Dateline: Deadly Obsession - What happened to Mike Sisco and Karen Harkness? Disturbing details of the 2002 double murders, revealed

As seen on the recent Dateline episode, it took three lengthy court trials, but each time, a jury found Dana Chandler guilty of the 2002 double murders of Mike Sisco and Karen Harkness, despite the lack of evidence placing Chandler at the crime scene or even in the state where the crime occurred.

NBC's Dateline goes into a detailed exploration of the timeline in the episode titled Deadly Obsession, from the murder of Mike Sisco, Chandler's ex-husband, and Karen Harkness, his girlfriend, in 2002, to the 2011 conviction where Dana Chandler was ruled guilty of the murder, to the 2018 retrial, after she appealed her case, and finally the 2025 trial where a jury yet again found her guilty of the double homicide, even after she represented herself, and even took the stand as her own witness. Here's what happened after the 2002 double homicide.

Dateline: Deadly Obsession covers the 2002 double homicide and Dana Chandler's trial that spanned over two decades

The Dateline episode synopsis for "Deadly Obsession" reads:

"Kansas couple Mike Sisco and Karen Harkness are found dead by their parents before a family fish fry in 2002. A years-long search for evidence and three criminal trials over two decades reveal strained dynamics within one victim’s family."

Mike Sisco and Karen Harkness had been dating for four years. They were fairly happy with each other, apart from Mike's ex, who was obsessed with her ex-husband and went as far as stalking and harassing him and Harkness. In July 2002, the night before a family fish fry, Mike and Karen were shot 11 times and killed in the basement bedroom of their home in Kansas, to be found by Karen's parents on July 7.

The first trial of 2011, as seen on Dateline

None of the valuables were missing from Mike and Karen's house. So, a burglary was ruled out, and after interrogating several family members, one name emerged as a murder suspect. Mike Sisco and Dana Chandler were married for 15 years. They had two children, Dustin and Hailey Sisco, before they filed for divorce in 1994, a lengthy process which continued till 1998 when primary custody of the children was awarded to Mike.

Dana relocated to Colorado after their divorce, but there were several instances where her kids or Mike's family witnessed Dana stalking Mike, ending up outside his house at ungodly hours, and even calling him obsessively (an instance where she called him 17 times in 18 minutes)

Dana's prior conduct, her children's, and Mike's family's statements against her led to her becoming a prime suspect. However, we see on Dateline that there was no evidence that she was ever in the Kansas house or that she owned the kind of gun that was the murder weapon. So, Dana couldn't be arrested for the double homicide.

Moreover, as seen on Dateline, Dana had an alibi; for most of the weekend, she was in her home and then hiking in the Colorado mountains. However, there was no proof to support her alibi, not even any CCTV footage of her entering or exiting the Rocky Mountain National Park.

It wasn't until 2011, seven years after the case went cold in 2004, that the new District Attorney, Chad Taylor, reopened the case, decided to move forward and arrest Chandler regardless of the limited evidence against her.

Three trials and three verdicts later

Dana Chandler was found guilty by the 2012 jury, but the case was overturned when it was found out that the prosecutor had lied to the jury. The case went to trial again, and the defense focused on everything lacking in the state's evidence to convict Dana. Dateline revealed that the jury took four days, and even then, they were unable to reach a unanimous decision as there were five votes to acquit and seven to convict. Even though the majority of the jury found Dana guilty, the verdict was split.

The third trial started in February 2025, and Dateline reveals that throughout these two decades, Dana Chandler had fired several of her lawyers and came to the conclusion that she was the person who could represent herself best in the 2025 trial.

One thing was the same as in both of the previous trials: Dana Chandler's daughter, Hailey, would testify against her mother. Dateline revealed that she would testify as the person who had a front-row view of her mother's obsession with Hailey's father, the late-night sneaking in to snoop into his house, or the phone calls where she told Hailey that she had thought about killing him.

Finally, the jury, four hours after the closing statements, announced their verdict that Dana Chandler was guilty of killing her ex-husband and his girlfriend.

It took more than 20 years. Dateline reveals that this verdict is everything Hailey had hoped for, but the case remains nothing she could ever want.

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