S11, Chapter 18: Retribution

0:00 That has changed. Mister Holderson would like to give a statement to your. Honor, and I would only ask that you read slowly, simply because my court reporter has to take down what you're saying, and sometimes we read faster than we mean to. Here, Hunter, I want to take this opportunity to stay. Tapes from the Dark Side contains descriptions of violence and sexuality. Listener, discretion is advised. The Chandler holders than trial lasted ten days, and I watched all ten days of testimony more than once, probably more than twice. On January twentieth, twenty and twenty two, the jury returned a verdict in just over two hours.

0:55 Let's not beat around the bush. The verdict form on count one, as signed by the presiding Juror and dated today, reads, we the Jury find the defendant Chandler m Alderson guilty of first degree intentional homicide as to bart A Holderson, as charged in count one of the amended information. As to the verdict form for count two, as signed and dated, we the jury find the defendant Chandler m. Holderson guilty of providing false information about a missing person as to bart A Holderson Count three, we the jury find the defendant Chandler M. Halderson, guilty of mutilating a corpse as to bart A. Holderson. Count four, we the jury find the defendant Chandler M.

1:39 Holderson guilty of hiding a corpse as to bart A. Holderson. For count five, as signed and dated reads, we the jury find the defendant Chandler M. Alderson guilty of first degree intentional homicide as to CHRISTA. R. Alderson. Count six guilty of providing false information about a missing person as to CHRISTA R. Halderson. The verdict form has to count seven guilty of mutilating a corpse as to CHRISTA R. Halderson. And finally, the verdict form for count eight, as signed and dated reads, we the jury find the defendant Chandler M. Halderson guilty of hiding a corpse as to CHRISTA R. Holderson, as charged in count eight of the amended information.

2:26 Judge John Hyland then thank the. Jury, ladies and gentlemen. At this point in time, you have finished your service here as the jury in this case. I have to tell you that words are difficult to come with to express the gratitude that I feel and that I believe those people within the criminal justice system which we serve feel regarding the time and concentration and sacrifices which you gave for this process. You are committed, holly and wholeheartedly to this process, and I thank you. I'll be happy to with you after I've finished here in the courtroom, if you wish to stay and please go with our thanks and gratitude.

3:07 Brandy, all right, bond or lack thereof is set and a sentencing hearing is then discussed. I will revoke bail at this time, and we have a date in March for a sentencing hearing. I think we have a full day available, but I don't know if the parties anticipate needing a half day or a full day. Do you have any thoughts on that, Attorney Brown? And the tentative date for a sentencing hearing is set for March seventeenth or eighteenth. Bond is revoked, meaning Chandler Holderson will unquestioningly remain behind bars for at least the next three months. Not that it really matters, because Chandler had no one left to pay his bond even if it was set. His parents are obviously gone, his brother Mitchell wants nothing to do with him, and at this point him and Kat were broken up. I got an interview with Chandler's bunk made from County Jail, who told me a little bit about the specifics of Chandler and Cat's break up, the phone calls between them on YouTube.

4:17 I think people are curious about as far as how or whyatt ended, because I think the last call we got was, you know, just a very happy, cheery call, and then that there were no more calls after that. But yeah, to be. Honest, I think that it actually happened over a text, if I remember correctly. I remember just one day he said, well me catter over. I was just like you all right, and He's like, yeah, yeah, I'll be fine, And I kind of want to say that was a little bit of the end of it. He had some strong opinions about, you know, about what happened, but he always is very into her. It really upset and that Kat had cooperated with the police to the point that she did a lot of things that he had said were like he didn't have to give them anything. She could have just declined an interview.

5:20 I'll play the rest of that interview later, but for now, let's hear from a jury member in the trial of Chandler Holderson. I was curious to hear if she was as surprised as I was in how lack lust hers defense was. First time we're hearing from one of the jurors and Chandler Halderson's homicide trial last week. Halderson was convicted of killing and dismembering his parents, Bart and Christa. During the two week trial, Halderson did not testify and his attorneys did not call any witnesses. Only on twenty seven News, a juror reveals how that decision played a key role in the verdict. What did you think about the fact that Handler Holderson's attorneys called no witnesses.

6:04 We were all shocked. I mean we we didn't None of us had ever been in a jury like this, obviously, in a trial this like this, So it was we were shocked because you think that you're going to hear two sides to a story, and when they said they had nothing, we were shocked. So it obviously made our deliberations a lot shorter than they might have been if we had anything to go on we had, We had no nothing. And you'll remember that one of the defense attorneys in her closing argument, made it clear that they conceded that Chandler Holderson had told lies about his life and other things, but she emphasized that, you know, from her perspective, we didn't know what happened in that home. She even suggested that we can't rule this out as an accident. How did you and how did you respond to that?

7:12 It just the timeline and the technology in this case was just too great for us to ignore. They're just it just there was just no question. We just we didn't have anything else to go on except for what the state presented, and it was all there for. Us after the evidence was presented. Testimony, the closing arguments. You received your instructions from the judge when you and the other jurors went into the jury room, did you immediately take a vote? How did you go forward? No, we did not take a meeted vote. We kind of all got our notes together and decided to put some things on a whiteboard and each charge and kind of discuss each charge and you know, go from there.

8:12 How difficult was it to look at those photos of body parts and know that they were Bart and Crystal Halderson. It was It was pretty gruesome for sure. I mean, and we were warned, but you know, it's just something you look at and look away. It's it was something a lot all of us had never seen before, obviously, so it was not very it was gruesome. Darcy. What did you think of the testimony of Andrew Smith, Chandler Holderson's friend who came from Kansas and brought that brought that rifle.

