My Mother's Double Murder Case Part 2

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1:11They were found Sunday afternoon, July 7. My dad and his fiancée, Karen, were shot and killed. in their beds. I was 17 and my brother was 15, and there was just shock. The killer made it downstairs, shot Karen Harkness multiple times, shot Mike Sisco multiple times. Whoever it was that did this hated these people. The only person that hated them was my mom. Dana. What should people understand about the fact that you, Dana Chandler's daughter thinks Dana Chandler killed your father. I do have a mind of my own, and I'm not biased in this situation. I don't want it to be her. I want the truth to come out.

2:06I wanted to help the police, so I started to record my conversations with her. I think that the only way I can really move on with a relationship with you is if we can get it, you know, if you can just tell me yourself that you did it. Well, number one, I didn't do it. And number two, I don't know what happened daily. Did you know anything about the death of Michael and Karen? I don't know what he was going to do. I hit a point where I didn't know if justice would ever be served. Both teams out of the car. I needed justice for my dad and for Karen. We, the jury, find the defendant guilty of the crime of murder in the first degree of charge.

2:52I feel better in the sense that my dad's killer is paying for their actions. I don't feel better that my mom is capable of killing my dad. And then the Kansas Supreme Court comes and says, this is prosecutorial misconduct. We're going to go ahead and overturn her conviction. You have a new trial. My liberty, my freedom is hanging in the balance. If she could bring out something to prove she didn't do it, that's for her and her own freedom. But she can't, and she hasn't. I did not kill Mike Sisco. She would not hesitate to get revenge on me. I did not kill Karen Hartness. I know the truth. I am an innocent woman.

3:43The truth is that she murdered them. She scares me. Your mom scares you. Yeah.

4:07I wanted to understand what happened and why and actually know the truth of what happened. For two decades, Haley Seal has been waiting for justice in the murders of her father, Mike Sisko, and his girlfriend, Karen Harkness. This hasn't been resolved. In 2002, multiple bullets struck 53-year-old Karen and 47-year-old Mike as they lay in bed in Karen's Kansas home. Authorities believed it was a crime of passion, as the rest of the house seemed undisturbed, with money and jewelry left behind. And Haley believed it was her mother, Dana Chandler, who was responsible. The truth is that she was in Karen's house on July 7th, in the middle of the night, with a gun, and she shot them both multiple times.

5:08And she murdered them. I hate that that's the truth, but it is the truth. I've never seen a case like this. Darrell Burton is co-founder of Miracle of Innocence, an organization that paid for Dana Chandler's lawyers and supports individuals it believes are wrongfully convicted. No DNA, no fingerprints, no confession, no weapon. It's just an add-up. In the summer of 2022, too. Dana Chandler was on trial for the second time for the murders of Mike Sisko and Karen Harkness. As in her first trial, the defense focused on all that was lacking in the case against Chandler. There is no evidence that she was in the Harkness residence, no evidence she was in Topeka, there's no evidence she was in the state of Kansas.

5:59Defense attorney Tom Bath insisted Dana Chandler was in Colorado at the time of the murders, more than 500 miles away, and faulted investigators for zeroing in on her. Everything they looked at, everything they examined, excluded Dana. The lack of physical evidence was acknowledged by Shawnee County Deputy District Attorney Charles Kitt. Science is not going to solve this case. This case is not based on DNA. Instead, the state focused on evidence such as Dana's hatred of her ex-husband and his girlfriend. This case is based on jealousy, rage, and obsession. Prosecutors presented evidence they say showed that obsession, including records of more than 600 phone calls Dana made to Karen and Mike in the six months before the murders.

6:55And they introduced witnesses who said Mike and Karen told them some of those calls were menacing. Karen's co-worker, Kim Warrender. And she said she had been up all night receiving phone calls from Dana. She told you she was afraid? Very afraid. Erin Sutton also testified that her mother, Karen Harkness, was scared of Dana. She spoke about messages she said she heard that Dana left on her mother's phone. She would call my mom horrible names. And like what kind of names would she call her? She would call her a whore. In addition to testimony about calls Dana Chandler made, there was also attention paid to when there was no call activity on her phone, specifically during 27 hours the weekend of the murders.

