it on waterfront in the forest something else yes it is on sawyer lake wisconsin uh is there any other outbuildings associated with this cabin such as a shed or a boathouse or anything like that both of those there is a shed out in the front a boathouse in the back and a in shambles tree house in the front yard as well okay and uh did your parents own a boat of any sort i believe so there was definitely a canoe i don't believe there was a full boat or at least not that i remember and nothing like a pontoon or a ski boat or something nothing with a motor that i'm remembering how often do you believe your parents went to the cabin they would at least open and close it every year and go probably one or two more times in addition to that so three or four times a year over the summer okay and what were your parents habits um about keeping in touch or not keeping in touch with you um in connection when they went to the cabin my mom would reach out any chance she could so she would she would have told me did your parents tell you in the last week of june or the very beginning of july any idea that they may be going to the cabin no so you first hear from your aunt jane what is the next thing that happens that you remember and concerning your parents being missing the next thing i remember is chandler texted me that he is worried about them okay um what if anything did you do in response asked more about why and just to hear what they had told him about leaving because i didn't hear anything about it and what did you learn from chandler that they had gone up north with friends that he didn't know who those friends were and didn't know the car that they had taken okay um what was your understanding of friends that may go to the cabin with your parents the list there is a list of people that i would have assumed uh do you want me to go through that list sure um that would be my aunt aunt jane uncle mike uh also dan and mary sesto who were on lived on the same street as well as galen rick anapaki who you might also hear from and i had reached out to each one of those men each one of those families and had heard back that none of them were the ones that had gone up north did you have any understanding about who would drive when your parents went to the cabin unless it was one of those three i would assume that they would drive because they're the ones that know the way and there are certain folks notably dan sesto that goes up there often enough that i would understand driving but nobody else okay um what happens next as far as you're concerned with your parents what's the next piece of news you you learn eventually a detective comes to my house uh rich bennett in order to just ask some more questions of me during the dis uh the investigation i believe that was the next thing that had occurred okay um what happened after that uh i believe it was a wednesday it was whatever day chandler was originally arrested i had actually gone up to the cabin myself in order to check it out just to see what was going on and why did you go to the cabin i wanted to do something myself about it i felt like i needed to do something so at this point on wednesday or whatever day you ended up going to the cabin were you fairly concerned yes okay and what led you to be being so concerned not having heard from them not being able to get a hold of them and not being told that they had gone up there to begin with so during this time period that you learned they're missing did you reach out to your mom or dad via text or phone calls yes did you hear anything back no and did that concern you yes at any point during this the time that you learned your parents were missing did anybody tell you that perhaps they were out gambling i don't believe during that period of between july 1st and july 7th i had heard anything about gambling okay let me just ask were your parents gamblers no um have you ever been to a casino with them to your knowledge have they ever taken a vacation and with the with entertainment that is gambling not that i'm aware of okay were your parents big drinkers they've gotten more into drinking i'd say since they moved back down to windsor they're yes but not huge drinkers no did you ever know your parents to drink tequila my mom would drink margaritas but not from mixing it herself it was the costco brand pre-made stuff okay um did you know either of your parents to drink jen i no i do not did your parents take their work or their jobs seriously not seriously or something else very seriously to your knowledge have they ever no called and no showed for work in the past that would be very strange for them to do i want to sh uh so you go up north um and you meet the a deputy up there correct um what do you do once you're out there before the deputies arrived i took a lap around the cabin myself just because i didn't want to wait outside any longer eventually langley county i guess the deputies i believe they were sheriffs and deputies met us there and eventually i took another walk around the property with them just pointing out things that i noticed and also they busted into the doors because they were all locked and the keys that i had were not working okay um and at any point obviously you did not find your parents up there no did you find any signs at all that they had been there nothing looked like it had been used there was a couple pieces of trash around but i believe that's just because sometimes people will walk through the property on the way either between properties or just in the way either way i do not believe it had been used anytime recently mitchell i want to ask you a few things um about your brother and what you knew in july of june and july of 2021. where if anywhere did you believe your brother worked in june of 2021 i believed at american family what did you think he did there answering questions on a message board things you can do from remotely your understanding is working from home like most people yes did you have any understanding about his payment schedule or anything like that in connection with american family no i wasn't really told much about that did you uh when he was arrested in july of 2021 were you under the impression he was still working at american and family i was what if anything did you believe about your brother chandler's schooling okay believed he had not currently graduated yet but was attending online classes at matc uh and what did you believe he was studying renewable resource engineering was the general consensus i had did you have any um knowledge about when he was scheduled to graduate or no okay and in june of 2021 your brother suffers a fall what if anything did you know about that fall i was told that while my dad was home working he had heard a thud and that he went upstairs to find my brother on the on the ground next to the staircase or on the staircase and did you see your brother in june of 2021 in june i did yes okay um what if any sort of lingering medical effects did he have to your knowledge i wasn't aware of a lot i believe there was general numbness i was told kind of uh during that and overall tiredness as well did you know anything about any potential long-term damage i don't believe that i was told enough yet it seemed like it was still under evaluation and did you know anything about appointments in the future i actually did i was told by chandler during that between the time frame i don't remember the exact date between july 1st and july 7th that he had an