8:59 He was quite a carecharacter. We thought he was pretty straightforward and shot from the hip, and you know, told us everything that he thought would be important. And I think he was honest. Would I swear that they would have moved heaven and earth for him if he would have came to them and said, mom, Dad, I don't know what happened to me. I snapped, I've been telling lies for the last how many years to you and my friends and my girlfriend, and I need help. Darcy. Why do you think Chandler Halderson did this abominable thing? I don't you know. I don't know, Tony, I really don't.

9:39 I just think he got caught up in the lies and it was just his whole life was a lie. His friends didn't know him, his girlfriend didn't know him, his parents had been caught up in these lies the past couple of years. We didn't know what kind of person Chandler was before this happen. We were given no information about his life, nothing about him, so I can't say I know anything about that. The only thing I can say, and that I think I do know, is that his parents loved him very much, and for their fate to be what it was is just it was incomprehensible.

10:25 Tony Galli of WKOW News had one last question for Darcy Widmer. What should his sentence be? This would be the question on the forefront of everyone's mind going into the next phase of this case. We knew that Chandler Halderson would get a minimum of life in prison, but would he or should he be eligible for parole at some point during this sentence? Do you have an opinion on what his sentence should be? And I'll qualify that he will get a mandatory life sentence, but the question will be whether the judge set's a eight when he potentially could be eligible for parole. The earliest I believe would be twenty years, So whether he said it at twenty forty sixty or never, do you have an opinion.

11:14 On that, I don't. I think it should be longer than twenty for sure, but I don't really have an opinion on that. Before the date of the sentencing hearing had arrived, Chandler Holderson's attorney filed one last, quite surprising motion, and that was a motion to waive his appearance at sentencing. It seems that Chandler Holderson didn't want to be there in person to accept the consequences of his actions. His lawyers cited in nineteen ninety six case which allegedly allowed defendants to waive their right to be present. District Attorney William Brown, whose voice you've heard throughout this series, opposed this request, adamantly, arguing that Wisconsin law mandates the defendant's presence at sentencing.

12:05 This whole debacle post an important question. Is it possible that Chandler's absence could be permissible under the law? Could he dodge accountability one last time? The man convicted of murdering and dismembering his parents his schedule to be sentenced later this week, but Chandler Holderson does not want to be there. Holderson's attorney filed an affidavid with the court verifying he wants to skip it. UW Associate law professor John Gross notes Marcy's law guarantees a victim's right to address a court on the harm done to them. The question really becomes, well, you know, does the defendant have to be present to hear that?

12:46 If Chandler Holderson must be in court, Gross says he's unlikely to be able to sabotage that. If a defendant is on a hunger strike or a threatened self harm or will will not cooperate in any way to be taken to court where we left, then. The judge always has the capacity to order that the defendant be brought to court. In a document to Judge John Hyland by Attorney Brown, he acknowledged that Alderson had constitutional and statutory rights, but that these were not endless. Quote. He's a convicted murderer, body mutilator, and a liar. His request to skip his sentencing hearing is absurd, in an affront to the public's interest and expectation of his court system.

13:34 The defendant has no right to simply eskip court hearings that might be uncomfortable, or to avoid finally being held responsible for his behavior. We only know of two exceptions to the law that a defendant must attend their sentencing hearing. One is for misdemeanors and the other is when a defendant refuses to attend the trial. I want to give a quick thank you to Channel three thousand News and Sierra rem and Tony Galli at WKOW for their reporting on this specific situation and the entire Holderson case. We've referenced their articles a number of times in this series. When we come back, we'll hear the judge's decision. Would Chandler be forced to attend sentencing? If you want to skip the ads in this episode. In all of our episodes in our back catalog, I believe now including our bonus episodes, we have over one hundred episodes, including our new series that's exclusive to Patreon and Apple Plus called Night Terrors. Then subscribe today for the cost of less than one coffee a month Patreon dot com. Slash Tapes from the Dark Side will be right back. Don't go anywhere. Judge John High issued his order Wednesday morning a response to the motion filed

15:04 by Alderson's defense. His specific request that he not be required to attend the sentencing hearing. The Dane County man convicted of killing and dismembering his parents will have to face his family and the public at his sentencing hearing tomorrow. Judge Hyland cited a ruling from nineteen ninety seven in which a Wisconsin Supreme Court said a defendant in a felony case could not voluntarily waive the right to be present at sentencing. We must consider if a factor in Highland's decision was setting precedent. If he ruled that Halderson could voluntarily not show up for sentencing, could this stop future convicts from pulling the same stunt? Hyland wrote, quote.

15:48 Requiring his attendance at trial may violate Hallerson's expressed wishes, but it does not violate his constitutional rights. While any right can be waived, the Court has not observed any successful appellate cases where the denial of a waiver has resulted in a reversal of conviction. And so the sentencing date had finally arrived Thursday, March seventeenth, twenty twenty two, the moment Chandler had so desperately tried to delay. We've seen this with other cases we've covered. The red Wine trial comes to mind, where the perpetrator tries so desperately to keep their secrets hidden that their actions become some kind of self fulfilling prophecy. Chandler wanted more than anything to hide the fact that he had no job, had flunked out of school, wasn't a rescue diver, and was essentially a bum who played video games all day. On top of that, he was now a convicted murderer, and for the first time in his life, he couldn't duck the consequences. No, Chandler would have to appear in person to hear the judge's sentence remarks and the victim impact statements.

