00:00:00
[Music] the uh master bedroom. >> It was the most horrific, depraved murder I've ever seen as the district
00:00:18
attorney in this county. When you think about the terror that these two people just asleep in their
00:00:26
own bed where we all feel the most secure and you wake up to this horror movie happening to you.
00:00:42
>> Happy birthday. Happy birthday to you. >> My mom was my best friend. I never remember a day that I didn't speak with
00:00:57
her or giggle with her. She was my world. She had been single for a while and she
00:01:10
had decided that she was ready to settle down. Well, it wasn't a couple of months
00:01:15
and my mother called me and reported to me that she had met a man and his name was Chip Northup
00:01:23
and he was so smart and brilliant and they were like Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy meeting over the pews at the
00:01:32
Unitarian Church and from that moment they were inseparable. She didn't want to be away from Chip
00:01:44
and and she went with Chip. They went together in their home in their bed. [Music]
00:01:51
If you talk to many of the officers, they'll say that what an impact this case has had on them. Just going to the
00:01:57
crime scene and seeing how horrific the the torture inflicted on these two humans, Chip and Claudia, really was. I
00:02:06
was certain that they were going to find some forensic evidence in the crime scene. A fingerprint, DNA, um, shoe
00:02:14
prints, uh, something. They found nothing. >> How soon did you hear that there was no
00:02:20
evidence that this looked like the perfect crime? >> Well, I think we were 2 months into it.
00:02:26
>> Yeah. We brought 25 FBI agents, experienced task force officers from other areas,
00:02:34
and we really flooded that neighborhood. >> We thought it had to be somebody close
00:02:40
to Chip and Claudia. Something that um that happened where there was a disagreement, some family dispute um
00:02:46
because it did appear to be so personal. >> It was a very scary time because nobody
00:02:51
knew who had done it. >> Davis police emergency. >> Oh yeah. Um, uh, can this be anonymous?
00:03:01
>> What are you reporting? >> Uh, double homicides. >> When this tip came in, um, it seemed
00:03:08
really strange. It didn't seem to match what any of us had thought. >> The reason why I want to remain
00:03:14
anonymous is cuz if my mom if my mom finds out, she will send me to military school.
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>> Dumbfounded. >> We were dumbfounded. How do you wrap your mind around a 15-year-old killer?
00:03:33
[Music] [Music] 48 Hours: Portrait of the Killer. Reported by Aaron Morardi. [Music]
00:04:12
Take a ride through Davis, California, and you'll see why the college town has been named one of this country's best
00:04:19
places to live, and why Claudia Mop Ben moved here. >> She loved living in college communities,
00:04:27
so she loved being around all the young people and all the new ideas. Victoria Herd says Davis was one of
00:04:34
California's safest cities when her mother first arrived in 1995 and started attending services at this
00:04:43
Unitarian church, hoping to meet her third husband. She had been a spiritual traveler through many different
00:04:52
religions and denominations and she just had fallen in love with the Unitarian Church. So she said to me, "My husband
00:05:00
is at the Unitarian Church." Claudia soon met Oliver Chip Northup, one of the church's founders. Well known for his
00:05:10
social activism, Northup was a World War II veteran and a prominent attorney. Like Claudia, Chip had been married
00:05:18
several times, but according to his firstborn daughter, Mary, the couple's families blended easily.
00:05:27
>> Claudia had that ability to make every person that she spent time with feel that special so that they would come
00:05:35
away and say, "She's my best friend." >> Both Chip and Claudia's families were thrilled when the couple decided to
00:05:43
marry in 1996. I would think then the church was filled with the family. >> It was packed.
00:05:50
>> It was filled. >> Did you two ever worry about their safety? >> No. Absolutely not.
00:05:56
>> No. >> No. They had an idyllic life. They had so many loved ones around them. They had
00:06:02
so many great neighbors. [Music] They lived in Davis. Claudia and Chip had been married for 17
00:06:10
years when on the night of Saturday, April 13th, 2013, they said good night to each other for
00:06:18
the very last time. The next morning at church, the couple was noticeably absent.
00:06:26
>> I called and I called his number and I called Claudia's number and they both went to voicemail.
00:06:34
Chip was in a local folk band when he didn't show up for a gig that afternoon. Chip's son, Robert, and a grandson paid
00:06:43
a visit to Chip in Claudia's condo. >> And rang the doorbell, and no one answered. Everything I saw indicated
00:06:49
they were out of town. >> Robert had a key, but chose not to use it. Later that evening, Claudia's
00:06:57
stepdaughter, Laura, also rang the bell. When there was no answer, she went around back and saw this open window
00:07:05
with its screen slashed. One looked through the bedroom window and Laura knew that something awful had
00:07:13
happened. >> She saw blood stains. She saw enough that she made a call to get other people
00:07:22
over there. The next morning, there's 12 missed calls from my sister. She said, "There's been a breakin
00:07:34
and there are two dead bodies in the house." And then I lost it. My brain couldn't
00:07:42
process that. Victoria had to call her daughter Sarah and break the news. But all the police would share is that
00:07:51
Claudia and Chip had been stabbed multiple times. >> I was like, "Multiple? What does
00:07:57
multiple mean?" You know, is there a certain number that we should know? And the coroner said,
00:08:02
>> "All I can tell you is that multiple means more than 12." >> It would be just over a year before they
00:08:10
learned that Chip had 61 stab wounds. Claudia had 67. That's 128 stab wounds. Has anybody even had the strength to do
00:08:23
that? And and why would somebody want to do that? But that wasn't even the worst of it.
00:08:32
Davis Police Lieutenant Paul Doris says the killer had experimented with the bodies and had placed a cell phone into
00:08:40
Claudia's abdomen and a drinking glass into Chip's stomach. We thought that well maybe there's some type of meaning
00:08:48
to it, you know, but we were trying to latch on to every detail we could to help us with this case the office.
00:08:54
>> But there was little to latch on to. There was no physical evidence, not even
00:08:59
a shoe print. >> The place isn't ransacked. There's no valuables missing. Clearly, this is not
00:09:06
a burglary that was interrupted. Former special agent Chris Campion says that even the FBI profilers were
00:09:14
stumped, unsure if they were dealing with one killer or more or if the open window was even the point of entry.
00:09:22
>> Appears that the screen is cut through on the edges. I think they had at this
00:09:26
point developed a story that somebody with the key had done it and that they'd cut this hole in the screen to divert
00:09:32
attention >> to make it look like >> when you if you come up with that theory then you have to look at family members
00:09:40
FBI agents had you know called us all individually and you know you could tell that they were doing everything in their
00:09:45
power to get answers but there was nothing >> until they got to Chip's son Robert and
00:09:52
his two sons Oliver and Tony Pony Oliver suffers from schizophrenia. >> We lived in the same town, not very far
00:09:59
away. It would have not have been logistically difficult for one of us to have gone over there and done that.
00:10:06
>> Robert also had that key to the condo. >> Oliver, did you know that the police
00:10:11
were looking at you and your brother? >> Well, yeah. They asked us to come in for
00:10:16
questioning and I agreed. >> That first day it was about 8 hours of questioning. The next day it was another
00:10:23
six. It was just day after day, long hours of questioning. >> Mhm. >> And u and I kept thinking, well, my
00:10:30
father would would want us to cooperate in every way. >> Without a lawyer. >> Were you scared?
00:10:36
>> Very nervous. >> And with good reason. When police searched Robert's home, they found the
00:10:43
kind of evidence that gets people convicted. First, carpeting that had been steam cleaned on the day of the
00:10:50
murders. Yeah, it was bad timing. I didn't I didn't anticipate that that would be the same weekend my father got
00:10:56
murdered. It looked like I was covering up removing evidence. >> Investigators also found a very
00:11:04
disturbing drawing by Tony. It was the image of a man with a knife standing over two children in a bed.
00:11:13
>> The only thing I can say is that the three of them, they're not violent. If if something had clicked and turned them
00:11:20
violent, it would never have been for these two people. >> Did either one of you think that was
00:11:25
possible? >> No. Never. >> Never. Not for a second. Because Chip spent so much time with those boys.
00:11:32
Those boys adored him. >> The family spent thousands of dollars hiring an attorney for Tony and
00:11:41
repairing all the damage done by investigators. Then they cut out the carpet. They took out some of the
00:11:47
plumbing fixtures looking for things that might have been put in the drain. And they also took out a little bit of
00:11:52
flooring. >> The Northup family, Tony in particular, felt persecuted. And even though his
00:11:59
name was eventually cleared, Tony still felt that neighbors had their doubts about him. 3 years after the murders, he
00:12:08
would commit suicide. Oliver got this tattoo in memory of him. >> You've gone through a lot, haven't you?
00:12:17
>> Yeah, I think so. >> 2 months after the murders, police got this call. >> What are you calling to report, sir?
00:12:28
>> Um, the double homicide that happened in April this year. >> What can you tell me about that?
00:12:33
>> Everything, actually. A 17-year-old Davis High School student called to say he knew who killed that
00:12:41
couple. It was his best friend. >> Daniel Marsh or >> Daniel Marsh. >> Yeah, Daniel Marsh or Dan Marsh.
00:12:50
>> Daniel Marsh was a name that Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Risk had heard
00:12:55
years earlier, but not in connection with a crime. >> All of a sudden, he passed out and sort
00:13:02
of flew back in. At the time he was viewed as a young hero. He had saved his his father's life,
00:13:09
>> right? He was the hero of the day. >> At 10, Marsh was given an American Red Cross heroes award after using CPR to
00:13:18
save his father from a heart attack. >> I remember thinking at that time, this kid's going places.
00:13:26
>> It didn't seem possible. Could that young hero really have grown up to be the vicious killer investigators were
00:13:34
hunting for? [Music] When you first saw Daniel Marsh, what was your reaction? >> Total shock that a a boy was responsible
00:14:04
for these crimes. No one imagined, says District Attorney Jeff Risig, that the depraved killer of Chip Northup and his
00:14:12
wife Claudia might turn out to be a 15-year-old teenager. And certainly not this teenager who had
00:14:20
once saved a life, his father's, Bill Marsh. >> This is Daniel in 2009. >> At the time of the murders, Bill Marsh
00:14:30
lived next door to Claudia and Chip. And I chose that location because it was in
00:14:34
walking distance of their mothers. >> That's where Daniel lived at his mother Sherry's house. And it's where he was
00:14:42
staying on the night of the murders. The day the bodies were discovered, Bill Marsh was home recovering from back
00:14:49
surgery when police showed up at his door. >> Knock knock knock on the door. Hi, I'm
00:14:54
so and so of the police. Um, do you know Chip and his wife? I said, "No, I don't
00:15:01
know anybody. And I just moved in. >> About 2 weeks after the murders, Bill Marsh says he could no longer afford the
00:15:08
rent and moved out. >> Remember very vividly one of the neighbors came up and said, "Hey, um, I
00:15:15
don't know if this is relevant or not, but several days after the murder, the guy in that house moved out." And we
00:15:22
didn't think much about it at that time. And investigators might never have focused on Daniel Marsh if not for that
00:15:30
phone call from 17-year-old Alvaro Garab 2 months after the crime accusing his best friend of murder.
00:15:38
>> Well, he talked about killing people a lot. I didn't really take it seriously
00:15:42
until well killed someone. >> So, help me understand that this was your best friend.
00:15:47
>> I know. Uh I don't know if I can help you understand that. Alvaro says he laughs when nervous. But
00:15:58
back then, investigators took him very seriously. He seemed to know way too much about the murders. Gory details
00:16:07
known only to a handful of investigators and the killer. He cut both of them open.
00:16:15
It's just to see the insides or something. And then uh he went to the woman, I think, and he uh he wanted to know how
00:16:22
an eye looked like. So he tried taking it out with a knife, but he said it was really hard, so he couldn't do it.
00:16:29
>> Gabe was interviewed twice, leaving investigators wondering if he was the killer.
