June 18, 2026

S2 Ep27: The Web Of Lies The Chandler Halderson Murders

Show Notes
Transcript

A young man with a dream future, a SpaceX job, and a promising college career seemed to have it all. But behind the image was a web of lies that would end in one of Wisconsin's most shocking family murder cases. In this episode of Among Monsters, Myia Vale examines the chilling story of Chandler Halderson.

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Windsor, Wisconsin, a quiet community just north of Madison, the

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kind of place where neighbors wave when they passed one another,

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where families gather for backyard cookouts, where violent crime feels

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like something that happened somewhere else. But in the summer

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of twenty twenty one, that peaceful image shattered. A young

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man stood before cameras asking for help. His parents were missing,

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gone without explanation, no phone calls, no messages, no trace.

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He appeared worried, concerned, desperate for answers. But investigators would

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soon discover something terrifying. The person asking for help wasn't

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searching for his parents. He already knew exactly where they were.

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What began as a missing person's case quickly transformed into

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one of the most disturbing family murder investigations in Wisconsin history,

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A story involving years of deception, fake college classes, fake careers,

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fake job opportunities, and a son willing to go to

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unimaginable links to keep the truth from being exposed. This

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is the story of Chandler Halderson, a young man whose

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life was built on lies and whose web of deception

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ended in murder. Welcome to among monsters. I'm Maya Hanson.

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Today we're examining one of Wisconsin's most shocking modern murder cases,

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the murders of Bart and Krista Halderson. Before we begin,

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please remember this episode contains discussions of homicide and disturbing

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criminal acts. Listener discretion is advised. On the surface, Chandler

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Halderson appeared to be a typical young man. He lived

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with his parents in Windsor, Wisconsin. Friends liked him, his

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family supported him. His future seemed bright. At least that's

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what everyone believed. Chandler told people he was attending Madison College.

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He claimed he was progressing toward graduation. He talked about classes, assignments,

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career plans, and exciting opportunities. One of those opportunities sounded

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especially impressive. Chandler told people he had secured employment with SpaceX,

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the company founded by Elon Musk, the company building rockets

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and sending astronauts into space. To family and friends, it

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sounded like a dream come true. There was only one problem.

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None of it was true. The college attendance was fake.

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The academic progress was fake. The SpaceX opportunity was fake.

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The future he described didn't exist for years Handler maintained

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an elaborate fiction, and the people closest to him believed it.

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His girlfriend believed it, his friends believed it. Most importantly,

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his parents believed it. Art and Krista Halderson loved their son.

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They trusted him, They wanted him to succeed. Like many parents,

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they assumed he was telling the truth. But lies have

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a way of growing. One lie becomes two, two become ten,

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ten become a hundred. Eventually, the truth begins pushing through

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the cracks, and by twenty twenty one, those cracks were

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becoming impossible to ignore. Art Halderson started asking questions, reasonable questions,

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questions any parent might ask, how are classes going, when

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would graduation happen? What exactly was happening with the SpaceX job?

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Can we see documentation? Can we verify details? For Chandler,

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those questions created a serious problem because there were no answers,

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only more lies. According to prosecutors, Art was beginning to

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discover the truth. His son wasn't attending college, his son

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wasn't preparing for graduation, his son wasn't working toward a

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future with SpaceX. The entire story was falling Apart and

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Chandler knew it. Imagine carrying a lie for years. Imagine

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constructing an entirely fictional version of your life. Then imagine

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realizing the people closest to you are about to uncover everything.

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Most people would confess, most people would face the embarrassment.

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Most people would deal with the consequences. According to prosecutors,

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Chandler chose a different path, a deadly path. In early

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July twenty twenty one, Art and Krista Halderson disappeared, or

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at least that's what Chandler reported. According to Chandler, his

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parents had left for a weekend trip to a family cabin.

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He claimed they were traveling with another couple. He said

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they never returned. He said they simply vanished. At first glance,

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the story sounded believable. People leave town all the time,

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sometimes phones die, sometimes travel plans change. But investigators quickly

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noticed problems. The cabin owner knew nothing about the trip,

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no arrangements had been made, nobody was expecting Barton Christa,

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the mysterious couple Chandler described, couldn't be verified. Almost immediately,

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detectives realized something wasn't right. The story had holes, big holes,

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and every time investigators ask questions, more inconsistencies appear. The

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case quickly shifted from a missing person's investigation into something

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much darker. Investigators began focusing on Chandler not because they

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had proof, not yet, but because his behavior raised concern.

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His timeline changed, details shifted, certain explanations didn't match the evidence. Meanwhile,

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detectives began gathering digital information, cell phone records, computer activity,

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electronic communications. What they discovered painted an increasingly troubling picture.

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The more investigators learned about Chandler's life, the more deception

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they found. Years of deception, years of fabricated accomplishments, years

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of fake success. If he could lie about college, if

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he could lie about employment, if he could lie about SpaceX,

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what else could he be lying about? That question became

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the center of the investigation, and soon investigators found evidence

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suggesting the answer was terrified. Then came the discovery that

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changed everything. Authority searching property connected to the investigation located

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human remains. The case immediately transformed. This was no longer

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a missing person's investigation. This was a homicide investigation. Eventually,

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the remains were identified as Bart Halderson. The community was stunned,

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the father everyone had been searching for wasn't missing, he

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was dead. Investigators continued their search. Not long afterward, additional

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remains were discovered. Those remains belonged to Krista Halderson. Now

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there was no doubt both parents had been murdered. The

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question was simple, who killed them? Investigators believed they already

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knew the answer. As detectives dug deeper into Chandler's life,

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they uncovered deception at nearly every level. Friends learned he

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wasn't attending college. Family members learned this SpaceX opportunity never existed.