appointment and he was being he was asking if i could help give him a ride in case he needed one okay did you guys ever firm up any plans to take him to his appointment we had offered a ride if needed but he never ended up needing it okay and do you know roughly what date you were diagnosed with diabetes if the weekend was june 13th to 15th it was in that it was in the middle of the month whatever weekend around there and did chandler's fall occur before or after or during your hospitalization after okay um within days i don't remember could have been a week okay other than um chandler seeming tired did you personally observe any differences uh to chandler's physical appearance just the neck brace but no nothing else did you observe any difficulty he had walking i don't think so no did you observe any weakness of limbs picking things up anything like that i didn't see him pick much up either so i guess i can't say okay so mitchell i need to ask you a few difficult questions um are you a beneficiary for your parents life insurance i am how much do you believe that you will end up getting um out of life insurance because of their deaths they have a few different policies it is in the if i'm remembering correctly it is in the ballpark of around a million dollars that includes the house as well yeah that's i don't think i don't believe that's including the house actually have you been paid out anything as of today no is anybody else listed as a beneficiary i believe it went to my mom first if if my dad's death had preceded my mom's i guess their their policies listed each other as primary but then yes also my brother was listed in the same line as i was and mitchell did you have anything to do with your parents being missing not going missing no and were you fully cooperative in the investigation yes did you provide a dna or a buckle sample upon request yes did you provide proof of work during the first week in july upon request i did um and did you participate in multiple interviews with multiple different officers yes nothing further cross-examination good afternoon mr halderson my first questions have to do with um you living at that house in windsor wisconsin did you ever live there yourself i would never have listed that as my address no but i have stayed there over weekends and before july of 2021 you would be at that home one or two times a month perhaps to visit you know probably in the ballpark of two two to three possibly even four times a month yeah we we visited often because they were close and would those be overnight visits occasionally yes and when you say we is that with your um fiance that's correct now in july of 20 or june of 2021 um you did visit there on father's day is that right or fourth let me rephrase that you visited there for a father's day celebration that's correct but it wasn't on father's day i don't remember the date and that was a meal with everyone yes yes i believe i'm remembering the date you're talking about now yes how many other times did you visit that home in june of 2021 i don't believe i would be able to give an accurate number it would it's a couple but i don't remember the exact amount and is it fair to say that that would have been the number of times you saw your brother that month as well in person that is correct because yes you guys didn't get together other times now you did um or you do or you did have a relationship with your brother online is that right that's correct mostly playing um what you what our first person shooter video games mainly yes now in direct testimony you indicated that your brother was very interested in russian guns particularly the sks correct yes and that interest goes back uh several years at least right yes how many years do you think that goes back i wouldn't be able to tell you that a long time is that true and in fact when you would play he'd always pick that weapon if possible correct variety is something that's always nice but yeah that's definitely it would definitely be an option that would be one of his first pick yes now i'd like to ask you a little bit about the cabin um it's been a number of years since you've actually before july of 2021 it was a number of years before you act since you actually went there correct that's correct i did not frequent it as often as my parents do you remember the last time you went to the cabin i don't remember exactly which year now but it was probably in somewhere between three and five years it had been a while and have you did do you recall going to the cabin ever without your parents being with you no and when your parents would go to the cabin you say maybe four times a summer it wasn't uncommon that they would turn their phones off correct i think cell reception has gotten better over the years however the area is a little spotty in cell reception so it wouldn't be uncommon for them to turn them off to avoid roaming charges but they would also power them back on on occasion in order just to make sure that they would update us over the weekend of july 4th 2021 you weren't concerned about your parents until what point can you rephrase that yeah at what point did you become concerned about your parents so i was initially concerned because i hadn't heard of them going up it wasn't to the level of filing a missing person's case until i had heard further from from chandler that he was so con is concerned enough in order to do the to do that so my concern grew as time went on i would say around once that monday tuesday date where they were supposed to return hit i was definitely pretty concerned do you remember talking to um deputy celie from the sheriff's department i don't i don't remember that do you remember if you ever told doctor or excuse me detective celie that you yourself were not personally concerned at the time you were talking to deputy celie i don't remember which day that was and i also don't remember saying that is that something you might have said depending on the date possibly because as i said my concern grew over time so if it was early on then yes possibly so it's possible that at first you weren't that concerned normal for your parents to go up north but that your concern grew over time is that correct that is correct i still was concerned because they hadn't told me beforehand that they had left however it wasn't as concerned as to file a missing person's report thank you i don't have any other questions any redirect attorney raymond no may mr holderson be excused and released he's excused from his subpoena therefore right now he remains exempt from the sequestration order but it remains under technical so you would you would still have an obligation to re be recalled if recalled and thus you have to follow the sequestration as if you hadn't testified so far thank you sir you can return back to the lobby or the waiting room thank your honor the judge i'll note his exclusion from the sequestration order oh okay i see i'm sorry i misunderstood there's an exclusion so that you don't have to stay or avoid the courtroom even if you were to be recalled to testify thank you and attorney raymond yes the state is going to call sergeant groans to the stand

Channel: Law&Crime Network

Views: 450,773

Keywords: WI v Chandler Halderson First Appearance, Hearing, court, trial, Law&Crime Network, Dan Abrams Production, Crime, True Cime, Law and Crime, WI v. CHANDLER HALDERSON DISMEMBERED PARENTS TRIAL

Id: s8mYrPG4o-k

Length: 30min 50sec (1850 seconds)

Published: Wed Jan 05 2022