MADISON (WKOW) -- Jurors Wednesday heard a revealing June phone call between Bart Halderson and a college staff member shortly before Chandler Halderson allegedly killed his parents.
Prosecutors say Halderson shot Bart Halderson and killed his mother Krista Halderson July 1 after his father discovered he was lying about his college attendance.
In an attempt to speed the release of Chandler Halderson's transcripts to help his son with a purported job, authorities say Bart Halderson posed as Chandler and spoke with Madison College staff member Omar Jobe June 29.
A recording of the call played for the jury included Halderson asking Jobe about advisers Chandler Halderson had emailed and shared with his father.
"Alyssa Brandt...work anywhere?" Bart Halderson asked of Jobe.
"No," Jobe responded.
"Daniel Speith still work there?" Halderson asked. Jobe's answer was the same. Jobe also said Chandler Halderson owed the school more than $2,000 from previous attendance and had not attained a special course certificate Bart Halderson inquired about.
Detectives testified Chandler Halderson set up email accounts with the names of Brandt and Speith and created fake, school correspondence.
Dane County Sheriff's Detective Brian Shunk testified Bart Halderson texted his son after Halderson's call to the school staff member.
"I spoke to Omar Jobe," Halderson texted his son.
Prosecutors say Bart Halderson then proposed a campus meeting with staff to include both father and his son, with the knowledge Chandler Halderson had been deceitful.
"'I'm ready when you are' and that was his last (text) message?" Deputy Dane County District Attorney William Brown asked Shunk.
"Correct," Shunk responded.
Wisconsin Department of Justice Crime Analyst Courtney Ripp confirmed there was no more activity on Bart Halderson's cell phone after that July 1 text.
Ripp said she also reviewed data from Krista Halderson's phone. Detective Sabrina Simms testified Halderson heard from her son as she headed to the family's Windsor home on that same day.
"Dad's phone died," Chandler Halderson texted. "Text or call and get soda on your way home, I've got an extra hour of work."
Ripp said the only other text message from Krista Halderson's phone came three days later and assured her son his parents had arrived safely at the family's cabin to the north. But Ripp said cell phone data showed the text originated in Windsor. Halderson's cell phone was later found hidden at the Halderson home.
Ripp said data on Chandler Halderson's phone showed after he reported his parents missing, he searched Google for content on bodies being found or dismembered in Wisconsin.
Prosecutors expect to rest their case Thursday. Judge John Hyland said he would ask Halderson if he intended to testify. While Halderson's attorneys said they may call any of the prosecution's dozens of witnesses as they defend Halderson, they list no witnesses of their own. They said Halderson killed no one.
Hyland said he's planning on the case going to jurors no later than Friday. In addition to two homicide charges, Halderson's trial involves charges related to dismemberment and lying in connection to a missing persons investigation.
More at WKOW 27 News