Chandler Halderson appears in Dane Co. court on July 15, 2021.(Dane Co. via YouTube)
MADISON, Wis. - A Wisconsin man who was convicted of killing and dismembering his parents was sentenced Thursday to life without parole, with a judge saying his obligation to protect the public required the stiffest possible sentence.
Chandler Halderson, 24, of Windsor, was convicted in January of first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse and hiding a corpse in the July deaths Bart and Krista Halderson. Wisconsin does not have the death penalty.
Investigators said Halderson killed his parents after his father discovered he had been lying about attending a technical college. Prosecutors said it was one in a web of lies he told about work, school and being on a police scuba dive team.
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According to testimony at Halderson's trial, he tried to burn his parents' bodies in the family fireplace before dumping them along the Wisconsin River and at a rural property, the Wisconsin State Journal reported.
Halderson didn't testify, and his attorneys did not call any witnesses. According to a court filing this week, he did not speak to his attorneys about the events, the State Journal reported.
Krista (left) and Bart (right) Halderson
Halderson spoke briefly Thursday, saying he would appeal his conviction and asking any interested attorneys to contact him.
"It’s not that I do not have feelings; it’s that I was warned to not show them in the scrutiny of this case," he said.
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Before Circuit Judge John Hyland passed sentence, Assistant District Attorney Andrea Raymond said that Halderson "grew up with a life of privilege" that made it difficult to explain his crimes.
Hyland rejected a request Halderson made last week not to be in court for his sentencing.
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