17:00 Let me call Stated Wisconsin versus Chandler m. Halderson Case number twenty one CM fifteen sixty eight afternoon. Good afternoon. Let's first touch base to ensure that everyone has had access to the same materials as we're here for sentencing. I also wanted to note the following victim impact statements which the court received to ensure that the parties received those as well. Beyond statements reflected within the pre sentence. I received a impact statement from BH, which is mister Halderson's brother. From CN, mister Mitchell Holderson's fiance jah who, as I recall, testified at trial and is essentially a sister in spirit to Krystal Halderson. And then a fourth letter from an individual et who was an individual impacted here based upon past connections with Crystal Halderson. As a statutory question, Attorney Vera, is there any reason we should not now proceed to a sentencing hearing?

18:14 A very good One thing that Judge Highland will reference in his statements today is a PSI. For the uninitiated, PSI is a pre sentence investigation, basically a background report on an individual who the judge is determining a sentence for. It can include interviews with the defendant, interviews with people in the defendant's family, and a number of other documents. It's meant to give the judge a holistic idea of the defendant in their background, criminal history, education, employment, and even substance abuse. Essentially, the PSI attempts to get at what we've been trying to get at this entire season.

18:59 How can we make sense of the crime that occurred in past cases? We've had ten of them so far. I feel like we've been able to come to at least some satisfying conclusions with Mark RedWine, there was a secret fetish with Jesse Washington, there was racial prejudice with Don Spirit, there was drugs and a failed social system, And in this case, quite frankly, I expected to find something like that. One thing I suspected was perhaps there was some kind of abuse going on that no one had seen. I doubted that it was from Chandler's mother, Christa, but maybe Bart. Is there any possibility that Bart had been abusing Chandler Except in all the research we've done and in all the interviews that were conducted, there was never any hint that anything like that was happening. And in my research I found out that study show that most parrisides don't happen because of a Sometimes it's money. Now, remember there was a million dollar life insurance policy, but it's very rarely because the parents were abusing a child that the child kills the parents. Now you know by now my theory of video game addiction, and I'm still convinced that that could have played a role, But it still doesn't seem to be a satisfying answer to the question why. We also had the possibility of ketamine drugging,

20:31 but we can't be sure of that, because Chandler lied about almost everything, and even if you were drugged with ketamine, why would that make you kill your parents? At almost every turn, we're left with extremely underwhelming explanations. Let's find out what the court found in their PSI. I'm going to spend a lot of my time today talking about the victims and who they were as people, but I am going to start with. Talking about the character of the This PSI was kind of not your average PSI. I've often said in serious sentencings that reading PSIS is one of the most depressing things about my job, and that I really dislike it, although what it does provide is a context to crime.

21:18 Almost every homicide. I've prosecuted there's been a fairly tragic backstory of the defendant, violence, drugs, just tragedy, and you often are left with an explanation, not an excuse, but an explanation as to why a crime occurred. Why did this eighteen year old kill a seventeen year old. There's not an explanation here. Chandler grew up with a life of privilege by pretty much. I think any sort of angle you look at it. He had two parents that were married and that seemed to be happily married two parents that from all evidence, were completely supportive, very sort of. His dad was the den leader for boy Scouts. His parents attended every swim meet that he had. There's absolutely no evidence of abuse whatsoever in this case. Chandler grew up with no housing in securities. He never had to wonder where his next meal was coming from, and he was never exposed to any violence that we saw any evidence of, or even really guns. The only tragedy, if you can even call it that, it's more really a part of life that we saw that occurred to him during his childhood was he did lose his maternal grandparents.

22:48 He went to good and safe schools. By all accounts, he had a supportive extended family that saw him often, and a large network of family friends that considered themselves his family. He had numerous people that would drop everything to help him if it was needed. He never faced any sort of discrimination that I can find from any source, by pretty much ever measure. He was a white male who had a childhood of privilege. The only potential criticism that anyone that we talked to, and we talked to well over one hundred people, was that perhaps his mother babied him a little too much or was a little too doting. As I often explained to my husband, that's what mothers do. It is out of this life of privilege, this childhood that was nearly ideal, that he committed these crimes. It's also worth noting that these crimes were committed against these two individuals that provided this ideal childhood for him, the two people that took care of him. I only want to say one other thing about the character of the defendant. We certainly spent a lot of time and trial, and I don't need to labor any points about that, but I do think it's worth noting that in all of the jail calls and messages that the detectives and mister Brown and I listened to, there was never even a moment where Chandler

24:20 mourned his parents' death. I found that really unique. I've prosecuted a lot of cases where somebody has killed a family member, sometimes even a family member who was highly abusive to them, and they still there's mourning there, there's some sort of notion that they miss this person. It was interesting in one message somebody had told him that they just got back from his parents' memorial service and they were sad. He suggested that they watch a slasher movie Halloween. There was no discussion of who was at the memorial s, what they talked about, who they saw.

25:06 Any remembering of his parents. I just think it's notable to bring up that how significant losing your parents is to a person's life and how much it impacts them. It impacts someone, and there's been no comment, no tears, and I just think that that is worth noting. You know, certainly you could take that in a couple of different ways. You could say, well, maybe they're just not an emotional person. That's certainly possible, But it also suggests a certain amount of carelessness and perhaps even lack of remorse that is worth noting. So I'm going to spend the bulk of my time talking about the seriousness of the offense, and part of what that entails is the fact that this world no longer has Barton Christa Halderson, and so I think it's an important part to reflect on who they are. I'm going to start that by reading two victim impact statements. One was submitted to you earlier, but they asked that I read it out loud. The other one has not been submitted yet. It was just written today, I believe. The first victim impact statement is submitted by Can who's the future daughter.

