Dropped Out Son Brutally Chopped Up His Parents And Burned Their Heads In The Fireplace

Bart and Krista Halderson used to be proud parents over their son's remarkable life achievements. Their son, Chandler had told his parents how he was doing good at a technical college and his work with the local police on their scuba diving team was going exceptional. And now he had secured a job with SpaceX, the pioneering spaceflight company founded by Tesla entrepreneur Elon Musk.

Getting job in a big company means Halderson would have to move out of his family home that he shared with his paretns in in Windsor, Wisconsin, and move to Florida. But the whole family were excited about him getting the fantastic opportunity.

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In 2021 the family discussed the bright prospects of Halderson’s future. Bart, 50, was an accountant and had always supported his son. Halderson had been a Scout and Bart had got involved by becoming a Scout den leader. His son was also a keen swimmer and Bart had gone along to his training sessions.

Krista, 53, was a lovable mother to Halderson and their other son Mitchell, who had already left home. Krista's friends were impressed by her positive nature and how she was a doting mother who would encourage her son Halderson to do better in life. 

She and Bart had been thrilled when he had secured a place at Madison Area Technical College. He’d tell them all about his studies and the jobs he was doing alongside his classes.

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His remarkable swimming abilities also led him to get an opportunity to work on the police scuba diving team and he also held down a job at an insurance firm, which he was doing remotely due to the pandemic.

Apparently, everything was going perfectly fine, but Bart would often question his son on why he was not paying his rent on time. Halrderosn told his father on how there was a mix-up in his wages and that HR was working on sorting out the problem.

Then later in June, Halderson told his parents about his job at SpaceX and he has to move to Florida with his girlfriend.

He said he had already sorted a flat. But then, suddenly, there was a question mark over whether Halderson could take the job.

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Then later, Halderson started wearing a neck brace and told his family that he'd fallen down some stairs, suffering a concussion. The head injury meant he didn’t feel he was able to take the position after all, due to problems with driving and flying.

Then there was an additional delay from college in terms of documentation and so Bart couldn't see his son suffering like this, so he jumped in to help him. 

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He started emailing Halderson’s college to get to the bottom of the delay, desperate to secure his son’s extraordinary new job.

But Bart received no response from the college which compelled him to call them and inquire. However, he was left reeling with shock after learning that Halderson had only attended for a while before dropping out. The staff he claimed to have been talking to on email didn’t exist – he had faked it all.

Bart eventually confronted his son over his lies and Halrdeosn assured him that they had a meeting on July 1 to sort things out. This, however, was fake too.

As the reality of Halderson's lies began to sink in, a lot of questions and confusion were raised over the whole matter. 

The truth was that he’d dropped out of college and had always been unemployed. He never worked for the police or at the insurance company – and he was certainly never offered a job at SpaceX.

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Halderson had been going out to attend meetings that never existed. In fact, he was spending a big chunk of his day holed up at home, playing video games, meanwhile lying to his parents about his successful life.

He had set up in his life everything fake. From fake email accounts to fake interactions with HR, everything was a big fat lie.

He even had a burner phone – a cheap, pre-paid mobile you can destroy or discard when no longer needed – to fake calls.

Now as the lies began to unravel, Halderosn's reality started to bare in front of his parents. Suddenly, on July 7, Halderson reported his parents missing. He said they had gone to their riverside cabin in north Wisconsin for the weekend but not returned. No one had seen them since 1 July.

Police search began and detectives started to question Halderson on his whereabouts. However, his story was too confusing and didn't make much sense. He told the police that his parents were going with another couple but he didn’t know who. He also said they went to watch a parade – but there wasn’t one.

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Soon Halderson was arrested for being obstructive and witnesses placed him at a rural property, which he’d parked before going into the woods. Police then went to the site and what they discovered was enough to leave them feeling sick to their stomachs – Bart’s torso. Officers also found human bone fragments in the fireplace back at their home and discovered cutting tools in the DNA of his parents. Halderson was charged with Bart’s first-degree murder, hiding a corpse, and mutilating a corpse.

On July 14, police found the remaining body parts alongside the Wisconsin River. They were Krista’s legs. The rest of her body and Bart’s remains would never be found. Halderson was also charged with her murder.

Police determined that Halderson had shot his dad in the back at their home on 1 July. He had then killed his mum when she returned.

Krista's only legs were discovered and based on that only it was difficult to determine the real cause of her death.

Police later learned the truth behind the brutal murder on how Halderosn 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 human skull, facial bones and knee bones.

The cruel son then dumped Krista's limbs along the Wisconsin River and Bart’s torso at the rural property. His mobile placed him at both locations where his parents’ body parts were found and he was seen buying ice at petrol stations – presumably in an effort to slow the decomposition of the remains.

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Detectives later revealed that Halderson's internet history showed a search for “Wisconsin dismembered body found”, even before his parents had been discovered.

Now when it came to the motive behind such a cruel manner of murder, Halderosn's lies made it to the top of the list. Apparently, before the murder, Halderosn was only hours away from having to go to college with his dad. Even though there is no evidence that Bart and Krista had threatened to throw him out, disown him – or be anything but supportive. It seemed like a senseless reason to murder his own parents just to cover up his pathetic lies.

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During the trial in January this year, the prosecution said Halderson had killed his parents because his web of lies had been exposed. There was mounting pressure to start paying rent – and they said the SpaceX job had been a desperate final lie.

“The best way out of your pretend job is an even more pretend job,” the prosecutor said. “He’s gonna be an astronaut. He had two options – own up to his lies, stand up and finally tell the truth for once or, like a coward, shoot your father in the back – and that’s exactly what happened.”

The jury heard how Bart and Krista’s bodies had been cut up and set on fire. “He had burned his parents’ heads in the fireplace,” the prosecution said.

Though Halderson pleaded not guilty, he also didn't take the stand to defend his actions. His defense said 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 murder his parents,” they said.

However, the prosecution shared that after his parent's bizarre death, Halderson showed no grief. But the prosecution said that after the death of his parents, he had not displayed one moment of grief. Throughout his jail calls and messages, which police had access to, he hadn’t mourned at all – and they said that was “unique” in their experience.

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Neighbours’ security cameras had captured which vehicles came and went on 1 July – the day that Bart and Halderson were due to go to the college. Bart had texted his son that day just before the supposed meeting, saying, “I’m ready whenever you are.” It was the last time he used his phone. Then, Halderson messaged his mum saying Bart’s phone had died and could she bring him back a soda. “OK I can,” Krista replied, with a smiley face.

“We know that Bart and Krista went into that home and never came out, at least as whole people,” the prosecution told the court.

They said that solving a case was like putting a jigsaw together and Halderson “had eight days to spread pieces of that puzzle all over Wisconsin”.

The jury found Halderson guilty on two counts each of first-degree murder, mutilating a corpse, hiding a corpse and giving false information about a missing person. He tried to get out of appearing at his sentencing, but the judge denied his request.

In March this year, Halderson, now 24, faced his sentencing and spoke briefly to say he would appeal, then tried to explain his cold behaviour during the trial. “It’s not that I do not have feelings, it’s that I was warned to not show them in the scrutiny of this case,” he said.

Meanwhile, Halderson’s grandmother said she still loved him and, while his acts were “horrific”, she hoped that one day he will be released. However, the judge made it clear that he couldn't be forgiving and it is his duty to protect the public by giving him harsh sentence.

“I have to ensure the only time Mr Halderson comes back into the community is to have the privilege of a burial he denied his parents,” he said, before sentencing him to life in jail without the chance of parole.

The extent of Halderson’s lies has been shocking but no one had any idea the length he was willing to go to cover these lies.

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