00:16:35
>> Why did it take you until now to speak to us? >> Because I don't know, actually. I was
00:16:45
afraid. Alvaro says he finally came forward because Daniel had threatened to kill again. Do you think your life was
00:16:53
at risk? >> Oh, yeah. Mine, my families, my friends. >> On June 17th, 2013, investigators asked
00:17:01
the high school resource officer to bring Daniel Marsh in for questioning. Daniel,
00:17:07
>> and he seemed more than happy to talk. It was now up to Davis detective Ariel
00:17:13
Paneda and FBI special agent Chris Campion to get to the truth. >> Did he seem worried about talking to you
00:17:21
at all? >> No, certainly not at the beginning. I think he figured he could talk his way
00:17:25
through it. >> What do you know, Dave? >> I just know that somebody broke into this old couple's
00:17:33
house and stabbed them, killed them. Investigators would spend the next three hours learning all they could about
00:17:42
Daniel, looking for a way in. >> I was that loner kid that you know how there's always that one outcast.
00:17:49
Dad and mom split when you were pretty young. >> Yeah. >> Wow. And then mom basically left,
00:17:58
abandoned you, your family is >> Yeah. For like 3 or 4 months. Daniel's mother ended her marriage after having
00:18:06
an affair with a woman, Daniel's kindergarten teacher, which enraged the 10-year-old.
00:18:12
>> He hated her. He would tell me that I know this woman was involved in my parents' divorce, and I just want to
00:18:20
like strangle her to death. >> Daniel even tried taking his anger out on himself.
00:18:27
>> I used to like harm myself. >> I see his scar too there. Yeah. >> Yeah. As near as I understood the
00:18:33
cutting phenomenon, it was people who just kind of have this flat, depressed, kind of dark outlook on life. And the
00:18:41
cutting actually brings that sense of living. >> Campion says Daniel was willing to do
00:18:48
anything to feel something, including starving himself. All the pain and depression and anger just like
00:19:02
I internalized it and I directed it towards myself. >> Daniel was voluntarily committed to an
00:19:08
eating disorder clinic for 25 days. And while his anorexia seems to have passed,
00:19:14
Alvaro says Daniel's anger continued to consume him. He would tell me a lot about suicide.
00:19:23
>> And how old were the two of you? When was it? >> Oh man, I think 14. >> I've attempted it four times in my life.
00:19:31
>> It seems there were several therapists and doctors who intervened, trying numerous medications.
00:19:38
And then in mid December 2012, Daniel made a stunning admission, telling a school counselor that he fantasized
00:19:46
about killing people. She was so concerned they brought the police to the school.
00:19:53
>> Marsh was shortly hospitalized, but upon release things got worse. Did he talk
00:19:59
about Kelly? >> He like brought it up more. He was just like, I wish that person would die.
00:20:04
>> But in his police interview, Daniel was denying it all, including the murders of
00:20:10
Claudia and Chip. >> I don't want to hurt people. Then after 3 hours and 38 minutes of questioning,
00:20:18
the facade finally began to crumble. And >> why the heck would you just sit here and
00:20:23
baldfaced lie to Ariel and me? >> I am. You guys are threatening me with what? The truth. Getting arrested for
00:20:34
two murders. I am so scared right now. Of course, I'm going to do anything I can to try and
00:20:41
say that I didn't do this. >> That was um the first sign that he was getting over that wall, that he was
00:20:48
getting ready to talk to us about what really happened. >> If you want to help me, then don't ruin
00:20:53
my life. If anything, send me to the psychiatric hospital. >> But Chris, were you really prepared for
00:21:02
what he told you next? >> Um, no. Every time I look at someone in my mind, I see
00:21:13
flashes of images of me killing them. [Music] For more than three hours, Daniel Marsh
00:21:35
insisted he knew nothing about the murders of Claudia Mopin and Chip Northup. But he began to reveal more and
00:21:43
more about himself to agent Chris Campion. >> And all this time I thought about and
00:21:48
plotted about killing the woman that my mother left my father for. What was your
00:21:53
plan? Just gonna slaughter her throat. Daniel says that was when he began to fantasize about killing people.
00:22:01
Eventually, he became obsessed with something called gore porn and a website devoted to it.
00:22:09
>> I remember just like walking into his room and he was like, "Dude, check this
00:22:12
out." And it's like literally people getting beheaded. >> And how did he react when he was
00:22:16
watching those videos? >> He just sat there, I think, like fascinated by it. But it's one thing to
00:22:23
be fascinated and another to actually take a life. >> Well, you strangled a cat in the street.
00:22:32
And then I was like, "Okay, well, why'd you do that?" It's like, "Well, I just wanted to do that. It just I hated that
00:22:37
cat's house." >> In the interview room, investigators still hadn't heard Daniel confess to
00:22:43
killing Chip and Claudia and pressed on. >> When was the first time you started thinking about killing these people down
00:22:49
the street? Yeah, I really am. I didn't. >> Now you start thinking about it that
00:22:56
night. I just I couldn't take it anymore. I had to do it. I lost control. >> There it was. The opening that
00:23:08
investigator Campion had been hoping for. Daniel admitted that he had been hunting for someone, anyone, to kill
00:23:16
that night when he came upon Chip and Claudia's open living room window. >> I got a hole in the screen, climbed in
00:23:25
through the back, went to their bedroom. I opened the door, and I just kind of stood over their bed
00:23:33
watching them sleep for a few minutes. My body was trembling. I was nervous but excited and
00:23:43
exhilarated. I was actually going to do it. I was there. It was finally happening.
00:23:50
>> Without any outward emotion, Daniel described how he repeatedly stabbed Claudia and Chip.
00:23:58
What you were about to hear is graphic, but these disturbing details would become key evidence in a family's battle
00:24:07
for justice. I cut open most of their torsos around here. And in the woman, I put a phone inside of
00:24:18
her and I put a cup inside the guy. >> Daniel said it was all part of his plan to confuse investigators and get away
00:24:27
with murder. He also taped the bottom of his shoes so he wouldn't leave prints and wore a ski mask and gloves so as not
00:24:37
to leave behind DNA or fingerprints. But hidden by Daniel in his mother's house.
00:24:44
Investigators found all the evidence they needed. Bloody clothing and the knife used to kill Chip and Claudia.
00:24:52
>> Did you wash blood off of it or did um it had been fairly covered? And I kept it as a souvenir.
00:25:01
>> A souvenir to forever remember how much he enjoyed taking two lives. I'm not going to lie, it felt
00:25:10
amazing. >> In fact, records show that Daniel was doing so much better in school. He was
00:25:18
named student of the month after the high of the murders. It was pure happiness and adrenaline and
00:25:28
dopamine just all of it rushing over me kind of >> after Daniel made a full confession.
00:25:37
Chris Campion did something unusual. >> You um mentioned that pretty much everybody you meet you have thoughts
00:25:45
about killing them and how you would kill them. >> Yeah. >> So, how would you kill me?
00:25:50
There's a lot of ways. Um, choking you to death with your tie. >> Okay. Uh, beating your face into the
00:25:58
mirror until it broke and using the glass to cut your arteries. Uh, gouging your eyes out and just smashing your
00:26:04
face into the wall. Nothing personal. >> Nothing personal. >> And I said I didn't take it personally
00:26:13
because I didn't. That's his fantasy life. I mean, Chris, do you believe that Daniel Marsh was a serial killer in
00:26:21
training? >> Absolutely. Abs, without a doubt. He actually talked about how he was going
00:26:26
to take his next victim. He was lurking in the streets of Davis at night with a baseball bat, intending
00:26:35
to beat to death some poor passer by. cuz I don't feel sympathy for other people
00:26:42
at all. Don't feel empathy for them. >> This was not the act of a broken child who had a rough life. This was the act
00:26:53
of somebody who, in my mind, is just evil. >> Daniel was immediately arrested and
00:27:00
charged with the murders of Chip Northup and Claudia Mopin. Was there any question whether he would be charged as
00:27:07
an adult and be tried in an adult court >> at the time? No. Because of the nature
00:27:13
of the crime, uh, he had to be tried in adult court. >> With Marsh facing life in prison, two
00:27:21
top public defenders were assigned to his case. Then Marsh plead not guilty by reason of insanity, something Chris
00:27:30
Campion had anticipated. That's why I'd spent some time with him. I wanted to make clear that he's not somebody who
00:27:38
had had a break with reality. Um, somebody who heard voices or had, you know, voices in his head telling him to
00:27:44
do things. >> Did you ever hear any voices talking to you? >> He wasn't anywhere close, in my opinion,
00:27:50
to legally insane. >> Even psychiatrist Dr. Matthew Sullier, who was hired by the defense, agreed
00:27:59
that Daniel was sane, even though when they met, Daniel threatened to kill him. >> I didn't find him to be insane. I found
00:28:08
him to be mentally ill, but responsible for his crimes. And I think my understanding is that they went ahead
00:28:14
and continued to pursue a defense of insanity. without Sulier as their expert witness.
00:28:23
A year after the murders, Daniel Marsh went on trial. The defense argued that the anti-depressant drugs given to
00:28:30
Daniel for his anorexia and suicide attempts had caused a temporary insanity. >> Zolaf made me do it.
00:28:39
>> Deputy District Attorney Amanda Zambour wasn't having it. But when you actually
00:28:44
looked at the medical records, he was having these thoughts and fantasies before he was ever on Zoloft.
00:28:50
>> Bill, I know that you believe that a lot of your son's problems are connected to
00:28:54
the medications he was taking, but he had fantasies about killing before he started on the drugs. He killed animals
00:29:01
before he started on these drugs. >> Yes. See, I don't know that that's true. There's a whole series of confessions by
00:29:08
people who have been on these drugs that have false memories. uh they believe certain things happened that never did.
00:29:15
>> The question now was would the jury agree? Would they find Daniel Marsh insane and decide a psychiatric hospital
00:29:25
was more appropriate than prison? >> Were you more nervous about that? >> Yes. The immediate thought is that
00:29:32
somebody would have to be insane to do something like this. On September 26th, 2014, the jury
00:29:50
deliberated for just under 2 hours before finding Daniel Marsh guilty of firstdegree murder.
00:29:58
They also found Marsh sane, allowing the judge to sentence him to the maximum, 52
00:30:06
years to life. >> We are very, very pleased with the verdict for me. We feel justice.
00:30:15
>> We all exhaled. >> Yeah. >> I mean, that was great. But it wasn't over yet, was it?
00:30:21
>> It wasn't over, Aaron. No, it wasn't over. That's because two years later, California voters passed Prop 57 and
00:30:32
gave Daniel Marsh a second chance. You'll recall that in this case, District Attorney Rice made the decision
00:30:40
to try Daniel Marsh as an adult. But under the new law, that decision would now have to be made by a juvenile court
00:30:48
judge. >> How do you call a family that sat through an entire trial? How do you call
00:30:55
them up and say, "Sorry, you have to come back because there's a chance he may end up being pushed back to juvenile
00:31:03
court where he would be potentially released at the age of 25." >> A judge would now listen to evidence and
00:31:10
decide if Daniel Marsh should have been tried as a juvenile. If so, the state might be forced to set Marsh free on his
00:31:19
25th birthday. He's 21 now. So in about 3 and a half, four years, he would be out with no
00:31:27
supervision, no parole. He would just be free. I went into PTSD immediately. And
00:31:33
I said, I I can't do this. I can't do this. I'm moving forward. >> But before a hearing date could even be
00:31:42
set, >> a striking video appeared online. Hurt people hurt people. >> Through a prison rehabilitation program,
00:31:52
Daniel Marsh took center stage in his very own TEDex talk. >> The secret down deep, deep down,
00:32:00
>> declaring that he's reformed and deserves a second chance. >> I came to realize that there are no such
00:32:07
things as evil people in this world, >> only damaged people. And I'm watching it
00:32:15
like a deer in the headlights. You know, I can't pull my eyes away. >> If I kept allowing myself to be trapped
00:32:21
by my emotions and to be disconnected. >> How dare you? Was all I could say to the
00:32:28
screen. >> Marsh also took the opportunity to raise a shocking new claim that he was the
00:32:36
victim here. >> When I was a child, I was sexually abused multiple times by two different
00:32:42
people. But he wouldn't say by whom and never even told his best friend. >> I don't recall anything like that.