26:25 In law to Barton Krista Halderson. She's engaged to their son, Mitchell. She writes, my life will be forever changed by the actions that occurred the week of July first through July seventh of twenty twenty one. I've lost my future mother and father in law in such a senseless and brutal way. This loss will remain with me for the rest of my life. My mental and physical health have suffered tremendously. As Mitchell and I move forward planning our wedding, each decision we make comes with a reminder of two of the most important people to us, bart and Christa will not be there to celebrate this special occasion with us.

27:06 I've cried about. Their loss on multiple occasions and will continue to mourn and cry many more times. I've experienced a lot of weight loss as I was unable to eat due to the high level of stress, anxiety, and uncertainty surrounding what had happened to bart and Christa. Over that long period of time, I missed work for over a month, and even now that I'm back, there are times I struggle to make it through the day. Bart and Christa were amazing people. They were there to help everyone in anyone with whatever they could. Christa had always been so welcoming to me, from the first time I met her in twenty fourteen for Christmas, to the morning that we both called her and Bart to tell them the good news that Mitchell and I were engaged in twenty twenty to the afternoon we spent at their home for Father's Day in June of twenty twenty one, just a week.

27:53 Before they were killed. Christa was excited to talk with me and always made me feel at home. He had a wonderful sense of humor and was a great handyman. He helped us with set up many things when we moved into our new home, and helped teach us so that we could do. It on our own. Next time, I miss their warm presence and their kind hearts every single day. Both mart and Christa had so much to look forward to that. They will never get to experience. They will never get to see their son get married or start a family. Mitchell and I will miss them terribly during these milestones, holding their grandchildren, watching them play sports, hearing about school, and all those things that Bart and Christa were so excited for they will never get to do. They loved going to wineries, breweries, concerts on the Square, the Farmer's Market, and had been dreaming about many different trips to explore Wisconsin in.

28:46 The United States. But again to their. Senseless murders, they will never get to experience these things. We are comforted in knowing that Chandler cannot physically hurt us. However, if he was given the opportunity for parole, terrified for Mitchell in my family's safety, given the fact that he was capable of a such calculated and horrific act of murder. I do not believe my family would be safe if he were ever to be released from prison. For this reason, I believe he should not be given the chance for parole. Bart and Christa's murders have greatly impacted my life and the rest of the Halderson and Freighter family lives as well.

29:28 There's something that I like to call the ripple effect. It's pretty much the same thing as the butterfly effect, but I like the visual of a ripple. Imagine a perfectly still lake and suddenly stone is tossed into the center, which you would see happen. Next is a ripple omitting out from the point of contact, eccentric circles vibrating larger and larger rings. All of our. Actions have consequences, positive and negative. The most immediately identifiable are those ripples that occur right near the impact site.

30:10 But those ripples extend far beyond that point, and if a pond is still enough, those ripples will emanate all the way to the shoreline. Mitchell Halderson and his fiance eventually called off the wedding. It's impossible to know how much of an impact Chandler's crime had on this decision, but we know it must have played a role. As far as we know, they are no longer together romantically. The last I could find of Mitchell was his Twitch channel, where he sometimes streams himself playing video games. The second letter is from Kayleen Halderson, mother of Bart and Chandler's grandmother. Judge, these are my feelings about Chandler.

31:00 He is my grandson. I love him, even though what he did was horrific. I can't believe his parents would want him to be. Incarcerated for life. I'm hoping he will find a trade or a craft while and while there to become a productive and caring person. We hope the people in charge of that. Facility will feel someday he deserves a second chance in life with the possibility of parole. Chandler's grandma, Kayleen Halderson. After Chandler's grandmother, Kayleen, we would next hear from Jane Hilgendorf, not through an official statement or letter, but through the prosecution's description of meeting her and spending time with her in the preceding week. Jane had been friends with Christa for thirty eight years and perhaps was the only person who might have known more about her than her husband, bart.

31:57 So last week I. Had the pleasure and the opportunity to meet with Christa's best friend of thirty eight years, Jane, and I just spoke to her. Very candidly, tell me about Barton Christa. She shared that Christa was a staple in her life, a sister in every way except for biological. She was the aunt to her. Daughter's She described Krista Halderson as having a lightness about her. She was bubbly. She was a helper wanted to always fix people's problems. Christa was described by her boss at work as the work mom for everything. She was the person you went to if you needed tailan all, a hug, or a pep talk. The title that was most important to Christa was that of mom. That was her identity. Being a mom was her purpose in life. She was the type of mom that had bins where she saved her kid's legos.

32:58 For the grandchildren. She had meticulous bins in her basement, each one perfectly labeled with no dust on them, that were organized and labeled their awards, their Eagle Scout journey, and various paraphernalia and photos. Bart was quieter, He worked hard, and he provided for his family. He was up for quite a big promotion right before his murder. He liked the outdoors, nature, fishing, and his family. He was redoing and in the process of renovating his entire house nearly down to the studs. He had recently built a brand new dining table made pure wood, which he had hoped that they would.

33:42 Use for the rest of their lives. Celebrating the holidays with the grandkids, Jane pointed out that every time he was in Milwaukee, he would always take her daughters out when they were in college for a free meal with their uncle bart One other thing that actually one of our detectives pointed out today is in the course of their employment, they read through a whole bunch of text messages from all sorts of people, and they were really struck about how nice bart and Crystal were. They really didn't say a bad word about anyone, not even to each other. They were kind, respectful. They texted often about worrying about this son or that son, and various things.

