48 Hours: My Mother’s Murder Trials - A detailed case overview

The 48 Hours season finale, airing on May 31, 2025, takes a closer look at one of Kansas' most controversial murder cases with its two-hour special, My Mother's Murder Trials. The episode explores the decades-long investigation into the July 2002 killings of Michael Sisco and his fiancée Karen Harkness. Both were found shot multiple times in her Topeka home.

The case remained unsolved for nearly a decade until renewed scrutiny, partly influenced by earlier coverage by 48 Hours that led to the arrest of Sisco's ex-wife, Dana Chandler, in 2011.

Chandler was convicted in 2012, but the Kansas Supreme Court overturned that verdict in 2018 due to prosecutorial misconduct. A 2022 retrial ended in a hung jury. In March 2025, Chandler was found guilty once again after representing herself during a third trial.

The 48 Hours episode features new courtroom footage, testimony from her children who testified against her, and interviews with investigators. In Pottawatomie County, Kansas, Dana Chandler is set to be sentenced on June 3, 2025.

The episode highlights the enduring impact of the case and 48 Hours' role in its timeline.

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48 Hours episode revisits the Dana Chandler case: A comprehensive overview of the double murder investigation and trials

CBS's 48 Hours will spotlight the long-running Dana Chandler case in its two-hour season finale titled My Mother's Murder Trials, airing Saturday, May 31, 2025, at 8 pm. As per a CBS announcement, the episode features in-depth coverage of Chandler's 2025 conviction for the 2002 double homicide of her ex-husband, Michael Sisco, and his fiancée, Karen Harkness.

The case, which has spanned over two decades and undergone multiple trials, is being revisited with new and archival interviews, including extensive testimony from Chandler herself.

The murders occurred in Topeka, Kansas, on July 7, 2002, when Sisco and Harkness were found shot multiple times in bed at her Westport Square home. There were no signs of forced entry or robbery, and valuables, including casino winnings from the night before, were left untouched.

Investigators focused on Chandler, whose divorce from Sisco had been contentious. At the time of the murders, she had moved to Denver, but reports indicate she was accused of continued harassment and stalking.

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Multiple trials, reversals, and a conviction decades later

Dana Chandler was not arrested until 2011. Chandler was sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty during her initial trial held in 2012. However, in 2018, the Kansas Supreme Court overturned that decision due to prosecutorial misconduct.

Specifically, it found that former prosecutor Jacqie Spradling falsely claimed during closing arguments that Sisco had obtained a protective order against Chandler. The court ruled, leading to Spradling's disbarment in 2022, as reported by CBS News on September 1, 2022.

A second trial held in 2022 ended in a hung jury, with jurors split 7–5. One juror told WIBW-TV that despite the emotional testimony, the state failed to prove intent. Chandler's third trial was moved to Pottawatomie County in early 2025, where she was once again convicted on two counts of first-degree murder on March 7.

Her motion for a new trial was denied the following month due to a missed statutory filing deadline, with video evidence contradicting her claim that the motion had been mailed on time, according to a report by WIBW News, dated April 24, 2025.

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Circumstantial evidence and family testimony are central to the prosecution

According to a CBS News report dated September 1, 2022, throughout each trial, prosecutors relied on circumstantial evidence rather than physical evidence. The state alleged that Chandler drove from Denver to Topeka with the help of gas cans to avoid detection. Detectives highlighted a 27-hour period during which Chandler was unaccounted for.

The case gained national attention following early 48 Hours coverage in 2009 and 2012, with episodes such as Haunted and My Dad's Killer, which helped revive public interest and investigative momentum.

A key aspect of the prosecution's case involved Chandler's children. In multiple 48 Hours interviews and courtroom testimony, both Hailey and Dustin Sisco accused their mother of stalking and spying on their father during their childhood.

Prosecutors also introduced tape recordings of Chandler, secretly made by her daughter, where she discussed the murder investigation and the purchase of gas cans. Defense attorney Tom Bath argued during the trial, as cited by CBS News, September 1, 2022:

"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."

The defense repeatedly challenged the prosecution's theory, arguing that the investigation ignored other possible suspects and failed to test a hair found on a shell casing that matched none of the victims or Chandler.

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Sentencing and aftermath

Following her third conviction, Chandler was remanded into custody. Dana Chandler is expected to be sentenced at the Pottawatomie County Courthouse in Westmoreland on June 3, 2025. According to CBS News, on May 4, 2013, Chandler represented herself in court during sentencing proceedings and maintained her innocence, stating:

“I did not murder Mike or Karen.”

The 48 Hours episode My Mother's Murder Trials aims to revisit not just the evidence but the emotional toll of the case on the families involved, particularly Chandler's children.

With no DNA, fingerprints, or eyewitness accounts definitively placing Chandler at the scene, the case remains a matter of controversy and complexity. Nonetheless, as CBS contributor Jim Axelrod leads viewers through the latest developments, the program reaffirms 48 Hours' commitment to covering long-term justice pursuits.

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Stay tuned for more updates.