00:32:50
>> He never talked about being sexually abused. >> He was asked routinely about trauma and
00:32:57
abuse and denied it every time. >> I believe he wouldn't say it if it wasn't true.
00:33:02
>> Bill Marsh stands by his son, >> but why wouldn't he have said it earlier? >> Knowing Daniel, he probably feels he has
00:33:10
some sort of loyalty. I felt alone and ashamed and disgusting. >> You don't believe he was ever abused?
00:33:20
>> I don't. Um I think it's a ploy to to get sympathy. Now >> embrace our humanity.
00:33:33
>> We knew our first and most important thing to do was to get the video taken down.
00:33:36
>> Right. Claudia Mopin's granddaughter Sarah took on the challenge >> and within 48 hours it was gone. It was
00:33:44
taken down off of YouTube. >> A small victory, but nothing compared to the battle ahead to keep Daniel Marsh
00:33:52
behind bars. >> All right. >> Marsh's fate was now in the hands of family court judge Samuel McAdam. Life
00:34:01
in prison or possibly just four more years. Let's go on the record in the matter of Daniel William Marsh.
00:34:10
>> Marsh's original defense team returned to represent him. Attorney Andra Pelino
00:34:17
>> and I think the court will be overwhelmed by the changes that he has made in a very short amount of time.
00:34:24
>> Remember Dr. Matthew Sulier, the psychiatrist who Daniel Marsh had threatened to kill? He recently
00:34:31
interviewed Marsh again and took the stand this time and said he thought Marsh had changed. There were distinct
00:34:40
differences in his maturity, his empathy, his insight into himself, his sense of responsibility.
00:34:47
>> I don't think he's worth throwing away in my opinion. >> He's killed two people,
00:34:53
>> right? >> I mean, isn't it possible that's the kind of person who just can't be saved?
00:34:59
I don't believe that. I don't believe that at all. >> Just when everyone thought the defense
00:35:04
was going to rest its case, the courtroom was stunned. Daniel Marsh had decided to take his fate into his own
00:35:13
hands. [Music] The families of Chip and Claudia were horrified when a 21-year-old Daniel
00:35:36
Marsh took the stand to plead for his freedom. >> And I stared at him the entire time.
00:35:43
>> I was a really damaged, screwed up, sick kid. Maybe that's still how I come across. And I really hope that's not the
00:35:51
case. Uh >> to me, he was doing everything in his power to say the things that would help
00:35:56
him in his case. >> I mean, it's night and day. You know, I no longer struggle with mental illness.
00:36:03
I've worked through the vast majority of my my anger and hate. I I'm not who I used to be.
00:36:12
>> While trying to convince the judge, Marsh also took the opportunity to address his victim's families for the
00:36:19
first time. I'm sorry I took them away from you. I can't even bring myself to look at
00:36:25
you. >> I think he didn't look cuz he realized he couldn't feain empathy. It >> It's hard for me to even
00:36:35
wrap my mind around how I could have done something that awful. And I guess I've just been afraid to actually
00:36:42
face that. But before Judge McAdam would decide if Marsh should be treated like a juvenile
00:36:49
and receive a lighter sentence, he asked the prosecution to call an expert on psychopaths.
00:36:55
>> Dr. Logan, good morning. >> Forensic psychologist Matthew Logan. >> Some of the traits are glib, superficial
00:37:02
charm, pathological lying, lack of responsibility, uh inability to feel remorse. While
00:37:10
Logan never met Marsh, he did examine his records. I spoke to Dr. Logan via FaceTime.
00:37:17
>> Is Daniel Marsh a psychopath? >> In my view, yes. >> After his conviction, Marsh scored a
00:37:25
whopping 35.8 out of 40 on the widely used psychopathy checklist, one of the highest scores Dr. Logan has ever seen.
00:37:36
means it's generally accepted as the gold standard for for uh diagnosing psychopathy.
00:37:42
>> Do you believe that Daniel Marsh could kill again and will kill again? >> I would say it's more likely than not
00:37:48
that he would kill again. >> And Dr. Logan says Marsh's testimony did nothing to convince him otherwise.
00:37:55
>> I've interviewed hundreds of psychopaths and they've all seen the light. And one
00:38:00
of the things that that is very typical of the psychopath is that ability to con
00:38:05
and manipulate. >> The twoe hearing culminated on October 24th, 2018 when a packed courtroom
00:38:15
convened to hear the judge's decision on Daniel Marsh's fate. >> Let's go on the record in the matter of
00:38:22
Daniel William Marsh. >> Judge McAdam first sent jitters throughout the courtroom. Marsh is
00:38:28
coping well with being incarcerated. He is not exhibiting the signs of a serious
00:38:32
mental illness. >> He said he found the testimony of Marsh to be credible, but in the end concluded
00:38:39
that Marsh's release just wasn't a chance worth taking. Marsh's original sentence would stand.
00:38:47
>> The defendant is remanded to state prison to serve the balance of an indeterminate life sentence with a
00:38:53
minimum of 52 years. You could kind of feel the relief in the courtroom when the judge read his final
00:39:05
decision from the family members. So relieved. >> I went outside and was like, "Okay, I
00:39:14
need to take a deep breath." And I could not catch my breath. And I still feel that way. Mhm.
00:39:21
>> I still feel that it's not over >> because it's not. In September 2018, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a
00:39:34
new law known as SB1391, which makes it impossible to ever try a 15-year-old offender as an adult, even
00:39:45
one like Daniel Marsh. So what 1391 says is that the DAs can never ever prosecute
00:39:55
a juvenile that's 14 or 15 years old as an adult. No matter how heinous the crime, no matter what torture they
00:40:03
inflicted, >> Marsha's lawyers have vowed to do what they can to have Daniel retroactively
00:40:10
included under that new law. >> We're going to fight that every step of the way. we might lose. And if we do,
00:40:18
Daniel Marsh will come back to our county and he will be sentenced as a juvenile where he would be eligible for
00:40:24
release at 25. If that happens, the state will have to argue every 2 years to keep Marsh behind
00:40:34
bars, which means a still grieving family >> may never fully heal. We just went through this entire year
00:40:55
having to rehash everything. It was literally like being in the trial all over again and even more so because
00:41:04
I had to hear him. >> It retraumatizes me every time. >> Special Agent Chris Campion is just as
00:41:12
traumatized at the idea of Marsh ever being set free. Daniel Marsh is in the top three of the people I'm most scared
00:41:22
of. >> What was your plan? It's going to [ __ ] through. >> Cuz he's got that combination of being a
00:41:28
psychopath and this this deep dark desire for murder and gore and bloodshed. It's
00:41:37
>> most exhilarating, enjoyable feeling I've ever felt. >> And it doesn't go away. It just doesn't
00:41:47
[Music] [Music] Court will come to order will arise. >> The case starts on Monday, June 29th,
00:42:53
2015. >> Hi, I'm Dr. Terresa Severs. >> Dr. Terresa Severs was due at work and she didn't arrive.
00:43:03
Teresa Severs is found on her kitchen floor dead. A pool of blood surrounds her head.
00:43:19
She is cold to the touch. This is Dr. Teresa Severs. High-profile doctor. did a lot of holistic medicine
00:43:30
and people uh you know said that she was just a little spitfire just a short little thing and always wearing you know
00:43:37
4-in heels clack clacking around >> so let's get started we got a lot of stuff to talk about ladies remember
00:43:43
walking into a room meant turning heads >> when I got into work that day we were
00:43:49
getting word that this um 46-year-old doctor was dead this beloved woman in our community had
00:43:56
been brutally killed inside her own house. Mark and Teresa have been a couple since
00:44:05
2003 uh when they got married in a beachside ceremony in St. Petersburg. She was sort of the bread winner and he
00:44:12
was the office manager at her practice and he helped raise the kids. They had a trip planned to New York and Teresa
00:44:20
would fly home that Sunday night to be at work Monday morning. So on Sunday night, she comes back here
00:44:27
to the Southwest Florida International Airport. She calls Mark, tells him she's safe, and then gets in her car and heads
00:44:33
back to their house. >> 911. What is your emergency? >> Uh I'm at a friend's house.
00:44:41
>> Mark had a friend come and check up on her. >> Uh he's out of town and she's dead on
00:44:46
the floor and there's hammer at the side and she's bashed in the back of the head. It will later be determined that
00:44:52
there are 17 impact wounds to her skull. >> Who would possibly want this feisty Florida doctor dead? That question led
00:45:02
investigators on a wild chase that ended more than a thousand miles away with a shocking arrest of three people.
00:45:14
A break in the case came from all places from the state of Missouri. There were electronic footprints. When you step
00:45:22
outside your home, folks, you're always being observed. >> Once you started to unwrap it a little
00:45:29
bit, it was nutty. It was weird, and it was hard to keep track of it all. >> This is a case in which 21st century
00:45:36
technology became vital. >> I've been told we have a verdict. [Music] [Music] I think anytime there is a beautiful,
00:46:34
successful woman who is murdered, that's sort of what society pays attention to.
00:46:40
For better or for worse. The shocking murder of Dr. Teresa Severs in Bonita Springs, Florida, was a huge
00:46:57
story, especially for Jessica Lipkcom, who covered crime for the Naples Daily News. To think of this mother of two who
00:47:06
was killed brutally inside her home was horrifying to people. >> The doctor had cut short a family
00:47:13
vacation in upstate New York and had flown home alone on Sunday night, June 28th, 2015 so she could see patients the
00:47:23
next morning. >> You kind of put yourself in her shoes rolling your suitcase through the door
00:47:29
and then to be attacked by someone from behind is It's hard to imagine. >> Investigators believe that as soon as
00:47:39
Dr. Severs walked into her kitchen, she was killed, struck repeatedly with a hammer.
00:47:45
>> The next morning, uh, her office staff got in. >> It's now 9:00. Now it's 9:05.
00:47:54
Now it's 9:15. I said, "Where's doctor?" >> Sandra Hoskins was Theresa Sver's longtime medical assistant.
00:48:03
I was texting back and forth trying to see if you know where you at and no response called. No answer. Mark's out
00:48:14
of town. He says, "I can't get a hold of her either." >> How unusual was it for Dr. Severs not to
00:48:20
show up. >> Even if it was 9:00 and 3 seconds after, you would hear her heels coming in.
00:48:30
was just so unbelievable. >> When Connie Reese heard the tragic news, she contacted her stepbrother, Mark
00:48:38
Severs, the doctor's husband. >> How did he react to the death of his wife? >> He couldn't speak.
00:48:46
He's not the kind of guy that has been overly emotional on the outside, but he couldn't speak.
00:48:54
>> Connie and Mark became family when her mother married his father. I asked him what happened to Teresa.
00:49:03
>> And what did he say? >> No idea. >> Mark met his future wife in 2003 when he was visiting St. Petersburg, Florida.
00:49:14
>> Pretty much love at first sight. >> Well, I think by the time that he introduced her to mom, uh, I think he
00:49:22
was pretty much done. He was off the market officially. >> Yeah. Really? He was working as a nurse
00:49:29
while she was a recently divorced physician. >> Teresa hung the moon. She was a remarkable human being and very special.
00:49:37
And that's the way Mark treated it from the beginning. You could just you could hear it in his voice.
00:49:43
>> They were married on the beach surrounded by friends and family including stepmother Jenny Wacklman.
00:49:50
>> Was a sunset wedding and she had a beautiful gown and it was very nice. Was he happy on that day?
00:49:57
>> Oh my gosh, he was very happy. >> 6 months later, their first daughter was born. The Severs built a large house in
00:50:07
Bonita Springs and in 2007 welcomed another daughter. >> How did Mark feel about being a dad?
