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Michael Sisco's 2002 double homicide will be the focus of the 48 Hours season finale airing on Saturday, May 31, 2025, at 8 pm. The two-hour episode, My Mother's Murder Trials, revisits the decades-long case involving Sisco and his fiancée, Karen Harkness, who were both found shot multiple times in a Topeka home.
Dana Chandler, Sisco's ex-wife, was convicted of their murders earlier this year after a third trial concluded in March, according to a WIBW News report dated May 30, 2025.
The case initially went unsolved for nearly a decade before Chandler's 2012 conviction, which was later overturned due to prosecutorial misconduct, as reported by CBS News on September 1, 2022. Another 2022 retrial ended in a hung jury. Prosecutors argued Chandler acted out of jealousy and obsession, though no physical evidence ever linked her to the crime scene.
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The new 48 Hours special includes fresh testimony, court footage, and a closer look at the years-long efforts by Sisco's children to seek justice in their father's murder.
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CBS's 48 Hours: 5 key details about Michael Sisco's murder explored
The long-running investigation into the deaths of Michael Sisco and his fiancée Karen Harkness will be revisited in 48 Hours' season finale, My Mother's Murder Trials. The episode follows the decades-long legal process that saw Dana Chandler, Michael Sisco's ex-wife, convicted not once but twice for the double homicide.
According to a WIBW News report dated May 30, 2025, the special will feature courtroom testimony, archival footage, and insights from Chandler's children, who played a role in the case's progression. Here are five key developments that shaped the murder investigation and eventual conviction.
1) Michael Sisco and Karen Harkness were found shot to death in 2002
Karen Harkness and Michael Sisco were found dead in her Topeka, Kansas, home on July 7, 2002, with their bodies located in the basement bedroom. According to the Topeka Capital-Journal, both were shot multiple times with a 9mm firearm, Sisco seven times and Harkness five times.
Michael Sisco and Karen Harkness' bodies were found by family members who had been expecting an engagement announcement that day. Investigators found no signs of forced entry, and valuables remained untouched, eliminating robbery as a motive.
2) Dana Chandler was suspected early but not charged until 2011
Although Chandler was quickly identified as a potential suspect due to a contentious divorce and allegations of stalking, police lacked physical evidence linking her to the scene.
It wasn't until a 2009 48 Hours broadcast renewed public interest in the cold case that prosecutors reopened the investigation. Chandler was arrested in 2011 and charged with two counts of first-degree murder, per a CBS News report dated September 1, 2022.
3) Chandler’s conviction was overturned due to prosecutorial misconduct
In 2012, the initial trial ended with Chandler being convicted of the double homicide. However, in 2018, the Kansas Supreme Court reversed the conviction after finding that prosecutor Jacqie Spradling misled the jury by referencing a non-existent restraining order against Chandler.
The court described Spradling's behavior as an "intolerable pattern of deception," and she was later disbarred, as reported by CBS News.
4) A 2022 retrial ended in a hung jury
A retrial was held in 2022, though it ended in a mistrial after the jury failed to reach a consensus. Oxygen.com report dated September 2, 2022, cited jury foreman Ben Alford stating:
“I think it was obvious, and you could see it, but the prosecution wasn’t there to put the whole case together.”
The jurors reportedly split 7–5 in favor of conviction, resulting in a mistrial.
5) A third trial in 2025 led to a second conviction
Chandler faced a third trial in Pottawatomie County, where the jury returned a guilty verdict in March 2025. WIBW News reported on April 24, 2025, that her motion for a new trial was denied because it was filed after the deadline had passed. She now awaits sentencing scheduled for June 3, 2025.
According to 48 Hours, much of the case remained circumstantial, but testimony from Chandler's children, Hailey and Dustin, helped reinforce the state's narrative. In one segment, Hailey told 48 Hours, which reported on CBS News on May 4, 2013:
“Right when I walked through that door, the whole world is about my dad's been killed and my mom shot him...She was -- was really just obsessed.”
The My Mother's Murder Trials episode aims to shed further light on the unresolved emotions, legal twists, and family fallout tied to Michael Sisco's murder.
Stay tuned for more updates.