34:26 They were loving towards each other. Barton Krista, of course, will now not see their older son get married. They won't be present for their grandchildren, they won't get to experience the retirement that they really had been planning for decades, and they didn't get to say goodbye to anyone. Multiple people when we talked to them about Barton, Christa said, you know, if they would have found out about Chandler's lies and his deception, they would have been upset, would have been, but they also would have worked with him to get him back on the right track. They were sure that more than one person had made a statement like this to us that Bart and Krista would have continued to be the support of parents, that their entire track record had showed that they were. I just want to point out one more thing about the seriousness the offense. The victimization that was caused here extends well beyond Bart and Christa Halderson. Because of Chandler's actions, his grandparents had to bury a child, his brother lost his entire nuclear family overnight. People who were generous to Chandler, such as his girlfriend and her family, have had their.

35:49 Lives completely uprooted as well. Bart and Christa's friends will again never get to enjoy them, And numerous numerous. People have guilt. Because they wonder were there red flags that I missed? Could I have prevented this? Chandeler's actions have caused uncalculatable amounts of trauma for dozens of people your honor as you craft a sentence, I'm asking that you please consider all this trauma as part of the seriousness of this offense and creating adjust sentence. I'm gonna comments on some of the other sentencing factors. I'm going to start with this submission by the defense, which I thought was well put together, well written, and included an article, a law of your article that I read with great interest. Obviously, it concerns what I do for a living, and it's something I.

36:44 Should think about. Mister Halderson's being sentenced to life in prison today. This hearing is about whether he's ever going to be granted parole or eligible for a parole, excuse me. And that's a challenging, challenging decision for everyone to make. And I'll let you know that I have not entered this process in thinking about what the state's recommendation should be. With that being a foregone conclusion, I'll start with the rehabilitative needs of mister Alderson. I have no idea what they are. Almost always in a sentencing hearing for a homicide or even lesser crimes, we have some understanding as players in the criminal justice system of the underlying causes of someone's problems.

37:25 The root causes frequently, it's substance abuse, frequently, it's mental illness frequently, its inability to control anger, and other behavioral problems that have manifested themselves throughout someone's life. You probably are wondering, and I'll tell you it's been thoroughly investigated of whether there were any red flags that anyone missed. Was mister Alderson. Engaged in bad behavior as a youth, Was he harming animals? Was he harming people? None of that. It's true that we can tell he seemed. To be a pretty normal kid with pretty normal life who did a pretty abnormal thing as he turned twenty three. You don't know what as rehabilitative needs are, and that's a challenge. The reason we focus on that is this idea and the criminal justice system that we can rehabilitate almost everyone.

38:15 And I'll say I think that to be true. I really do. The vast majority of people who are charged with this crime a first orree intentional homicide, as grave as that it might be, and as difficult as it might be sometimes for the victims to hear it, they are people who can be rehabilitated, that we can address that root underlying cause of mental illness or substance abuse, and they can emerge from the state prison system, perhaps not a perfect person, but a better person, and society can have some comfort, and we can all go to bed at night and sleep soundly knowing that we've done what we can to try to prevent some future harm from occurring. Because we've addressed that identifiable problem, you don't have that. And if you don't have that, I'm not sure how much you can consider that factor. And the law is very clear when you're addressing the Galleon factors, you don't have to weigh them up equally.

39:00 I have to consider them all. But I would post to the court that's not a factor that you should ultimately consider a great deal because I don't know what information the court could rely on in determining that there are some identifiable and fixable rehabilitative needs of mister Halderson. Next to the court has to consider the protection of the public, and here's where the court has to probably give a great weight to this factor. Mister Halderson, by all accounts, chose to commit the crime of first degree intentional homicide twice on a single day because he was caught lying about where he was working and going to school, or perhaps just where he was going to school. It was uncomfortable probably that he was caught.

39:43 It probably wasn't an experience he was looking forward to and dealing with the repercussions of that. But those kind of. Inconveniences and uncomfortable situations are constantly present in life. Every one of us in this courtroom have dealt with bad situations in life. Every one of us have left work one day thinking, man, I really don't want to go home tonight because I did something and I'm going to have to. Talk about it. Every one of us here is probably walked into work one days thinking, boy, I don't really want to walk into my supervisor's office and got to talk about that. Life is full of inconveniences, Life is full of being uncomfortable. The difference between everyone else in this room and mister Alderson is all of us have owned up to that.

40:23 All of us walked into those rooms, walked into our front door. All of us have addressed those situations. Whether it be comfortable or uncomfortable, whether it lead to the loss of relationships or respect or money, We've. All addressed them. You walk in, you take your lumps, you leave. But when faced with in the grand scheme of things, a minor inconvenience in his life, mister Holderson chose to commit the crime of first or grant intentional homicide two times, and then, over the course of several days, chose to cut up those people's bodies, spread them around the state, chose to lie to the police, concoct a bizarre story, lead his family down this road of believing that there was just some hope somewhere out there that Barton Crystall were alive because he got caught in a minor inconvenience.