00:50:17
>> It was everything to him. They were his reason for being, but he was also all
00:50:22
about Teresa and her mission. We talk about our physical health, mental health. That mission was to open a
00:50:29
holistic practice where she could heal patients by blending traditional and alternative medicine. She also spread
00:50:37
her message in speeches and videos. >> There's our spiritual and energetic health.
00:50:42
>> We would have patients from all over the world. They would come to us after they
00:50:47
failed everything else. She wouldn't take no for an answer. Talking about the doctor still makes
00:50:55
Sandra emotional. >> And as a patient, she wouldn't allow you to say, "I'm never going to
00:51:02
get better." >> While patients love the doctor, Sandra and her husband, Frank Pays, who also
00:51:09
worked at the practice, admit it wasn't always easy working for Severs. She had a short fuse.
00:51:17
>> I would hear doctors screaming and yelling in the in back office. >> Dr. receivers would yell at the
00:51:22
patients. >> She was there to help you get better. Didn't have what they call the bedside
00:51:28
manner. >> Would she yell at you? >> Yes. Yeah. A wrist is a problem. The biggest problem.
00:51:34
>> She expected perfection and if it wasn't perfect, she would get upset >> because I need to maintain my mental
00:51:41
sharpness. She was a big presence and sometimes that meant that she got really feisty with people.
00:51:49
She was the the biggest figure in the room. >> While Teresa took care of her patients,
00:51:54
Mark managed her office and took care of their daughters. >> The girls were his pride and joy.
00:52:01
>> And according to her sister, Annie Lisa, Teresa was equally devoted to Mark. >> Teresa always said, "I'll never leave
00:52:09
Mark. I won't ever do that to my girls." >> Nevertheless, within weeks, Mark Severs
00:52:15
became a person of interest. Did he cooperate initially? >> Oh, yes. I think he thought he was doing
00:52:21
the right thing. >> Mark spoke to investigators without a lawyer present and even handed over his
00:52:28
cell phone and allowed them to download the contents. >> Was he worried he might be arrested?
00:52:34
>> He thought, "Why would they? What kind of evidence could they possibly have? Cuz I didn't do anything."
00:52:41
In fact, Mark Severs had an airtight alibi. At the time of Teresa's murder, he and their two girls were with
00:52:50
Teresa's family hundreds of miles away in New York. [Music] Eight days after Dr. Teresa Severs was
00:53:19
murdered, friends and family came together for her funeral, including Mark's stepmother, Jenny Wacklman.
00:53:26
>> There were a lot of people. Yes. Yeah. And it was sad, of course. >> Almost all her patients were there. I
00:53:35
was numb. Mark Severs reportedly had a gun strapped to his waist at his wife's funeral. Strange? Well, perhaps, but her
00:53:45
killer hadn't yet been arrested. And according to stepsister Connie Ree, Mark was on edge.
00:53:52
>> He's very much in protective mode. >> When you say protective mode, what do you mean? Well, I think, you know, he
00:53:59
always keeps an eye and an ear to the ground, so to speak, and is aware of his surroundings and, you know, he he was
00:54:06
concerned for their their safety. >> I think it was in the back of his mind that that there might be some danger to
00:54:12
his daughters because of what happened to their mother. >> It just didn't make any sense. Who would
00:54:18
want the vibrant and dedicated Dr. Teresa Severs dead? and why killer was such anger and force.
00:54:27
>> Could have been anybody. I really thought maybe it was just somebody that was in the area and broke in or
00:54:35
something. >> There were signs of a forced entry, primarks on a side door, but Mark's
00:54:42
extensive gun collection and $40,000 in cash discovered inside the Sever's home hadn't been touched.
00:54:51
So when this happened, everyone wanted to know what happened with the alarm. And as it turns out, it it hadn't been
00:54:58
activated. >> While the family was on vacation, Mark had asked his mother, Bonnie Severs, to
00:55:03
feed the family pets. She had trouble setting the alarm that Sunday and told detectives her son Mark said not to
00:55:11
worry about it. Monday morning, Dr. Severs was discovered dead on her kitchen floor.
00:55:21
This is Mark's mother speaking to investigators. >> So, I really feel that it's my fault.
00:55:28
>> You can't you cannot blame yourself. >> Around the time of Dr. Sver's murder,
00:55:38
the internet was buzzing with reports about the suspicious deaths of other alternative doctors in the US.
00:55:46
Did Mark think that her death might be connected with that? >> Yes. Yes, he did.
00:55:50
>> But with no real evidence to make that connection, investigators turned their
00:55:56
attention to the people who might have had an axe to grime with the energetic, often abrasive Dr. Severs.
00:56:03
>> I think the theory that I heard was that maybe it was a patient. Um, obviously
00:56:07
they were interviewing all of her friends and family members, so it was pretty much like a wide open field of
00:56:14
suspects at that point. >> Then a surprising name emerged. In her police interview, Dr. Sver's sister,
00:56:22
Annie Lisa, said she heard Sandra Hoskins was a disgruntled employee. That's the same Sandra who seemed so
00:56:31
upset by Dr. Sver's death. You may not like your boss, but you don't badmouth them to patients that are
00:56:38
coming in the doors like Dr. Severs. You know, she's she's a [ __ ] >> I'm like, "Oh my god, they think I did
00:56:45
it." >> Sandra, who claimed she had been treated harshly by Dr. Severs in the past, had
00:56:51
planned to hand in a resignation that very Monday, the doctor was found dead. According to Sandra, the doctor told her
00:56:58
she was bringing bad energy to the office. Now I know why I was not received very well at her memorial.
00:57:08
>> Why would anyone think that you did this? >> That is shocking to me. A lot of the
00:57:15
patients did know the way she treated me. >> And so people thought maybe you just had
00:57:21
enough. >> Yeah. Sandra Hoskins was cleared when nearly 2 months after Dr. receivers was murdered.
00:57:29
There was a stunning break in the case. Police made arrests and the suspects were not from Florida.
00:57:40
So, we showed up to a press conference, I believe that August, and the sheriff gets up there and tells us uh simply the
00:57:49
name of uh the first suspect, Jimmy Rogers. And he says he's from Missouri and he's been booked for the murder of
00:57:57
Theresa Severs. >> Never heard of him. So, I thought, "Oh, well, who is he and what's he got to do
00:58:03
with this?" And then about an hour later, he calls us in again and says, "We've now picked up a second suspect,
00:58:08
Curtis Wayne Wright, also from Missouri." It was so shocking. To solve this murder, investigators
00:58:17
would travel more than a thousand miles and they were in for a wild ride. They would soon discover this case had as
00:58:25
many twists and turns as the Missouri River. [Music] Terresa Severs was bludgeoned to death
00:58:47
with a hammer. >> Neighbors are still waiting for answers. I said to my husband,
00:58:52
>> the two arrests for Teresa Sver's murder made,00 miles away in Missouri seemed to
00:58:59
come out of the blue. Mark's stepmother, Jenny Wkelman. >> Why? You know, what's going on? Just
00:59:06
seemed like such a disconnect. >> No one had ever heard of the suspect, Jimmy Ray Rogers, but it was the mug
00:59:12
shot of the other suspect, Wayne Wright, that struck everyone. He had an uncanny
00:59:18
resemblance to the victim's husband, Mark Severs. >> They look alike. Yeah. >> At least in pictures, they look like
00:59:25
twins. >> And that's in that's that's when I be started to believe, you know, that
00:59:32
definitely there is not something right with with Curtis Wayight. >> As it turns out, Curtis Wayne Wright, he
00:59:40
goes by Wayne, was no stranger to Mark's family. He was Mark's very good friends
00:59:47
and ages and ages. So, I didn't believe it. I didn't. >> It just didn't make sense. Wayne and
00:59:55
Mark had grown up together in Missouri. Wayne was at Teresa's funeral. He had celebrated Mark and Teresa's wedding
01:00:02
with them. And just two months before the murder, Mark had been Wayne's best man at his wedding. Wayne was also a
01:00:11
familiar face around the office. Did you two know Wayne right? How did you know him? He
01:00:19
>> was the computer guy that looked just like Mark. >> Wayne would travel from Missouri to
01:00:23
Florida to work on the computers in Dr. Sever's office. How would you describe Wayne?
01:00:29
>> He was geeky. All he wanted to do was get the computers up and running, focused.
01:00:33
>> But to me, he just seemed like a very geeky creepster. >> Did he make you nervous?
01:00:40
>> A little bit. I can't explain it. It's just a woman's intuition. >> How would you describe Mark and Wayne's
01:00:47
relationship? They appear to be close friends. >> Yeah. >> He always said he's my brother from
01:00:53
another mother. >> Yeah, that was his lingo. >> Back in Hillsboro, Missouri, Greg Bolan
01:01:00
knew both Mark and Wayne when they both had hair. >> This here is Hillsboro Elementary
01:01:05
School. This is where me and Wayne met for the very first time in third grade. Greg Bolan remembers his high school
01:01:12
classmate Wayne as a tech wiz. The kid voted most dependable and as a fun guy to hang around with.
01:01:20
>> He actually ran for and became our class president. >> Smart. >> Very smart. Quite honestly, he was one
01:01:26
of the smartest people with computers that I ever met. >> But it wasn't long before Greg suspected
01:01:33
Wayne Wright had a dark side. In 1996, Greg's brother, Ronnie Bolan, a preacher, mysteriously disappeared. His
01:01:43
body has never been found. And according to police, Ronnie was last seen with Wayne.
01:01:49
>> Do you believe Wayne Wright killed your brother? >> Yes, I do. >> You have no question about that?
01:01:55
>> I have no doubt in my mind. >> Greg believes the motive was money that Wayne owed Ronnie. Reporter Jessica
01:02:04
Lipkcom. They found his car with the car keys still in the ignition in a car wash
01:02:08
in St. Louis. >> Wayne has never been charged in Ronnie's disappearance, but he is listed in a
01:02:15
police report as a person of interest. And Wayne's no stranger to the criminal justice system. In 2011, he was serving
01:02:25
time for drug possession when he befriended the other suspect in Dr. receivers's murder. A young inmate named
01:02:33
Jimmy Ray Rogers who was doing time on a weapons charge. >> You could just tell he needed a job. He
01:02:40
wanted a job. You know, >> Jimmy was released from jail. >> I'll show you. >> Tyler Juliet and Jeff Conway hired him
01:02:48
to work at a contracting company. >> He liked to tell a lot of stories. A lot of things he told at the time, nobody
01:02:54
really believed him. He liked to brag a little bit about the things he had done in the past. a colorful criminal past.
01:03:01
He says Jimmy would brag about con jobs ranging from stolen merchandise to counterfeit money.
01:03:10
>> I never felt Jimmy was a dangerous guy. I just felt like he was a blowhard, honestly. You know, I really felt like
01:03:14
he was just a talker. >> Conway recalls that he had asked Jimmy to work on Monday, June 29th.
01:03:20
>> But Jimmy texted him back and said he wasn't available. >> All it said was, "I can't do that. I'm
01:03:26
still in Florida. It was on June 29th that Dr. Terresa Severs was discovered bludgeoning to
01:03:36
death with a hammer inside her Florida home. And it didn't go unnoticed to investigators that Jimmy Ray Rogers had
01:03:46
a unique nickname. >> Supposedly Jimmy Rogers nickname was the hammer, but I think that was more of
01:03:53
like a self-given nickname. If you talk to some of his friends from high school,
01:03:57
they say nobody really called him that. But I think maybe going to jail for the first time, you know, trying to make a
01:04:04
name for himself, maybe that's something he sort of assigned himself to fit in. >> Why was Jimmy the Hammer Rogers in
01:04:12
Florida that fateful weekend? Was Wayne Wright with him? And what led authorities to believe they were
01:04:18
involved in a doctor's murder? Why would Wayne try to look like Mark? See more evidence from the case on
01:04:28
Facebook at 48 hours. [Music] Back in June 2015, practically everyone in Hillsboro, Missouri knew that Wayne
01:04:43
Wright was planning a weekend trip out of town. >> He let it slip to lots of people that he
01:04:49
was going down to Florida. told some people he was even going to visit the Severs.