7:47Authorities believe Dana Chandler's phone was turned off, so it could not be traced as she traveled to Kansas. But the defense suggested it could have just been spotty cell phone service in Colorado. Prosecutors told the jury about a purchase Dana made the day before the murders, but failed to mention to investigators. Kit asked Richard Volley, the lead detective on the case, about the purchase. Can you tell us what that is? This is an auto zone receipt. It shows the first two purchases were five gallon gas cans. Authorities wondered why Dana didn't tell them about the gas cans and why she would need gas cans unless she was planning a trip, perhaps to Kansas, and did not want to stop for gas along the way.

8:43And there was the issue of Dana Chandler's alibi. According to Detective Voli, a changing, unconfirmable one. One witness testified that Dana said she was in the mountains in Colorado at the time of the murders. But Detective Vole testified Chandler told him she was at home in her Denver apartment. She said she'd stayed at her house, had no guests or phone calls, and that she turned in about 9 o 'clock. A friend of Dana's testified about something authorities thought might have been a dry run for the murders. She said about a month before the killings, Dana called and told her about a trip she made to Mike's home.

9:26She told me that she knew nobody was in the house and that she went into Mike's home through the window. After that, she did go to his girlfriend's house and sat outside her house waiting for them to come home, but they didn't show up. Did she tell you what she did when she got into Mike's house? She wanted to see what it looked like on the inside. But Dana's attorney questioned the reliability of her testimony, pointing out she may have gotten some dates wrong regarding calls with Dana. It must not have been a Monday. But 20 years ago, you said it was a Monday, right? Sure. Testimony about Chandler's behavior also came from Kathy Boots, Mike's sister.

10:15She described an incident several years before the murders that she said she witnessed while staying at Mike's house. We went to bed that night, and I woke up in the early morning hours to a noise out in the backyard, and we had left the back porch lights on. And I looked out through the blinds, and Dana was jumping on the trampoline out back. And Mike's brother-in-law, Mark Boots, recounted a disturbing conversation he said he had with Mike. nine days before the murders. Mike told me that the patterns of harassment had increased and that he feared for he and Karen's lives. Mike and Dana's daughter, Haley, was going to be in the uncomfortable position of testifying against her mother.

11:09And who is Dana Chandler to you?

11:18she's my mom

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13:03I was absolutely still nervous and scared. Being up there, it causes conflict. As Haley Seal reflected back on testifying against her mother, Dana Chandler, she recalled the stress she was under. As a prosecution witness, Haley was asked to describe some of her mother's behavior. Behavior Haley said she found obsessive. Was there a time where you were asked to spy on your dad? Yeah. Haley recounted an incident after her parents split up. when she said Dana drove her and her brother to Mike's home, and they all sat in the car to watch the house. She said, come on, we need to watch your dad, and you can be my little helpers.

13:49She had me go with her to the house after so long, and she wanted to look in the windows. Did she look in the windows? Yeah, we both looked in the windows, and she said, did you see that, did you see that? And I said, no, I didn't see anything. It was episodes like that which led Haley early on to think her mother could be responsible for the murders. I always suspected she had something to do with it because of the history of her harassment, stalking, hatred, talking bad about them to us all the time. Haley testified about some of the ways her mother expressed that dislike of her father. Like the demeaning ways Dana referred to him in emails and online chats.

14:38Yeah. Including ones where Dana referred to Mike as it. Sent when Haley was 14 years old. And does she call him manipulative and deceiving? Yes. And then calls him a rapist? Yeah. And just to call the lines down, I hate his guts? Yeah. Are those things that you want to type to you? Yes.

15:06Also played in court were those conversations Haley secretly recorded with her mom as she tried to learn more about Dana's possible involvement in the murders. In all the conversations you had with her over the days, weeks, months, even years after this happened, She never told you something that made you think, well, at least my mom didn't do it. No, every time I talked to her, I felt more and more confident that she definitely had something to do with it. And perhaps most telling to Haley was a conversation played in court where Dana said she had thought about killing Mike. Ever think about killing him?