41:18 I don't know how you protect the public from someone like that. I don't know how any of us would have any comfort in thinking that mister Halderson would ever be in a better place to make those decisions. More Wisely, it's even more compounded and perhaps aggravated in the legal sense, by the fact that no one saw this coming. He is someone who is able to perhaps have this capability or perhaps have these thoughts in life, and insert himself into relationships, social situations, his family without anyone wondering is this a safe person to be around. Sometimes, in court for homicide sentencings, the guy next to us is a history a mile long of violent crime and is willing to talk about it, and you wonder when people are even around that person. It seems like a dangerous guy.

42:05 Part of the risk of Chandler is he doesn't look like a dangerous guy. He's packaged up into a normal middle class kid and was able to fool everyone, not only fool everyone about these crazy lies about work and school and activities, but fool everyone into believing that he was a safe person to be around, that he was trustworthy, that he wasn't going to and not exaggerating the fact shoot you in the back, because that's in fact what happened. Someone in mister Halderson's shoes, with his mindset can never be safely in this community. His willingness to solve the minor inconveniences of life with brutal violence can never be mitigated in our community. As long as he breathes, he will be a risk. He will be a risk because he will suffer more conveniences as were we all. And lastly, the court has to consider the gravity of the offense.

43:08 Miss Raymond talked a good deal about that. Part of that is considering the people. He heard. Gravity of the offense is sometimes called a retribution in some systems, and I'll note that retribution is inappropriate thing to consider in law. At times it's part of the gravity of the offense. But here there is no more grave offense. The crime of first or intentional homicide is as serious as it gets. Committing it twice is even more serious, and committing it against the people who are you're supposed to love the most is beyond comprehension for many in our community. There's an interesting quote. As I prepared for today, I was looking at some cases. I'm just trying to look into the mindset of other judges as they've considered these factors and the concept of punishment in the law. Justice Stewart a while back, in Furman versus Georgia, I wrote, the instinct for retribution is part of the nature of man, and channeling that instinct in the administration of criminal justice serves an important purpose in promoting the stability of a society governed by law. There was another case in the late forties, as Williamsbirst New York.

44:17 Retribution is no longer the dominant objective of criminal law, but it is neither forbidden nor one inconsistent with our respect for the dignity of man. When we talk about the gravity of the offense consideration, the court gets to decide what that means. But you should consider. That in my mind, in my experience as prosecutor in this county as a citizen of this state. I've never heard of a crime more serious. I've never heard of a crime more brutal. Mister Alderson's mere presence in our community, the fact that he did any of this, has ripped apart the fabric of our community. The idea that someone can live amongst us with no warning signs and commit such heinous acts should scare everybody, and it sure as he'll scare everybody here. No one who's interacted with mister Halderson will ever be the same. For whatever reason he decided to do it, whatever justification he can come up within his own mind, whether it be today or down the road, in many years, nothing will ever explain it.

45:26 His actions in July of this year were evil, and for this generation and at this time, mister Halderson is the personification of evil in our community. He can work the rest of his life by trying to earn back the respect and trust and love of maybe some of his family, and I hope he does that. But that's a different thing than what's going on here today. Our question is whether mister Halderson should ever be released from prison, and if so, when should he have that opportunity to ask. It's my position that he should never be released from prison. That the mere possibility of his return to our community would shock the conscience of almost every citizen of this community.

46:12 It would appreciate the seriousness of what he's done. It would cause extreme angst animosity probably for many to even feel that that's a possibility. We don't have a more serious punishment, but sometimes it's appropriate, and in this case, it's the state's position is my position. It is my recommendation that mister Halderson spend the remainder of his life in prison, that he not be eligible for a parole at any point. Mister Alderson has to come to terms with what he's done, and I hope he does someday, but that doesn't mean he should ever be released. And I ask that you not let him be released. Thank you, Thank you.

46:55 Next, we hear from defense attorney Crystal Vera one last time. The beginning of this statement perhaps the most important part. She says, no matter what the decision is, no one's going to run out of the courtroom feeling like justice was served. And I sincerely disagree. I feel like life with no parole is precisely the sentence that justice demands. But let's go ahead and hear from defense attorney via one last time this season. No one is going to run out of this courtroom feeling like justice is served. No one is going to run out of this courtroom feeling good. This family is going to always have this situation, is going to be touched by this situation, and Chandler himself is always going to be touched by this moment, which makes it a very intimate matter, but it also has become a very public affair. Regardless of what you do today, the outside world, the community, the public, however you want to address it is going to be not happy. And there are going to be people that if you decide to sentence Chandler to life without parole, they're still going to be mad.

48:09 They're going to ask for Wisconsin to bring the death penalty back and to apply it retroactively to him. And if you sentence him without or with parole, there are people that are going to be mad because it's too lenient. I bring this up because again, it's what happens here today is not a win win or lose lose situation. It is what it is, and it's it's difficult. What I do want to focus on today is just what we're asking for, which we are asking for the possibility of parole, and I want to stress that it is a possibility. It is not a guarantee. It is not something that is going to happen. Even if Your Honor says today that there's a possibility that it could happen.

48:58 It's a process. If your Honor fin him eligible for parole today, he would have to go through this process that can start no earlier than ninety days before the eligibility date. It's a process that would require a petition to the court. It would perhaps be your Honor or someone else, but it would be a court petition. And I cannot stress that enough. I cannot stress enough how all we are asking for today is for the possibility of this man to show you that he is redeemable. Chandler is young. He just turned twenty four. There are a lot of growing up. There's a lot of adulting that he's going to miss out on that he's going to have to do in the institution that ultimately is going to affect who he becomes in the future. Most of us get the opportunity to do that around our family, with our community, whatever it is, and he's going to have to do that in custody. But there's bring that up because there's certain things about my own childhood, about my own life that I didn't really understand until I was later in my late twenties that affected how I was as a person in my early twenties. So it's easy to come up now and say that there's no rehabilitation that's needed here.