01:04:53
>> And it wasn't long before police got a tip that Wayne had been in Florida at the time of Dr. Sever's murder. And he
01:05:01
hadn't gone there alone. He went with his jail house pal, Jimmy the Hammer Rogers.
01:05:08
>> Jimmy's boss, Jeff Conway. >> He told me a story that his brother had graduated from law school and that he
01:05:16
had invited Jimmy down to Florida for the weekend. Uh, all expenses paid. >> But he told his pregnant girlfriend,
01:05:24
Taylor Showmaker, another story. He was going out of town for a few days to work
01:05:29
with Wayne. >> He had told her that he was going down to Florida to make some money.
01:05:35
>> Weeks after Jimmy and Wayne returned, detectives from Florida showed up in Hillsboro, Missouri. They confronted
01:05:42
Wayne about that tip placing him in Florida, but he refused to talk. He didn't need to. A rental car GPS gave
01:05:51
the cops what they needed to know. On the morning of June 27th, 2015, Wayne Ray got into a rental car here in
01:06:01
Hillsboro, Missouri, and then went to pick up Jimmy Ray Rogers. At some point, this address was put into the GPS and
01:06:09
then the two men took off for the 1100 mile ride to Bonita Springs, Florida. After driving all day and all night on
01:06:18
Sunday, June 28th, Wayne and Jimmy arrived at the Sever's home, the Bonita Springs address. It's all right there in
01:06:27
the GPS, a digital footprint for investigators. When Jimmy and Wayne arrived around 6
01:06:36
a.m., authorities believe they turned off the house alarm. That may explain why Mark's mother, Bonnie, was so
01:06:44
confused about the alarm system. >> I wasn't there at 6:09 in the morning. >> He was turned off at 609
01:06:52
in there. >> That's what I'm trying to work out. >> Oh my god. >> Then, according to the GPS, Jimmy and
01:06:59
Wayne left the Sever's home and typed in another address for a Walmart to do some
01:07:04
shopping. Obviously looking at that security footage from the Walmart, they're able to pretty quickly determine
01:07:10
that that's who who was with Wayne. >> They made no effort to cover their faces, disguise themselves.
01:07:17
>> They just waltz through like they were anyone else. They bought, among other things, trash bags, flushable wet wipes,
01:07:25
black towels, black shoes, and a lockpicking kit. They paid cash for their purchase with a $100 bill. After
01:07:34
shopping at Walmart, Jimmy and Wayne continued using the navigation system, even to find the beach and soak up some
01:07:42
sun. Does it make any sense that this guy who was so good with computers would have
01:07:49
left such a trail? >> It does, but it doesn't. Uh to a lot of people looking at it, it it kind of
01:07:58
makes it look like, you know, these guys were just dumb and dumber, but that's a
01:08:04
lot of how he operated. >> After their beach trip, according to police affidavit, Wayne and Jimmy
01:08:10
returned to the Sever's home where they hung out for hours in the garage waiting
01:08:16
for an unsuspecting Dr. Severs to arrive. In the early morning hours of Monday, June 29th, the GPS again shows Jimmy and
01:08:26
Wayne on the highway headed northbound for the 17-hour drive back to Missouri. The electronic trail would eventually
01:08:35
lead detectives to Jimmy Ray Rogers door. But like Wayne, he denied he had anything to do with the murder. But when
01:08:43
police brought in Jimmy's girlfriend, Taylor Shellmaker, which >> means you're going to swear to tell the
01:08:48
truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Correct. >> Yes. >> What a story she had to tell.
01:08:55
Jimmy Ray Rogers took his girlfriend Taylor for a ride right along here, Route 47 in rural Missouri.
01:09:03
And along this road, he asked her to throw out parts of his cell phone, which he had smashed earlier, some gloves, and
01:09:10
a jumpsuit. [Applause] >> He said, "Throw this in the river." And it took me a minute to click in. And
01:09:18
then I threw uh the gloves out and waited a minute and then I threw out the jumpsuit.
01:09:24
>> Did you ask why or you just did it? >> No, I just did it. I was scared. >> Okay, it's understand.
01:09:29
>> Taylor told police that's when she pushed Jimmy to tell her exactly what happened in Florida.
01:09:35
>> And he told me about using a hammer on her. >> Okay. And he said that he killed Teresa
01:09:44
Siver, Mark's wife. Yes. >> With a hammer. >> Yes. Okay. >> Florida detectives now thought they knew
01:09:51
who killed Teresa Severs, but they still didn't know the why. Why would Wayne Wright want to kill his best friend's
01:10:00
wife? >> Did everyone then say, "Oh my gosh, Mark had to be involved." >> Definitely. I mean, there was really no
01:10:09
putting Wayne in Florida in Bonita Springs inside their house without Mark knowing about it.
01:10:18
Did it occur to either one of you that Mark might be involved? No. >> No. >> Not even a thought in the back of your
01:10:26
mind? >> No. No. Absolutely not. >> But when investigators downloaded Mark's cell phone, they discovered the Sver's
01:10:34
marriage was more troubled than anyone guessed. Despite having $40,000 in cash around the house, they had serious
01:10:43
financial problems. And when investigators discovered five insurance policies on Teresa totaling more than $4
01:10:51
million, it was a big red flag. Jimmy's girlfriend had told police that Teresa's death was a murder for hire and
01:11:05
that Jimmy was supposed to be paid $10,000. and then asked him how he was going to
01:11:12
make money and it was murdering Mark's wife. >> He said that Mark hired Wayne. >> Yes. And Wayne hired him. Mark didn't
01:11:22
know anything about Jimmy being hired. >> Where's the money supposed to come from?
01:11:25
>> Insurance from her death. >> Okay. And did he ever get paid? >> No. Then almost eight months after Teresa
01:11:33
Sver's murder, Wayne Wright, Mark's lookalike best friend, suddenly turned on him
01:11:43
and took a deal. >> Mr. Wright, why are you pleading guilty today to seconddegree murder?
01:11:52
>> Wayne Wright admitted killing Teresa. I'm I'm pleading guilty uh because of my
01:11:58
role in the planning and participating of the murder of Teresa Severs. >> He said the murder was all Mark's idea
01:12:08
and that's what police needed. >> Mark, did you hire Wayne Wright to kill your wife?
01:12:14
>> Did you? >> Mark Severs was charged with the murder of his wife. >> Did you hire anyone to kill your wife?
01:12:19
>> But Sever's stepsister says he would never risk losing his children. She believes Wayne Wright had long envied
01:12:27
his best friend's life and he's the one who killed Teresa on his own. >> Why would Wayne kill Theresa?
01:12:35
>> Because he's a sick man. >> Do you think Wayne was jealous of Mark? >> I think it's possible. Whether he's
01:12:42
jealous of Mark or wanted to be Mark, I don't I don't have any clue. Family and friends point to how Wayne
01:12:49
Wright began to model himself after Severs, even shaving his own head when Sver started to go bald. I can't
01:12:59
>> They didn't look alike when we were younger. How much they they morphed into each other over the years.
01:13:09
If it was by chance or by their plan, I don't know. More than four years after Curtis Wayne
01:13:18
Wright cut that deal to testify against Mark Severs and ex-con Jimmy Rogers, the
01:13:24
two men go on trial, but separately. Rogers case went first October 2019. Terresa Sver's mother and siblings were
01:13:36
in the courtroom. This case was about the the perfect marriage, the perfect friendship,
01:13:44
the perfect alibi, the perfect murder. >> Assistant state attorney Hamid Hunter told the jury that Terresa Sver's death
01:13:55
was a classic case of murder for hire. Mark Severs was miles away while Curtis Wayne Wright and Jimmy Ray Rogers killed
01:14:04
his wife. >> Mr. Right. Hit her with the hammer. Hit her again. [Music] >> Mr. Rogers came out of nowhere. Mr.
01:14:16
Rogers engages with his hammer and he starts hitting her, hitting her, hitting her.
01:14:22
>> Rogers defense attorney, Kathleen Fitz George. >> What you heard from the state attorney
01:14:29
is what they believe or expect or hope the evidence will show. But it's a bumpy road because they haven't told you
01:14:37
everything. [Music] [Music] The state actually believes Teresa Severs was killed with two hammers, but
01:15:01
only one was discovered on the Sever's kitchen floor. They showed the jury that weapon and the damaging video evidence
01:15:09
of the two men near the crime scene. [Music] >> Is this how you found this jumpsuit when
01:15:17
you took it into your custody on the side of the road in Cadet, Missouri? >> Yes.
01:15:23
>> A fiber from the jumpsuit worn by Rogers was found on Teresa's body. [Music] This time the state calls Taylor
01:15:34
Showmaker. [Music] >> Roger's former girlfriend, Taylor Showmaker, appeared shaken when she
01:15:42
entered the courtroom. She identified that blue jumpsuit. It's >> his jumpsuit >> and told the jury Rogers confessed to
01:15:52
her >> and then asked him how well how. And he said with a hammer. Then the state called their star
01:16:01
witness. >> Next witness. >> State calls Curtis Wright. >> In exchange for his testimony at both
01:16:08
trials, Wright was allowed to plead guilty to secondderee murder and will spend 25 years in prison.
01:16:17
>> Mr. Wright, who killed Dr. Terresa Severs? >> Uh, I did. And Jimmy Rogers. >> How many times did you hit Dr. Severs
01:16:26
with that hammer? At three, >> Mr. Rogers came from somewhere and he started hitting her. What did he do?
01:16:34
>> Just just started hitting her over and over. >> How would you describe how I was hitting
01:16:39
her? >> In a frenzy. >> Rogers did not testify, and his attorney, Donald McFarland, called no
01:16:49
witnesses, but told jurors they should not believe Curtis Wayne Wright. Curtis Wright's the only one who ever hit that
01:16:57
woman and he's lying to you to save his own worthless skin. Jimmy didn't have a hammer.
01:17:06
>> The jury was out nearly 2 days and then >> I've been told we have a verdict. Is the
01:17:12
state ready? >> Yes, sure. >> The defendant is guilty of secondderee murder. >> Rogers showed no emotion. He was
01:17:21
sentenced to life in prison. And then in November 2019, Mark Severs went on trial for the murder of his
01:17:32
wife. He spent much of the prior 3 years in jail, still denying he had any involvement, and his family was still
01:17:40
behind him. >> Just haven't seen any evidence that makes any sense as far as Mark
01:17:48
being involved. Both his stepmother Jenny and stepsister Connie vowed to support him through the
01:17:54
trial. >> I will do everything that I can to be there. >> Are you nervous about it?
01:18:02
>> Yeah. Yeah. >> Please be seated. >> Mark Severs, charged with firstdegree murder of his wife, appeared unfased
01:18:12
even though he faced the death penalty. The same prosecutors who tried Jimmy Rogers will use much of the same
01:18:20
evidence in front of a different jury. >> This is a case in which 21st century technology became vital. Cell towers,
01:18:28
cell tower dumps, called detail records that allowed massive amounts of data to be sorted,
01:18:38
organized, and searched. But Sver's defense attorney, Michael Mummer, says all that evidence only points to Curtis
01:18:47
Wright and Jimmy Rogers as the killers. >> Curtis swings that hammer bam right in the side of the head,
01:18:56
followed by another one across the bridge of the nose. Curtis says, "I struck Teresa three times in the head
01:19:09
with a hammer, but Jimmy did the rest." >> Testifying again is Jimmy Rogers former
01:19:17
girlfriend, Taylor Shellmaker, now with a new look. She says her ex was promised
01:19:23
a payday, but she can't connect Severs to it. >> And did he tell you how much money he
01:19:29
expected to be making from this? Yes. >> And what did he tell you? >> I think it was 10,000.