15:48No, but I did. In one of those discussions, Haley asked her mother about why she bought those two gas cans, which authorities thought could have been used to help drive round-trip from Denver to Topeka without stopping in Kansas for fuel. Dana, who'd been a problem drinker, explained she bought them for someone else, a woman she met at AA. She asked people money, and we don't give people money at AA. I should talk about using gas. The prosecutor asked Haley if she was able to learn anything more about that woman from Dana. She wouldn't tell you who that person was? No, she didn't. But Dana's defense team argued those recorded conversations proved nothing about the murders.

16:34And regarding the two gas cans, it maintained that the 10 extra gallons the cans could hold would not have been enough for Dana to drive round trip from Denver to Topeka without still needing to stop for fuel. The defense accused authorities of tunnel vision, including not looking more thoroughly at other suspects. And her lawyer said Dana Chandler never owned a 9mm gun, the type of weapon used in the murders, which was never found. What was found were unusual bullets made in Israel. Israel Military Industries, that's the manufacturer. Dana's attorney questioned a firearm examiner who had worked with the Kansas Bureau of Investigation about those bullets.

17:27Is that a bullet, ammunition you typically see? Actually, we had not seen that before, and so it was a little bit unusual to us. The prosecution, though, explained there were places one could buy those bullets. Could that ammo have been brought into Kansas and sold at a gun show? Yes, sir. Could have been exchanged by individuals? Yes, sir. There were other parts of the investigation that the defense argued supported its case. There was forensic work it said eliminated Dana Chandler. Unidentified fingerprints found at the house did not match Chandler. None of Dana's DNA was found at the murder scene, nor were any fibers found from her clothing or any of her hair.

18:08I did not find any errors that were consistent with the known samples coming from Ms. Chandler. In 20 years, the state had no evidence, no evidence whatsoever, that placed Dana Chandler in Karen Harkness' home, in the city of Topeka, or in the state of Kansas. After three weeks of testimony, that lack of physical evidence would be the defense's theme in its closing argument. Each and every time they tested something, they excluded Dana. From the beginning, I told you this case is about obsession, jealousy, rage. The state focused on Dana's behavior, her calls, emails, and her own family's testimony against her.

18:56The defendant clearly hated Karen and Mike. Words from her own mouth and her own fingers type in those messages. A lot of evidence about Dana's bad behavior. That's true. That's not evidence. They have not proven this case beyond a reasonable doubt. On August 25th, 2022, the case went to the jury and Haley was waiting for a verdict. I've really tried to trust the process because I knew I didn't have any control over it. So it was going to be what it was going to be. But the wait to find out what the verdict would be was a long one.

19:46When you retire to the jury room, you will first select one of your members as presiding juror. The person selected will preside over your deliberation. The case in the second trial of Dana Chandler for the murders of Mike Sisco and Karen Harkness went to the jury on August 25, 2022. That day came and went, as did several more. Members of the jury, would you like to recess for the day? Yes, we would like. After about four days, I started to get nervous and think, wow, this actually could not come back in a guilty verdict. And I started to think about that possibility. And so I prayed. And I just trusted that if she did get away with this, that life would have to go on, right?

20:43Members of the gallery, I would ask that you just please refrain from any outbursts. After six days of deliberating, Dana Chandler would learn her fate. I understand that the jury is unable to reach a unanimous verdict at this time. Is that correct? That's correct. The jury informed the judge they were deadlocked. You're hung at this time, is that correct? There were seven votes to convict and five to acquit. We did what we could with what we had. Ben Alford and Carrie Kimes were two members of the jury who voted to find Chandler not guilty. I never saw actual evidence that Dana Chandler was ever in the Harkness home.

21:29I can't send somebody to spend the rest of their life in prison if you can't even prove she left Colorado that weekend. The science is not going to solve this case. Everything that was tested for DNA proved inconclusive, and that's pretty remarkable. But for juror Randy Edwards, the state's depiction of Dana Chandler's behavior was persuasive evidence. She was beyond upset. She was obsessed. He also found those conversations Haley recorded with her mother to be convincing and voted to convict. Have you ever think about killing him? No, but I did. When I was able to comprehend that Dana said that she had thought of killing Mike, That was probably the piece that pushed me beyond any question of reasonable doubt anymore.

22:18There was a split verdict, but the majority of the jury was in favor of a conviction. And that was meaningful. DA Mike Kage decided to retry Dana Chandler. The next issue that we have before the court is a motion to modify bond. Her lawyers convinced the court to reduce her bond, which allowed her to be released with supervision. as she awaited the next trial. The court is going to direct that she have GPS monitoring.