50:19 Well, we just don't know that. So ultimately it boils down to what your Honor believes is an appropriate, fair and just option given everything, given all the galleon factors that the state has mentioned and that we have mentioned in our sentencing memorandum, and it's a delicate balance. If your Honor believes that sentencing is purely punitive, purely an issue of punishment, then the only option is life without parole. But if your Honor believes that it is a delicate combination of punishment and rehabilitation redemption, if you will, then there's only one option, and that is the option of life with parole. And that's all we're asking for today, Life with parole.

51:10 Thank you, thank you. Before the judge decides parole or no parole. Chandler Holderson makes a last second decision to make a statement. We'll hear all about it coming up after a quick break. Don't go anywhere. I know that in your memorandum there was an indication once again that mister Alderson would not exercise his right to elocute at this hearing. Obviously, just as with trial, it comes up to a decision at the very last minute.

51:52 I just want to ensure at this moment whether or not mister Holderson wishes to make a statement, and. Thank you for doing that. That has changed. Holderson would like to give a statement to your honor. You may remove your mask if you wish. I believe the conditions in the jail are very good as far as the pandemic, So if you want to speak without your mask, and Attorney Doorl's comfortable with that, you could. And I would only ask that you read slowly, simply because my court reporter has to take down what you're saying, and sometimes we read faster than we mean to. Here, Hunter, 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, it's that I was warned to not show them due to the scrutiny of this case.

52:48 Thank you, thank you. And just like that, Chandler burned his last card. If he had got down on his knees, cried and delivered an eloquent speech, he likely would have still been denied parole. Yet it's hard to imagine a worse final statement than the one Chandler delivered. No acceptance of responsibility, no show of remorse, just another attempt to dodge accountability. Though once again I have to ask, did we really expect anything less? The court always tends to make a number of observations at sentencing hearings that are contested and which carry a good deal of weight, and I'm not going to depart from that process today. I first think it's important to acknowledge that the trial and the process within this case that brings us here today was the united effort of a number of people. And first and foremost, I want to recognize again the jurors, but not just those twelve people that rendered the verdicts here, but those alternates those people that responded to the summons, especially given the time of year that this occurred. Council mentioned that this crime caused a rip in our community. If there's one thing

54:20 that's a positive coming out of this, I think that it is a demonstration to our community of the pride we should feel in our law enforcement, the pride we should feel in how they investigated this case and how they presented the evidence in this case, it was well. I honestly think it put Dane County on the map through both the Justice departments efforts and the efforts of our local sheriff's department and other law enforcement agencies involved. It was quite incredible. I'm very passionate about our system, and so let me move on to the points in this proceeding which I need to be dispassionate. And I need to be dispassionate because as the person sitting in judgment, I have to try and achieve a proper analysis of the sentencing goals based upon the information and evidence put forward and what the legislature has determined to be the appropriate sentences, at least as far as maximums mandatory minimums if any and here obviously is addressed by everyone the determination of whether there should be any eligibility for parole in the future technically extended supervision. But it's easier just to say parole. I don't know the victims. I did not know the victims. I know people like them. I'm

55:54 privileged to say, and I know and can understand the empty space that this crime has left. I can empathize. I can only partially understand the feelings because I haven't lost people in my family through such a manner, or had a violation by a member of the family causing such loss. But everyone in this room has a mother and a father, everyone has siblings if they're fortunate, and everyone can understand the loss that the Alderson family extended as it is, and their friends and this community feel for their loss. It is tragic. It is tragic. It is something which will take decades for some to heal.

56:51 I hope not that long, but healing may never come for some one does not know, and I hope that no one is coming here for that healing. This procedure provides closure only of this legal part of the matter. What people can do in their own lives to address their loss is what they must do themselves. And amongst others. But I do want you to know that this court honors your loss, honors the people who died, and approaches this sentencing here weighing that gravity of that offense as one of those things which must be weighed in determining whether or not mister Halderson should ever be eligible for parole, as the life sentences I must impose are predetermined by the legislature. It is true that rehabilitation is a factor that must be considered. An attorneys Brown's point is well noted that I'm not certain that anyone has identified rehabilitative needs, but those may arise over time, depending upon an individual's receptiveness and willingness to participate in self examination or diagnosis, or other steps which our criminal justice system utilizes to try and determine how to fix something, whether it's a

58:26 substance abuse issue, or an anger issue, or something that is only amenable to treatment by medication or intensive therapy. Some people I believe can't be fixed. I have no basis to know whether mister Halderson fits into any of those categories, other than I think it's fairly clear here that nothing was identified in his twenty three twenty four years of life up to this point, except for his actions in July. The gravity of the offense is as serious as it could be, and I must not overlook, of course, the steps taken to hide the crime, the steps taken which, if one ponders it, certainly makes the crime even worse. If you could say that the murder of your parents is something that could be made worse.