01:19:37
>> The case again comes down to that star witness, Curtis Wayne Wright, who will
01:19:43
now come face to face with his mirror image and once closest friend, >> Mr. Wright, who killed Dr. Terresa
01:19:55
Severs? Uh Jimmy Rogers and I physically did it, but uh Mark Severs was also involved in
01:20:02
the planning. >> For several hours, Wright testified against Severs, the man he affectionately called his brother from
01:20:11
another mother. >> Why did you do it? >> Um I was asked to do it >> by whom? >> Mr. Severs.
01:20:23
Wright told the jury that Severs and his wife were having marital and money problems and that Severs believed Teresa
01:20:31
was planning to leave him and take the kids. >> The only option that he had was for her
01:20:37
to die. Um, and he said that he needed to have her killed. >> When the judge asked Mark Severs if he
01:20:44
wanted to testify, >> I'm not going to testify. >> Okay. >> But I like to go home.
01:20:52
This time the jury was out just four hours. The families gathered in the court for the verdict.
01:20:59
>> The jury find as follows as to the defendant in this case. Count one first-degree murder. The defendant is
01:21:06
guilty of first-degree murder. >> Svers, stoic at first, began to cry. In addition to the guilty verdict, the jury
01:21:15
asked the judge to sentence Severs to death. This is how former employee Frank Pays
01:21:25
felt before the trial. What should happen to Mark Severs? He's facing the death penalty.
01:21:30
>> I I I think the death penalty is the easy way out. I think the the pain and torture that he
01:21:40
deserves is to sit in jail to the rest of his life thinking about his two pride and joy
01:21:49
daughters. That should be his punishment. [Music] On January 3rd, 2020, Mark Sever, now a
01:22:00
convicted killer, returned to court to find out if he will get life in prison or be sentenced to death.
01:22:08
>> Is it okay if I refer to my notes? >> Yes, sir. Absolutely. >> This time, he agreed to speak to plead
01:22:16
for his life. >> Although a jury found me guilty, I am innocent of all charges, as I've
01:22:22
maintained since this heinous crime took place. Our girls have tragically lost their mommy
01:22:33
and now they're about to lose their daddy as well. >> It didn't take long for the judge to
01:22:40
rule. >> I judge uh people's actions. I don't judge people's souls. That's for somebody else to do. Sir, I'm going to
01:22:47
go ahead and adjudicate you guilty on each count on the first countderee murder. And it's the order of the court
01:22:54
that you be sentenced to death, sir. >> For Teresa's family, it's the end of an agonizing nearly 5-year wait for
01:23:05
justice. >> This has been an incredible nightmare from the beginning. Teresa took down three guys
01:23:17
that took her from us. She was my modern bday mother Theresa. I always called her that
01:23:28
because she always was trying to help people. >> Our focus now is to go on to take care
01:23:38
>> take care of the girls and uh give them the love and support that they need. And we're glad that it's
01:23:47
over. Justice has been served. [Music] [Music] CBS next Saturday. 48 hours brings you
01:24:09
backtoback episodes all summer long. Next week, unsolved. >> I want to find out who murdered my
01:24:16
sister. This is a woman that has fought this battle alone since 2015. >> 48 hours prime time double feature next
01:24:22
Saturday 98 central on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus. [Music] My name is Adam Dexter. I am a local
01:24:42
news reporter. And in the summer of 2021, I was working as a multimedia journalist for WISC News3.
01:24:50
News3 now in Madison, Wisconsin. Madison is not New York City. It's not LA where
01:24:56
there's news happening all the time. A missing person, especially a husband and wife. That would be news.
01:25:04
>> The Dean County Sheriff's Office shared this photo of Bart and Christa Herson.
01:25:09
Instead, spending today interviewing neighbors. >> There are too many unanswered questions.
01:25:13
you know, cars go off the road. Um, things happen. You know, there's a storm or there's a crash or XYZ. You just
01:25:20
don't know. >> My boss was calling her or emailing her or texting her. I was doing the same. I
01:25:26
was texting Bart and there was just never any response. I met Christa through work at Zimre Body Shop and then
01:25:33
I met her husband through her obviously and then um, you know, they just did anything for anybody like even people
01:25:40
they didn't know. So, I'm on the Christa side. We related through my dad's side of the family, and
01:25:48
we mostly saw each other in Wisconsin at our family cottage cabin during summers
01:25:54
and family reunions. They both gave 100% to raising their boys. Mitchell was a little more outgoing, very easygoing. Uh
01:26:05
Chandler was a little more sensitive, a little quieter. Her whole goal for her being a mom was, and I'm quoting her,
01:26:14
she said, "I want my children to be the best men they can be. >> The biggest concern for me is just
01:26:21
figuring out where they are." >> Police say the couple had planned to go to their cabin in Langlaid County.
01:26:27
>> Our investigation began on July 7th when Chandler reported his parents missing.
01:26:32
>> We knew exactly what Chandler had told us. We knew that his two parents were gone.
01:26:38
Uh they had left for the Fourth of July weekend supposedly to go to their cabin in northern Wisconsin.
01:26:47
I've never been assigned to a case where a couple is gone. >> We ask even more questions to try to get
01:26:54
a story and get a timeline of when did the Haldersons go missing and everything was just happening so fast in those
01:27:01
first couple of days. When we first got the email saying that Bart and Christa were missing, it didn't compute. Like,
01:27:08
what do you mean they're missing? Like they went up to the cabin and then it didn't come back. Huh?
01:27:13
>> Did you think possibly they had been in a car accident and just hadn't been found?
01:27:18
>> I thought about that or I did think about the boat. >> Did something happen out on the lake?
01:27:23
>> All these stories are swirling around and not making any sense and it's, you know, taking weirder and weirder turns.
01:27:32
and we needed to search this area um because of how remote it is and wooded it is and the access to water to see if
01:27:39
we could find any evidence. >> No way I would have ever ever guessed what was about to be revealed. Never.
01:27:47
Nobody saw this coming. [Music] [Music] Bart and Christa Halderson had everything a couple could want. A
01:28:39
beautiful home in Windsor, Wisconsin, and two sons they adored. 24year-old Mitchell, who worked in tech, and
01:28:48
23-year-old Chandler, a college student living at home. Chandler had big ambitions. He talked of getting his IT
01:28:56
degree of his promising internship at an insurance company and was especially excited about a new job he landed at
01:29:05
SpaceX founded by one of the richest people in the world, Elon Musk. Everything seemed to be going well for
01:29:13
the Haldersons. So on Friday morning, July 2nd, when Christa just didn't show up at the office, Dan Croninger
01:29:21
remembers becoming concerned. How unusual was it for number one, for Kristen not to show up for work, not to
01:29:29
call. Yeah. >> And just not show up. How unusual? >> Extremely unusual. >> Dan and Kristen not only worked
01:29:35
together, they were close friends. >> So when she hadn't said anything to me, I was like, "Well, that's kind of
01:29:39
weird." It wasn't something that she would ever do. Dan says he texted and called her several times, but got no
01:29:46
response. Later that afternoon, he and his girlfriend drove over to the Halderson
01:29:54
home. A neighbor's security camera shows them arriving. >> You know, knocked on the door, didn't
01:30:01
hear anything. Peered through the window. The only thing that seemed weird was there was a coffee table on its
01:30:05
side. You looked through the door. It was kind of off to the right over by they had a fireplace over there.
01:30:11
>> Then Dan says he walked over to the garage window. >> I looked in. Both cars were there. I was
01:30:17
like, "Why are both cars here?" And I was starting to go around the back of the house and then Chandler came out the
01:30:22
side door and he came out in a towel saying, "Oh, I just got out of the shower, you know, hey, what's going on?"
01:30:28
I was like, "Oh, we're just looking for Bart and Christa." And he said, "Oh, yeah. They went had to go up north this
01:30:32
morning for an emergency up at the cabin." Dan says he was relieved to know that Bart and Crystal were at the family
01:30:39
cabin over the holiday weekend. He kept in touch with Chandler to see if he had heard from his mom and dad. But he said,
01:30:48
"Yeah, they don't have very good service up there, so you kind of have to wait till the clouds clear before they get a
01:30:53
message." >> On Sunday, July 4th, Dan says Chandler called him and said he was bored and
01:30:58
needed something to do. So Dan invited him over to watch the fireworks and asked Chandler about his parents.
01:31:06
>> He mentioned that he talked to them and they're going to be back Monday. >> All right. When he said that he had
01:31:12
talked to them, did he say he talked to both his parents or just his mom? What did he say? Do you remember?
01:31:17
>> I don't think he was specific. I mean, I was asking about his mom because I knew
01:31:22
she had a doctor's appointment coming up that she was really wanted to be at. I think it had been rescheduled before.
01:31:27
But Christa didn't show up for work on Monday and again on Tuesday. By Wednesday, July 7th, when there was
01:31:35
still no word, Dan knew something was wrong. >> And now she's missed her appointment.
01:31:41
>> So now it's all out concern. Right. >> You know something's happened to her now.
01:31:45
>> Right. Right. >> Dan pushed Chandler to file a missing person's report that morning.
01:31:52
Chandler Halderson walked into one of our precincts to report his parents missing.
01:31:57
>> Detectives Sabrina Sims and Brian Shunk with the Dayne County Sheriff's Office
01:32:02
would lead the team to track down the missing couple. >> We had a lot of detectives assisting us
01:32:08
with the with the case load. [Music] Their first stop, the Halderson home on Oak
01:32:21
Springs Circle Drive. So, when you first got there, who was home? >> It was just Chandler.
01:32:27
>> We're inside the house with him and detectives are getting information outside. And so, we're either getting,
01:32:32
you know, phone calls or text messages of, you know, hey, maybe ask about this. We're walking around the house with him.
01:32:40
He's pointing out things at the house, things that were missing that his parents took when they traveled to the
01:32:45
cabin. >> While deputies began interviewing neighbors and friends, Barbie Townsen,
01:32:50
Chris's first cousin, who lives in Southern California, knew only what she had seen on the news, that the
01:32:57
Halderson's 23-year-old son, Chandler, had gone to the police telling them his parents were missing.
01:33:04
>> What does that mean? What does missing mean? and that they had gone up to our
01:33:07
cabin, family cottage, and didn't return. >> Bart and Chrissa had not mentioned to
01:33:12
co-workers or their older son Mitchell that they had been planning to go to the cabin that weekend. But according to
01:33:19
Chandler, another couple who he didn't know, picked up his parents and drove them there.
01:33:26
The cabin was a remote rustic lakeside retreat and a treasured family heirloom. Barbie and Chris's grandparents built it
01:33:34
in the 1940s. >> You know, you start to think of crazy things because our cabin's up in the
01:33:40
woods. And so that's we were worried that are they being held hostage somewhere? Are they tied up somewhere?
01:33:48
>> The day after Chandler reported them missing, his brother Mitchell and his fiance drove three hours up north to see
01:33:55
if he could find any sign of his parents. >> Why would they not call? Why wouldn't
01:34:00
there be a text or something? You know, your mind just starts to go down really murky trails because you're trying to
01:34:07
figure out what's going on. >> Hi there. >> Hi there. >> Are you guys um >> the Halderson?
01:34:12
>> You okay? You are affiliated with them? >> Yes. >> The police met Mitchell and his fiance
01:34:17
at the cabin. >> Maybe we could just take a walk around and see. You would know the property
01:34:21
probably better than we would. >> Prepared for the worst. >> Sheriff's office. Anybody inside?
01:34:29
announce your presents. Make yourselves known. [Music] [Music] When the Haldersons disappeared, it
01:34:49
stunned everyone who knew them. Barbie Townsen said neither her cousin Christa nor her husband Bart would just leave on
01:34:56
a whim. He was more structured. She was the more nurturing, you know, indulging mom. It was a wonderful combination.