22:52Welcome home. Welcome home, Dana. After spending more than a decade incarcerated, Dana Chandler celebrated her freedom with Daryl Burton and Miracle of Innocence. Anybody who's getting out of prison, after you've been in prison for any length of time, it is, it's a joyous occasion. You're happy that someone's been released, and also feel like, well, maybe it's a good chance that we can mount a defense and get her totally acquitted. As a condition of her release, Dana was not allowed to contact her children. Still, Haley worried about her safety. She is married to Chris Seal, her high school boyfriend, and is a mother of three.

23:35I'm scared to death that she's going to hurt me or she's going to affect my kids in some way. Haley's fear only grew when Dana made this post to her Facebook page. Chandler complained about her treatment at trial, calling it a kangaroo court. And in the background, she showed images of Haley's children. Haley says Dana somehow learned which church she attended and downloaded a live stream of a service to create the photos. It was chilling and it was disturbing. I feel like it was a direct message to me. And what was the message? Intimidation. I don't care about your boundaries.

24:28Her belief that her mother committed the murders remains unwavering and, she says, disturbing. She's my mom, but if you're my mom, why would you do that to my dad? For your kid's sake, maybe. Maybe that would be a reason not to do it. Being a mother now, I have a new perspective. It becomes even more unreal now. Also unreal to Haley, thoughts of a third trial. What are your expectations for yet again another trial? This time, I'm not as confident. For trial number three, jurors would be from Pottawatomie County, Kansas. The defense requested a change of venue, and the judge agreed, citing excessive media coverage.

25:23It would take place in Westmoreland, a smaller, more rural area 60 miles away from the last setting in Topeka.

25:35July 7, 2002, it was going to be a good day. Mike Sisco, Karen Harkness, had been in a relationship for a few years. The trial got underway with opening statements on February 7th, 2025. One name just kept coming up. Dana Chandler. Charles Kitt was back retrying the case, joined by prosecutor Dan Dunbar. Judge Cheryl Rios again presided. And in a last-minute change on the morning of opening statements, Dana Chandler dismissed her defense attorneys. My name is Dana Chandler. And Dana Chandler decided the best person to represent her... ...was herself. I am innocent. I did not kill Mike and Karen.

26:43I think this case is a character assassination. In February 2025, Dana Chandler was on trial for the third time for the murders of Mike Sisko and Karen Harkness. But this time, she was representing herself. She was exercising her constitutional right. It was an unknown. It was certainly unexpected.

27:13One thing that was the same as in the previous trials, Haley Seal testified. Good afternoon. Hi. Can you please tell the jury your name? It's Haley Seal. Haley was asked again by the prosecution about her mother's inappropriate behavior. What sort of things would she say about Karen? She called her a homewrecker, a slut, very bad names. Prosecutors were also interested in an incident when Dana Chandler drove Haley and her brother to drop them off at Karen's house. We waited there for a really long time in the car. Then my dad and Karen got there, and my mom got out and yelled at them and just was very angry with my dad.

28:10Haley, I don't have any further questions. Thank you. When it was time to be cross-examined, Haley knew it would now be her mother doing the questioning. Are you having the seal? I really went up there with, like, my game face on, you know? I knew it was war. I knew it wasn't going to be a nice, a cordial, a thoughtful, you're the victim, this was your dad, and I'm so sorry, place that she'd be coming from. Dana Chandler challenged Haley about her description of that drop-off at Karen's. Chandler said it was Haley's father, Mike, who was behaving badly, not her. When your dad and Karen drove up, your dad stormed over to the car.

28:51Oh, no. No, he did not. And he started banging on the window. What? No, he did not. I was inside that car and my dad absolutely did not bang on the windows. And I didn't get out of that. I never got out of the car. You were the first one out of the car. I was just in disbelief because I knew she just made that up. Because it never happened. And he never did that. But I didn't get concerned. I just said, no, you know, I'm glad you asked so I could straighten this out. That never happened. And then it comes down to who's believable. And I wasn't worried about that. As another way to seemingly explain some of her past behaviors, Chandler brought up that she used to have a drinking problem.