TOPEKA — A Shawnee County prosecutor on Friday told jurors to forget about science as he laid out the circumstantial evidence connecting Dana Chandler to the 20-year-old killings of her ex-husband and his fiancee.
All of the physical evidence in the case, including DNA collected from the crime scene, excludes Chandler, the defense countered.
Chandler is being retried in a case that captivated national attention more than a decade ago when police and a politically ambitious district attorney teamed with “48 Hours” to identify her as the likely killer in an unsolved crime of passion, then coordinated with news media to film and photograph her arrest. Jacqie Spradling, the lead prosecutor in the case, won a conviction in 2012 by lying to the jury about nonexistent evidence.
The Kansas Supreme Court overturned the conviction on the basis of Spradling’s misconduct, then disbarred her after a prolonged disciplinary process.
Opening arguments began Friday following years of motion hearings about evidence, and days of questioning of prospective jurors. Chandler is charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
A documentary crew from HBO is filming the trial. Staff from “48 Hours” and “Dateline NBC” are also in attendance, along with local reporters and Lamonte McIntyre, an innocent man who spent 23 years in prison after being convicted in Wyandotte County. McIntyre is a co-founder of Miracle of Innocence, an Overland Park nonprofit, which is supporting Chandler’s defense in the case.
Prosecutor Charles Kitt told jurors there was no indication of forced entry or theft at the southwest Topeka duplex where Mike Sisco and Karen Harkness were shot to death in 2002. Family members told police that Chandler was upset about a bitter divorce and child custody dispute, and phone records showed Chandler called Sisco 700 times in the seven months before his death. She showed up randomly, and uninvited, at Sisco’s house and family gatherings. Harkness sent emails describing Chandler as “nutty.”
At the time, Chandler lived in Denver. She told police she was driving around the mountains of Colorado when her ex-husband was killed. But she didn’t tell police about the two gas cans she purchased, which would have given her enough gas to drive to Topeka and back without stopping to buy more along the way.
“Science is not going to solve this case,” Kitt said. “This case is not based on DNA. This case is not based on hair. This case is not based on fingerprints. This case is based on jealousy, rage and obsession.”
Chandler appeared in court wearing dark blue dress pants, a light blue button-up shirt and a cardigan. She shook her head and took notes during open arguments.
Her defense attorney, Tom Bath, told jurors she was 700 miles away from Topeka when Sisco and Harkness were killed. After 20 years of reviewing evidence, prosecutors are still unable to find anything that indicates Chandler was in the house, in Topeka, or even in the state of Kansas, on the day of their deaths.
