That meant 23-year-old Halderson would have to leave the house he shared with his parents in Windsor, Wisconsin, and move to Florida. But the whole family was excited to have the fantastic opportunity. It was 2021 and there was a lot of talk at home about Halderson’s future. Bart, 50, was an accountant and always supported his son. Halderson was a Scout, and Bart became involved with Scouting. His son was also a keen swimmer and Bart had gone to training together. Christa, 53, loved being the mother of Halderson and her other son, Mitchell, who had left home. Her friends said she dazzled people with her positivity – and always encouraged Halderson on his path to success. She and Bart were thrilled when he secured a place at the Madison County Technical College. He told them all about his studies and the work he did in parallel with his lessons. His strong swimming skills apparently led him to work for the police diving team and he also held a job at an insurance company, which he did remotely due to the pandemic. Bart often asked his son why he did not pay rent, but Halderson said there was a confusion with his salaries. He even showed his dad an email from HR claiming to solve the problem. Halderson, left, with his dad and brother, Mitchell ( Picture: YOUTUBE) Then in June, Halderson told them he had taken a job at SpaceX in Florida, announcing that he and his girlfriend would be moving there. He said he had already registered an apartment. But then, suddenly, there was a question mark over whether Halderson could take the job. He started wearing a neck brace and said he had fallen down some stairs, having suffered a concussion. The head injury meant he did not feel he could finally take the position due to driving and flight problems. There was also a delay from college with documentation of his qualifications, so Bart jumped in to try to help. He started emailing Halderson College to get to the bottom of it, desperate to secure his son’s great new job.

Unemployed drop out of school

Realizing he was being ignored, Bart called the college – and was surprised to learn that Halderson had only attended for a while before dropping out.  The staff he claimed to be talking to via email did not exist – he had falsified everything. 
When Bart confronted his son, Halderson told him they had a meeting on July 1 to get to the bottom of it – but, again, it turned out to be fake.  Many questions must have been raised at home as the reality that Halderson’s entire life was a web of lies began to sink.

The truth was that he had dropped out of college and was always unemployed. He never worked for the police or the insurance company – and he certainly was never offered a job at SpaceX. Halderson had gotten up for non-existent meetings and spent all day at home playing video games, telling his parents the striking details of a fictional life. He had set up fake email accounts for college and HR staff were supposed to be helping him pay so he could email Bart. He even had a cell phone – a cheap, prepaid cell phone that you can ruin or discard when you no longer need it – for fake calls. As the fake college date approached, Halderson’s life began to unfold. Then, on July 7, he announced the disappearance of his parents. He said they had gone to their cabin by the river in North Wisconsin for the weekend, but did not return. No one had seen them since July 1st. An investigation was launched and police began questioning Halderson. His story was not combined and he was not very willing to help. He said his parents were going with another couple, but he did not know who. He also said they went to watch a parade – but there was none. Halderson was arrested for obstruction, and witnesses placed him on a farm, where he had parked before going into the woods. Police went to the scene and made a horrific discovery – Bart’s body. Back at Halderson’s home, police found fragments of human bones in the fireplace and cutting tools covered in his parents’ DNA. Halderson was charged with Bart’s first-degree murder, concealing a corpse and mutilating a corpse. Then, on July 14, body parts were found by the Wisconsin River. It was Krista’s feet. The rest of her body and Bart’s remains will never be found. Halderson was also charged with her murder. Police found that Halderson shot his father in the back at their home on July 1. He had killed his mother when she returned. Bart and Krista were seduced by their son’s lies ( Picture: YOUTUBE) Since only Krista’s legs were found, it was impossible to determine the cause of her death. He had dismembered their bodies with a saw and scissors before trying to burn them in the family fireplace. The ashes in the fireplace contained fragments of a human skull, facial bones and knee bones. Halderson had thrown the ends of Christa along the Wisconsin River and Bart’s trunk into farmland. His cell phone was placed in both locations where parts of his parents’ body were found and he was seen buying ice at gas stations – possibly in an attempt to slow down the decomposition of the debris. His Internet history showed that after the murder, he searched for “a dismembered body of Wisconsin”, even before his parents were discovered. When it came to motivation, exposing Halderson’s lies was at the top of the list. He was hours away from going to college with his dad. But there was no evidence that Bart and Christa had threatened to prosecute him, denounce him – or support him. It seemed like an absurd reason for a brutal double murder.

The acts of a coward

At trial in January this year, prosecutors said Halderson killed his parents because the web of his lies was exposed. There was growing pressure to start paying rent – and they said SpaceX’s job was a desperate last resort. “The best way out of the job you are pretending is an even more fake job,” the prosecutor said. “He will become an astronaut. “He had two choices – to face his lies, to stand up and finally tell the truth for once or, like a coward, to shoot your father in the back – and that’s exactly what happened.” The jury heard that Bart and Krista’s bodies had been cut and set on fire. “He had burned his parents’ heads in the fireplace,” the prosecutor said. While Halderson had pleaded not guilty, he took no position to explain or deny his actions. The defense told him that while he was a liar, he was just a “normal kid” who liked video games and being with his girlfriend. “Chandler Halderson did not kill his parents,” they said. The cabin in North Wisconsin ( Picture: YOUTUBE) But the prosecution said that after the death of his parents, he had not expressed a single moment of grief. Throughout the prison calls and messages to which the police had access, he had not mourned at all – and they said this was “unique” in their experience. Neighbors’ security cameras had recorded which vehicles were coming and going on July 1 – the day Bart and Halderson were about to go to college. Bart had texted his son that day shortly before the supposed meeting, saying, “I’m ready whenever you’re.” It was the last time he used his phone. Halderson then texted his mom saying Bart’s phone was dead and could bring him back a soft drink. “Okay I can,” Krista replied with a smiling face. “We know that Bart and Krista entered this house and never left, at least as whole people,” the prosecutor told the court. They said solving a case was like putting together a puzzle, and Halderson “had eight days to put the pieces of this puzzle all over Wisconsin.” The court found Halderson guilty of two counts of first-degree murder, mutilation of a corpse, concealment of a corpse and providing false information about a missing person. He tried not to appear in his sentence, but the judge rejected his request. In March of this year, Halderson, now 24, faced his conviction and spoke briefly to say he would appeal and then tried to explain his cold-blooded behavior during the trial. “It’s not that I have no feelings, it’s that I was warned not to show them in the control of this case,” he said. Halderson’s grandmother said she loved him even while his actions were “horrible”, hoping he would find a trade in prison and be released one day. The judge said he could not be so lenient and had to protect the public with a harsh sentence. “I have to make sure that the only time Mr. Halderson returns to the community is to have the privilege of burying his parents,” he said, before sentencing him to life without the possibility of release. The extent of Halderson’s lies was shocking – but no one could know how far the fantasist was willing to go to avoid the exposure. read more The mysterious killer who stabbed a man may have hit a “brothel” months earlier read more Man bitten by hundreds of spiders forced to sleep on stage to escape attack