01:35:04
>> She worked as a customer service representative for an auto body shop and loved art projects. He was a managing
01:35:11
director for an international accounting firm and enjoyed woodworking. >> They were 100% about the family. He was
01:35:20
very involved in the scouting and all the things they did. The Haldersons worked together on Father's Day in June
01:35:27
2021, less than a month before Bart disappeared. Mitchell is smiling, and Chandler, who had a mild concussion from
01:35:35
a fall, is wearing a neck brace. Investigators anxious to find out what had happened to Bart and Christa
01:35:45
Halderson asked deputies from the Langlay County Sheriff's Office to help Mitchell, who brought along his fiance,
01:35:52
searched the family's cabin, a three-hour drive north of the family home. When they got inside, it was dark. There
01:36:04
were no signs of Christa and Bart. They also checked a shed. The canoe was there. It was obvious no one had been to
01:36:14
the cabin in a very long time. >> They're believed to be with another couple. >> Someone else at least.
01:36:20
>> Okay. >> When Mitchell was with the police searching the family's cabin, Chandler
01:36:26
was on his own hunt throughout the neighborhood. Here he is seen on video doorbell
01:36:33
cameras going door todo asking homeowners if they had seen or heard from his parents.
01:36:40
>> It's kind of difficult to track him down. >> Adam Duer, now with the CBS station
01:36:50
WCCCO in Minneapolis, worked in Madison, Wisconsin at the time. He immediately started calling his sources. So, waiting
01:37:00
to hear back from the sheriff's office and um my boss at the time, he um was like, "Well, you can't just sit around,
01:37:07
you know, you got to got to go start shooting something." And so, packed my gear in my car and drove out there to
01:37:15
their street in Windsor. >> He knocked on the Halderson's front door. The missing couple's son,
01:37:20
Chandler, answered. >> And so, I'm like, "If you'd be willing, I'd love to do a quick interview." and he was like,
01:37:28
"Yeah, I'll do that, but I don't want you to film me. I don't want to be shown, but you can record my voice."
01:37:35
>> So, my last uh message I got from them, they were going to White Lake for the
01:37:40
4th of July. And then that their plan or from to my knowledge, they were going to
01:37:46
Langlaid County to a cabin, their cabin. >> At the time, I got this sense like he
01:37:53
was in shock. This is someone who's roughly my age. And so I'm thinking like, yeah, if my parents just went
01:37:59
missing, he probably hasn't slept. He's probably really nervous. >> Alex Gvat knew Chandler well.
01:38:05
>> I was roommates with Chandler for a little while. I called him Chaz. >> The two friends shared an apartment from
01:38:12
2019 to 2020. >> We grew up together and we played soccer together, did Cub Scouts together, um,
01:38:20
and just hung out together. He was a great swimmer, so I know that the swim team really got along with him.
01:38:26
>> Alex says his friend Chandler, who went by the name Chaz, could be a playful guy.
01:38:32
>> He was a a goon, a hooligan in a lot of senses. >> What do you mean by that? >> Yeah, I mean, he would so he would play
01:38:38
pranks and he would make lots of jokes or poke fun at people. >> Alex described Chaz as popular with
01:38:45
women. College student Katherine Mander, known as Cat, was his longtime girlfriend. He was a relatively
01:38:53
attractive guy. I mean, he he looked good. He had great hair. He kept up on appearances.
01:38:58
>> According to Alex, when they were roommates, Chaz often bragged to friends about hooking up with different women
01:39:05
behind Cat's back when she found out about it. >> She grilled him. She was like, "Are you
01:39:11
seeing other people?" And he just kept denying it. >> But Cat remained suspicious and began
01:39:15
tracking her boyfriend on social media. Alex says Chaz became more secretive and
01:39:21
moved back home with his parents and now those parents were missing. Detective Shunk and Sims began follow-up
01:39:29
interviews. >> At that point, you know, what do we really have? We don't know what we have.
01:39:37
>> Then they got a tip they desperately needed from the owner of a farm outside town.
01:39:44
We received information from someone that yes, Chandler had been out to my property over Fourth of July weekend.
01:39:51
>> The owner was a friend of Chandler's girlfriend, Cat. The owner said she was with the couple at her farm on July 4th.
01:39:58
She told deputies she was surprised to see Chandler again the very next day, and this time she was alone.
01:40:06
>> And I saw him coming from the wood line. His car was parked backed up to the field. So, of course, right from that
01:40:15
interview, um, well, we want to go search that property. >> As deputies began searching, detectives
01:40:21
wanted to know why Chandler had never mentioned he had gone back to the farm by himself.
01:40:27
Police picked up Chandler and took him to the station. >> What's going on? >> Detective Brian Shunk asked him to once
01:40:35
again describe the last time he had seen his parents. >> It's Thursday morning. I wake up. What time is it? 6.
01:40:47
>> Chandler said his dad, Bart, was at home working and that later he had dinner
01:40:52
with both parents. >> That's where they told me while we were eating at they they were going to go
01:40:57
with their friends and I was like, "Oh, cool." Um, >> and they said they were going to cabin.
01:41:07
>> Yeah. >> We're going up north. While detectives questioned Chandler, deputies were out
01:41:13
searching the farm and made a discovery that quickly changed the tone of the interview.
01:41:19
>> Listen to me. This is the only chance you're going to have to tell us the truth. Okay? Okay. What we Listen,
01:41:26
listen. I'm I can't tell you what we know, but we know you're not telling us the truth. You need to tell the truth.
01:41:31
>> There's Listen, listen. You need to tell the truth about what happened and just
01:41:36
tell us why it happened. I'm not BSing you. Okay. >> So, can we do that? >> Okay. Sure. Okay. Um I'm here.
01:41:50
>> Chandler's request for a lawyer ended that interview. Detective Sims remembers
01:41:55
the moment she learned what deputies told her they had found near that field. >> You know, Brian and I were in the
01:42:01
command post together and I said, "Um, what did you say?" You know, I just couldn't believe what I was hearing.
01:42:08
>> They had discovered human remains. On Thursday, July 8th, 2021 in the village of Windsor, Wisconsin,
01:42:32
the community struggled to make sense of the disturbing news. The remains of an adult male have been
01:42:42
found on a farm 20 miles from Bard and Christa Halderson's home. >> At this point, it's very early in our
01:42:51
investigation. >> Dne County Sheriff Calvin Barrett warned residents not to jump to conclusions.
01:42:58
>> I don't want to make any uh un corroborated speculations at this time. The gruesome discovery was made the day
01:43:07
after Bart and Christa had been reported missing by their son, and it was something detectives Brian Chunk and
01:43:14
Sabrina Sims had never encountered. The grass had been matted down, and they followed it to a trail which
01:43:23
led to um the discovery of a male torso that was um concealed with sticks and twigs. That was really the moment,
01:43:35
right? >> It was huge. >> I think of other death investigations or homicide cases we've worked and I don't
01:43:41
remember a time that I've worked a dismemberment case. >> And what other evidence was found out
01:43:45
there? We found um some cutting instruments, some um that were hidden in a an old oil
01:43:54
drum, um some scissors, um pruning shears, uh a broken bow saw, and it was all in the same wooded area where the
01:44:03
Halderson's son, Chandler, had been seen earlier in the week. Detective Sims had
01:44:09
a pretty good idea who the victim was. knowing in my gut that that um was most likely Bart Halderson and his son was
01:44:18
seen in that area. >> Police turned their full attention to Chandler Halderson. He was now a person of interest and the
01:44:29
prime suspect. While tests were being done to confirm the victim's identity, detectives arrested Chandler and charged
01:44:37
him with lying to them. The arrest was based on him providing false information in regards to a missing person.
01:44:43
>> Christa Holderson's cousin, Barbie Townsen. What did you think? They arrested him for giving false
01:44:51
information about a missing person. >> That was the first day that I started to suspect foul play from
01:44:59
their own son. I checked my phone and I saw that and it was that he had been arrested and it was pretty wild.
01:45:11
>> Alex Cvat, his childhood friend, learned about it on social media. >> My eyes got wide. I I kind of just sat
01:45:18
there for a second reading it. My first thought was if he's being arrested for giving misinformation to the police, I
01:45:24
didn't think that there was really much of a chance that he wasn't involved somehow.
01:45:30
But there's someone who had a hard time imagining Chandler was involved. His girlfriend Cat. She spoke to police just
01:45:38
before his arrest. >> You don't think he had anything to do with his mom and dad being unheard from?
01:45:44
>> No. I just No. That'd be crazy. But I just don't see him killing Mr. and Mrs. Halderson. Like he had SpaceX. Like
01:45:56
why would he jeopardize something he like would dream of, you know? >> Yeah. >> Like they're his parents for Christmas.
01:46:03
They got him and his brother matching tool sets. Like come on. >> Okay. >> He cooks dinner for them. They have root
01:46:11
beer floats together. They play Mario Kart whenever his parents want to. But on Saturday, July 10th, 2021, the
01:46:24
victim found in the woods was identified as Bart Halderson. >> It just changed everything. Like, that
01:46:34
moment changed everything. >> Preliminary autopsy results would reveal Bart had been shot at least two times in
01:46:41
the back. And there was still the troubling question, where was Christa? Christa Holderson
01:46:49
remains a missing person and we continue to ask for citizen involvement. >> Christa's coworker Dan Cronier ran
01:46:57
through all the different possibilities. Did you at that moment wonder like maybe
01:47:03
Chris was involved in this too? >> It had definitely crossed my mind start to wonder well why is Chandler lying? Is
01:47:10
he covering for himself or is he covering for perhaps his mother? Is she involved?
01:47:15
But the more investigators looked, it seemed the only person Chandler Halderson was covering for
01:47:24
was himself. >> You know, he just lied to everybody. >> And in his lies, police started to
01:47:30
believe they found a motive for murder. For months, he had been telling everyone, including his childhood
01:47:37
friend, Alex Gravat, that he was enrolled at Madison College during the 2021 spring semester.
01:47:46
Did you have any idea he had flunked out? He didn't tell you? >> No. >> It was surprising.
01:47:51
>> Detectives believe his parents had no idea he wasn't in school. They say when his parents questioned him
01:47:59
about his transcripts. The computer savvy Chandler Halderson crafted a chain of emails that seem to come from the
01:48:07
college. >> Chandler creates people that work for Madison College and communicates via
01:48:12
email with them. You know, Bart's on some of those as well, talking to who he believes is employees of the school.
01:48:19
>> And do any of those people actually exist? >> No. >> In June 2021, Bart Halderson called
01:48:27
Madison College pretending to be Chandler and got an answer he wasn't expecting.
01:48:33
>> Said, "I don't see that you were admitted in any program." >> You said they were, you know, it's the
01:48:38
IT degree is in there, right? No, those are just classes. You might have just took the classes but not be in the
01:48:47
program. >> Bart learned that not only had his son been lying about that IT degree, but
01:48:53
there was no internship with an insurance company either. And remember that big job with SpaceX. Turns out that
01:49:01
was just another elaborate lie. today and always >> the delusional reality that he concocted that is
01:49:11
shocking to me. >> According to detectives, Bart was planning to meet at the college with his
01:49:18
son on Thursday, July 1st. Around 200 p.m., Bart, who was working from home, sent his son this text. I'm
01:49:28
ready whenever you are. That text is believed to be the last message Bart sent. 7 days later, Bart's remains were found.
01:49:40
Investigators got a search warrant for the Halderson home. No weapon was found there, but a shell
01:49:48
casing was discovered in the basement and several areas inside the house tested positive for blood.