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Promises collapsed, excuses unraveled. The image Chandler spent years creating

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began disintegrating. Prosecutors later argued that Bart's discovery of those

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lies created the motive. The truth was coming, Exposure was inevitable,

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and Chandler couldn't accept it. Instead of admitting failure, instead

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of confessing the truth, according to prosecutors, he murdered the

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two people most capable of exposing him, his parents. It

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was a motive that seemed almost impossible to comprehend. Yet

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evidence continued building, and eventually prosecutors believed they had enough

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to bring the case to trial. For months, investigators worked tirelessly.

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Search warrants were executed, Witnesses were interviewed, Digital evidence was analyzed.

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Forensic experts examined physical evidence. The case became a massive puzzle,

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and investigators slowly assembled every piece. Cell Phone records placed

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Chandler in critical locations, digital evidence contradicted his statements. Witnesses

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described years of deception. The prosecution argued that all the

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evidence pointed toward one conclusion. Chandler Halderson murdered Bart and

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Chrystal holders. Now they needed to prove it. In court.

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January twenty twenty two, Dane County Courthouse, the trial began.

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The public followed every development. News organizations packed the courtroom,

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families weighted anxious, and Chandler sat at the defense table

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as prosecutors began presenting their case. The prosecution's theory was straightforward.

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Chandler built his life on lies. Those lies were about

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to be exposed, and he murdered his parents to stop

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the truth from coming out. The defense challenged the state's

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interpretation of events. They questioned conclusions, They scrutinized evidence. They

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attempted to create reasonable doubt. But the prosecution came prepared

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and the evidence was extensive. Modern investigations often leveled digital footprints, computers, phones,

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search histories, location data, electronic records. Investigators presented evidence from

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Chandler's devices, yours learned about searches, communications, and digital activity

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that prosecutors argued connected Chandler directly to the crimes. Unlike

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witness memories, digital evidence often tells its own story, and

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according to prosecutors, that story wasn't favorable to Chandler. Again

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and again, digital records contradicted his explanations. Again and again,

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evidence challenged his version of events. The prosecution continued methodically

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building its case, peace by peace, fact by fact, Lie

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by lie. Witnesses described the Chandler they thought they knew.

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Friends testified, family members testified, his girlfriend testified. Each story

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revealed another layer of deception. The fake college career, the

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fake achievements, the fake SpaceX opportunity, the fake future. Fears

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heard how people trusted him, believed him, supported him, only

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to discover years later that nearly everything had been fabricated.

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It wasn't just one lie, it was an entire false identity,

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and prosecutors argued that when that identity faced exposure, violence followed.

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Forensic experts presented evidence gathered during the investigation. Investigators explained

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search effort. Specialists discussed physical findings. The prosecution tied those

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findings to Chandler's behavior and statements. Yours listened carefully. The

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evidence wasn't based on emotion, it wasn't based on speculation,

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it wasn't based on physical facts, and those facts continued

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pointing toward Chandler. By the end of testimony, prosecutors believed

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they had established a powerful case. Now the decision rested

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with twelve jurors. Closing arguments brought everything together. The prosecution

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reminded Jers about the lies, the fake college attendants, the

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fabricated job opportunities, the false claims about SpaceX, the changing

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stories after Burt and Christ disappeared, the digital evidence, the

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forensic evidence, the witness testimony. Everything pointed in one direction.

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The defense urged caution. They reminded Jers about reasonable doubt.

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They argued the state had not proven every claim beyond question.

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Then the jury retired to deliberate. The weight began. When

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juror's returned, the courtroom fell silent. Everyone knew this moment

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would determine Chandler Halderson's future. One verdict after another was

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read outloud, guilty, guilty, guilty. The jury convicted Chandler Halderson

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of murdering both of his parents. The verdict ended months

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of uncertainty for investigators. It validated their work. For prosecutors,

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it confirmed their case. For Barton Christa's loved ones, it

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brought a measure of justice, but it could never bring

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the people back they lost. The sentencing hearing was emotional.

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Family members spoke. The court reviewed the devastating impact of

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the crimes. Two lives had been taken, a family had

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been shattered, trust had been destroyed. The judge ultimately imposed

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life sentences. The punishment ensured handler would spend the remainder

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of his life behind bars. For many observers, the sentence

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reflected the extraordinary betrayal at the center of the case.

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A son had murdered his parents, parents who loved him,

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parents who believed in him, parents who wanted him to succeed.

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The tragedy was almost impossible to comprehend. When people imagine monsters,

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they often imagined strangers, unknown predators lurking in dark places,

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dangerous people hiding in plain sight. But some of the

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most disturbing cases challenged that idea. Sometimes monsters aren't strangers.

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Sometimes they're family. Sometimes the danger exists inside the very

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home we believed are safest. Art and Crystal Halderson spent

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years supporting their son, encouraging him, trusting him, believing in him.

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According to prosecutors, and ultimately a Wisconsin jury, that trust

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ended in tragedy, A tragedy built on deception, a tragedy

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fueled by fear of exposure, A tragedy that shook an

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entire state. The web of lies Chandler Halderson created eventually collapsed,

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but when it did, two innocent people lost their lives.

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And that's what makes this case so haunting, not simply

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the murders, but the fact that everything began was something

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so ordinary, a lie, then another lie, then another, until

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the truth finally demanded to be heard. Thank you for

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joining me for this episode of Among Monsters. If you

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enjoy deep dives into true crime, criminal psychology, and the

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darkest corners of human behavior, be sure to follow the

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podcast and share it with others who enjoy investigative storytelling.

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Until next time, stay aware, stay curious, and remember, sometimes

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monsters don't live under the bed. Sometimes they sit across

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the dinner table. I'm Maya Hanson, and this has been

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among monsters

S2 Ep27: The Web Of Lies The Chandler Halderson Murders

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