59:30 I've tried, even though I've had to examine carefully the evidence, not to think about it. I've tried not to think about how or what steps were taken, or how these things even took place. I don't wish to engage in that speculation at sentencing, but I recognize that the jury found mister Halderson guilty of mutilating both bodies, hiding both bodies, and presenting a story to law enforcement to try and lead them on a completely different path than what had actually occurred, and that he took steps in those actions which really robbed those people of dignity. But fortunately their dignity is all here in these people that remember them, these people that are here today because of them. I appreciated learning more about them, and my condolences go to every member of their family. I cannot conceive of a way to fulfill my duty to protect the public that I serve were I to perceive that at some point in time an individual who committed these crimes should be released back into that public. I cannot grant to mister Hall the generosity of spirit and empathy that his grandmother

1:01:03 has for him, empathy which his own parents would surely have had where he just owned up to what he had deceived them about. I cannot say to the community here in this room, or at large in this county, that mister Halderson should have the ability to be reviewed and considered for release back into our community at any point, despite his young age. At this point in his life, the gravity of these offenses and the need to protect the public outweigh the potential that there could be that at some future point he should have presence among us. Now, that is not to say that he may not have the possibility of presence as a member of his family in the future. That is up to those folks and he a reconstruction of a relationship, that's all well and good.

1:02:06 I would wish that for anyone, because I don't like telling his grandmother that I am not able to give her the relief that she's asking for here out of her love for her grandson, I cannot do that. I have to, for this sentence ensure that the only time mister Halderson comes back into the community is to have the privilege of a burial that he denied his parents, and so on counts one in five. Per statute, I sentence him to life in prison, and pursue it to section nine seventy three point zero one four some one g three. I find that he is not to be eligible for extended supervision during that course. The sentences on the other counts, given two life sentences, become rather superfluous, to say the least. But at the same time, I absolutely acknowledge that we may be in a completely different position here had he committed the acts of homicide but then stopped and took other steps to accept responsibility and sought forgiveness. So to make this quite simple, I will impose maximum terms concurrent to each other and concurrent to counts one in five on each of the other counts within the information of which the verdict convicted mister Alderson.

1:03:36 I do believe that by imposing the maximum I'm recognizing the severity of those individual acts. Mister Alderson, you have the absolute right to seek an appeal of twenty days within which to start that process. That's through filing a notice of intent. I believe that we have on file the notice that you understand and have been given notice. I thank everyone for being here today. We are joined. Thank you. Chandler Alderson did apply for an appeal. His appeals lawyer is based in Madison, Wisconsin, A one Michael Covey. In April of the same year, Covee went to work reviewing the hundreds of hours of transcripts from the trial, and according to an article from fifteen WMTV, Covee said it's not uncommon for it to take nine to eleven months to gather all information needed to make a decision on whether or not to go forward with emotion for an appeal.

1:04:47 That same month, Covee was able to get two of Chandler's charges vacated. An article by WKOW explains quote Alderson could not be convicted of mutilating and hiding a corpse because hiding a corpse is a lesser charge. These are all minor technicalities. Chandler's life sentence still stands, and he would have no chance at supervised release aka parole. Now, let's fast forward through May, June, July, and August to September of twenty and twenty three. Despite the hopes that Michael Covey might be able to deliver a hail Mary, he instead filed a no merit report. Over the course of twenty three pages, Cobe states the intricacies of why he believes there are simply no grounds for an appeal from the report. Quote, there was sufficient evidence for a jury to convict Halderson on all accounts. It will come as no surprise that Chandler filed a response to his lawyer, Michael Covee's no merit report. In it, Chandler says quote key evidence was unjustly regarded. In true Chandler Halderson fashion, he made no attempts to expels what evidence that might be.

1:06:02 The current state of affairs is that the case is headed to the Wisconsin Court of Appeals, who will do their full due diligence in a complete review of the trial. This might just be Chandler's last stop before he's completely out of hope. I believe it's that strange, delusional hope that caused Chandler Holderson to start this pattern of lying about extraordinary happenings that started him down the path he's currently on. I think once this hope or perhaps cope is finally snuffed out, then and only then might he begin to come to terms with what he did to his parents, his family. Until then, I simply don't think Chandler will take responsibility for his actions. And even then, I think his mind has become so twisted and broken that it's likely he'll take his last dying breath never seeking atonement or redemption. Yet I still can't give up on that idea, the idea that one day Handler might have a true come to Jesus moment or come to Buddha, Brahman, Muhammad or whatever it might be out there running things.

1:07:08 And I do believe redemption is available for anyone, no matter how depraved their actions might be, and they had no appeals, Confessing or clearing their conscience would probably be the best thing for that person, a hypothetical person, you know what I mean, just. Kind of like, I mean, you know, if if if. The last two drops, you know, and uh, it's it's all over with. I mean, he might, but he might just take take it with them, take with them to the to the soap factory. You know. So I go though, I guess it's anybody's it's anybody's cats. What's going to happen?

1:07:55 I guess it's kind of strange my desire to peer further and further in the mind of Chandler Holderson. But it's what's kept me research in this case long after my coverage on it probably should have been over. This is by far the longest season I've ever done. It'll be twenty episodes long when it's finally finished. I've been collecting interviews, watching court footage, and drawing this thing out for over a year now. But I didn't set out to do that. I just got sucked down this rabbit hole, and as a long time listeners know, I'm apt to do that. So where do we go from here? Well, coming up on tapes from the Dark Side, I'll talk to someone who I hope could provide one last chance at insight into this case. A man who was Chandler Holderson's bunk mate, someone who befriended Chandler and even to this day sticks by his side as a friend. He became pen pals with him even after finishing his time in the pen. Remember that in Chandler's response to the no merit report, he wrote that key evidence was unjustly regarded.

1:09:01 My hope was that Chandler's newfound friend might be able to provide some insight into just what he meant by that, and what his friend told me might just shock you. Tune in next week for my interview with Chandler Alderson's bunkmate, and until next time, try to enjoy the daylight A dark side, Yes, Scot