Chandler Halderson was found guilty on all counts in the murder and dismemberment of his parents, who were in their fifties.
A court in Wisconsin found the 23-year-old guilty on eight counts in connection with the deaths of his father Bart, 50, and his mom Krista, 53, in July 2021. He had no reaction when the verdict was read out, reported The Sun.
On his behalf, his lawyers entered not guilty pleas, reported the Independent. As a result of his first-degree intentional homicide convictions, he will face up to life behind bars. Halderson's bail was revoked and it was confirmed that he would be sentenced in March.
The youngster murdered his parents after his father found out that he was lying about going to Madison College in Madison, Wisconsin, alleged Dane County Assistant District Attorney William Brown. Halderson apparently fabricated several emails between himself and the college.
According to Brown, he had even lied to his parents that he was an employee of an insurance company and was getting a job at SpaceX in Florida. The lawyer said that Halderson claimed to have worked for a year, and his dad, who was an accountant, kept asking him why he was not paying money for rent. The prosecutor said that Halderson gave different stories. First, he claimed that the insurance company withheld his paychecks as they had him as an hourly worker instead of salary work by mistake. Later he allegedly claimed to have given the wrong direct deposit details.
Law & Crime reported that Bart had learned his son hadn't taken classes at the college for over a semester, said the attorney. Bart and his son were supposed to meet college officials when the latter allegedly gunned down his father on July 1. While he shot his father in the back, he murdered his mother when she returned home, said Brown.
Halderson allegedly used scissors and a saw to cut up bodies of his parents. Then he reportedly threw some of their body parts in the woods and burnt others. Ashes from the fireplace in the couple's house consisted of human remains, including fragments of facial and knee bones and human skulls, claimed Brown.
On July 7, Halderson reported that his parents were missing. He claimed that they didn't come back from a weekend trip to their cabin. He was arrested the next day after his father's remains were found by police.