01:49:58
>> Chandler, middle initial M. last name Halderson, age 23 of Windsor, is now being charged with firstdegree homicide,
01:50:06
hiding a corpse, and mutilating a corpse. [Music] On July 15th, 2021, Chandler Halderson
01:50:15
was formally charged with his father's murder. >> Chandler is currently being held in the
01:50:23
Dayne County Jail. >> I mean, I I don't know what else to say. like how how could you do that to your
01:50:29
father? >> But where was his mother? Christa Chandler Halderson had lawyered up and
01:50:36
wasn't talking, but someone very close to him was. >> She had communicated with him that whole
01:50:44
weekend. >> That loyal girlfriend, Katherine Mander, had a potentially damning piece of
01:50:50
evidence about her boyfriend on the social media app Snapchat. She actually consented to a download of her phone. So
01:50:58
that was a breakthrough. >> How do you feel about allowing people to track you on social media apps? Join the
01:51:07
conversation now on social media. [Music] >> Chandler Halderson was charged with his
01:51:19
father's murder, but his mother's whereabouts were still unknown. Lead detectives Sabrina Sims and Brian
01:51:28
Chunk knew if Christa was alive, they needed to find her fast. At that point, we were hoping for the
01:51:37
best. It was one of those things where we just needed to to push on. >> Detectives turned to Halderson's
01:51:42
girlfriend for help. She had given them permission to download information from her phone.
01:51:49
>> Chandler had lied to her before and had cheated on her before. And so she um you
01:51:54
know would track his location. >> Cat had convinced Halderson to let her track his movements using Snapchat,
01:52:03
the popular social media app, which allows users to send messages and share their location in real time.
01:52:11
>> Um and that was an agreement that yes, you will have your locations on so I can
01:52:15
see where you're going. >> Detectives were most intrigued by messages posted early on the morning of
01:52:21
July 1st. The day Chandler Halderson and his father were supposed to meet with Madison College officials. Halderson,
01:52:29
whose online name was Chazled Dazzle, messaged Cat at 7:30 a.m. I hardly slept. I'm sorry, Bee. Why? I don't
01:52:40
know. Stuff hasn't really been going well for me lately, so I'm trying to plan for the next thing to exploitative
01:52:46
me over. Be it's going to be okay. Yeah, I just had a great future planned and it's falling apart.
01:52:57
According to detectives, the tone of those messages worried Cat. So, two days later, when Cat checked Snapchat and
01:53:05
noticed her boyfriend's avatar, that's hubby on her screen, indicated that he was nearly 25 miles from home. Cat saved
01:53:15
the image to her phone. >> It was a Snapchat screenshot. um of Chandler almost 9 in the morning um out
01:53:24
by the Wisconsin River. >> Detectives Sims and Shunk took us to that location on the river where they
01:53:31
had hoped to find Christa. >> So where are we exactly? What would you call this area?
01:53:37
>> It's the Wisconsin State lower riverway. And it's a familiar place to the former
01:53:44
high school swimmer Chandler Halderson, close to his favorite swimming hole. This is him at the same place in a photo
01:53:53
taken a year earlier holding a large knife. Law enforcement throughout Dayne County
01:54:02
searched the wooded area. And how long was he here? >> 45 minutes, I believe. Just keep in mind
01:54:10
in July, but it's definitely far thicker than what you're seeing here now. >> Still no sign of Christa Halderson, but
01:54:20
search teams refused to give up. >> Let's go hit one more area. And that was where they ended up discovering the
01:54:26
remains. >> And what exactly did they find there? >> They ended up finding two legs cut into
01:54:32
different sections. >> DNA tests confirmed it was Christa Halderson. The concerned son, who had
01:54:40
reported his mom and dad missing, was now charged with both of their murders. Christa's cousins were
01:54:49
horrified. You couldn't write this. It just wasn't um anything that you could possibly
01:54:57
come up with in your head. >> How do you make sense of it? >> We don't. And that's the hard part. We
01:55:04
don't have a why. >> In January of 2022 at the Dayne County Courthouse, Chandler Halderson went on
01:55:13
trial for the murder of his parents. >> All right, for the jury. >> He was also facing charges for lying to
01:55:20
the police and for mutilating and hiding their bodies. >> Our job is to over the course of the
01:55:27
next couple of weeks present evidence to show you the path of what we believe happened. Assistant District Attorney
01:55:35
William Brown >> that Chandler Halderson killed his parents, dismembered their bodies,
01:55:43
and hid them around southern Wisconsin. >> Prosecutors laid out a motive. They say
01:55:49
Chandler murdered his parents when his lies were about to be exposed and that for months he had been trying to hide
01:55:56
the truth from them. Among the evidence, those fake email accounts he created. No
01:56:03
one uses a Gmail account as their official Madison College email. >> No. >> And his fictitious internship with an
01:56:11
insurance company. >> I found no record of that person working for American Family.
01:56:19
>> Investigators believe the murder weapon was a semi-automatic rifle that had been
01:56:23
hidden in a barn at that farm where Bart's remains were discovered. >> Good afternoon, sir. Could you please
01:56:29
state your name and then spell it out? Andrew Smith. >> And how do you spell it?
01:56:33
>> Alpha, November, Delta, Romeo, Echo, Whiskey. >> The rifle came from this man, Andrew
01:56:40
Smith, who testified that he was in the military when he met Halderson online. >> How did you meet Chandler Halderson?
01:56:46
>> Playing video games while stationed in Germany. Sir, >> Halderson had wanted a gun. Smith
01:56:52
testified he had no idea what Halderson wanted to do with the weapon. And in June 2021, he gave him that
01:56:59
semi-automatic rifle as a gift. >> I'm going to give it to someone who might actually appreciate this weapon
01:57:04
and take care of it. >> And nearly 480 rounds of ammunition. >> How did Chandler react when you gave him
01:57:11
the gun? >> Oh, he was happy. >> What do you mean, but how do you know he was happy or how do you how do you know
01:57:15
that? >> Cuz he had a big smile on his face when I had given it to him as a gift.
01:57:20
But the most anticipated witness in this trial, >> good morning. >> Would be Halderson's girlfriend.
01:57:27
>> Did you verbally answer yes to the oath? >> Yes. >> Who gave police that Snapchat
01:57:32
screenshot? >> What is that >> screenshot of Chandler by the Wisconsin River? >> What do you make of the prosecution's
01:57:42
case against Chandler Halderson? See more evidence at 48 hours.com. [Music] Could you please state and spell your
01:57:56
name for us? >> Uh, Catherine Melinder. >> For 3 hours, Cat Melander sat on the stand telling the jury about the young
01:58:04
man she thought she knew, Chandler Halderson. >> Did you go on a lot of dates together?
01:58:10
>> Uh, yeah. We would um grab dinners, um have movie dates, just sit at home and
01:58:16
watch movies, go on walks quite often. Cat told the jury that she was working on July 1st when authorities believe the
01:58:25
murders happened and didn't see her boyfriend in person that day. >> But you weren't with him.
01:58:31
>> I was not with him. >> Did you know that Barton Crystal Halderson had died? >> No. According to investigators, Alderson
01:58:42
asked Cat to bring a few cleaning supplies to his home the following day. He told her he had stepped on some
01:58:49
broken glass from the fireplace. She brought him a Swiffer mop and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide.
01:58:56
>> Kath, did you have absolutely anything to do with cleaning anything up or their
01:59:01
disappearance? No. Investigators say there's no evidence that Cat had any involvement in the
01:59:09
murders. They believe Chandler Halderson acted alone. Prosecutors showed the jury police video
01:59:18
from inside the Halderson home. >> These walkthrough videos will document the home as is.
01:59:24
>> At first glance, it seemed neat and clean, but test results revealed what appeared to be blood. Is that all blood
01:59:33
that it's reacting to? >> This could be blood that it's reacting to. Yes. And that appears that there's
01:59:39
been some wiping or cleanup. >> For Barbie Townsen, the most disturbing part was when the jury was shown a view
01:59:46
of the Halderson home from a neighbor's security camera. >> I was talking to one of my cousins. We
01:59:52
said one of the images that is going to be seared in our minds is when they showed that video of the window
02:00:00
>> flickering window from July second >> and it was the flickering glow from the
02:00:05
fireplace for like hours. That is haunting knowing what was happening. A forensic expert testified that more
02:00:17
than 200 bone fragments were discovered in the fireplace. >> There's a white area in the middle of
02:00:23
that burnt. >> Based on my training experience, that appeared to be bone. >> Halderson's defense attorney, Katherine
02:00:29
Dorl, did not address the bone and blood evidence found in the home, but insisted
02:00:35
that did not mean her client was the killer. >> Chandler Halderson did not murder his parents.
02:00:44
He is not guilty of those crimes. >> She reminded the jury there were too many unanswered questions.
02:00:53
>> What happened to the Haldersons? What happened in that Halderson's home? You just aren't going to know what happened.
02:01:03
>> Chandler Halderson himself didn't testify and his defense didn't call any witnesses. you have to go back and look
02:01:12
at everything. >> Instead, attorney Crystal Vera closed the case and urged jury to find
02:01:19
reasonable doubt. She admits Halderson told a lot of lies, but she argues there isn't enough direct evidence to tie him
02:01:28
to the murders. I guarantee you that the 12 of you that are going to go back and
02:01:33
deliberate are all going to have 12 different theories on what happened. And that's a problem. I'm asking you to find
02:01:41
him not guilty of firstdegree intentional homicide. >> Prosecutors had the final word.
02:01:49
>> This is a first-degree intentional homicide. You cannot shoot someone in the back.
02:01:55
You cannot chop them up. You cannot scatter their remains and come to any other conclusion.
02:02:02
And there is only one person who did those things here and that is Chandler Holders. We're asking you to
02:02:09
find him guilty. Thank you. >> It didn't take long for the jury to decide. >> Breaking news. In just about a little
02:02:22
over two hours, a jury has reached a verdict in the Chandler Halderson case. All right.
02:02:30
>> We the jury find the defendant Chandler M. Halderson guilty of firstdegree intentional homicide as to Barde
02:02:36
Halderson. Guilty of providing false information. Guilty of mutilating a corpse. Guilty of firstdegree
02:02:41
intentional homicide. Of mutilating a guilty of hiding a corpse. >> Guilty on all eight charges.
02:02:51
>> I think it was just overwhelming from all the work that we put in on it. In March 2022, at his sentencing
02:02:58
hearing, >> "Good afternoon," >> Halderson, who had been silent during his trial, surprised everyone by
02:03:05
indicating he finally had something to say. >> Mr. Halderson wishes to make a statement.
02:03:12
>> Your honor, I want to take this opportunity to state my intent to appeal my convictions.
02:03:17
If there are any lawyers listening and willing to take on my appeal, take a moment to please reach out to me.
02:03:25
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. Thank
02:03:33
you. >> What was your reaction when he had the chance to speak and all he did was ask
02:03:39
for a lawyer to take an appeal. What was your >> I was actually disgusted. I just
02:03:45
couldn't believe it. Like you can't even say I'm sorry. >> We are journed. Thank you.
02:03:50
Halderson was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. >> When do you miss them?
02:04:04
>> Oh, I think about him just about every day. >> Really? >> Yeah. We're building a pond in our
02:04:08
backyard. You know, they would love to see that and love to be a part of it. Mitchell Halderson, Bart and Christa's
02:04:17
oldest son, is now living with an unimaginable loss. Barbie shared a text and this photo that Christa sent to the
02:04:26
family just three months before she died. Happy Easter. Yes, the boys and their women. Mitchell is still at Epic
02:04:35
Systems and will turn 25 this year. Yikes. Chandler is currently interning with American Family Insurance as an IT
02:04:42
administrator, but his other degree, sustainability management, has given him an edge. You see in her text
02:04:51
how proud she was of her boys and how 100% completely believing Chantler. >> She can't help but wonder what would
02:05:01
have happened if Halderson had just been honest with everyone. If he had just gone and thrown himself at the mercy of
02:05:10
his parents, what do you think Chris and Bart would have done? >> They would have helped him. They
02:05:14
definitely would have confronted him on it. But after the confrontation and the truthtelling would have come the grace,
02:05:23
how do we go forward? How do we help you? How do we get your life back on track? They would have helped him.
02:05:30
[Music] CBS next Saturday. 48 Hours brings you backtoback episodes all summer long.
02:05:54
Next week, Vanished. >> She disappears without a trace. >> We thought we might have taken her here.
02:05:59
How many miles did you cover? It was hundreds of miles. >> 48 hours crime time double feature next
02:06:04
Saturday on CBS and streaming on Paramount Plus. [Music]