TOPEKA — A Shawnee County District Court jury reached an impasse Thursday on whether to convict Dana Chandler of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of her ex-husband and his fiancee.
Judge Cheryl Rios brought deliberations to an end after six men and six women of the jury had met for six days without agreement on whether evidence proved Chandler was responsible for the shooting deaths of Mike Sisco and Karen Harkness. Rios dismissed the jury and set a status conference for Sept. 29.
Two jurors who spoke with reporters said the jury split 7-5 in favor of convicting Chandler.
“The prosecution never proved beyond a reasonable doubt that she committed the crime,” said juror Carrie Kimes. “I mean, that was the core for me.”
Ben Alford, who served as foreman and opposed conviction, said jurors thought a lot about Chandler and Sisco’s kids, who both testified for the prosecution.
“It made it hard, knowing that the kids were hurt,” Alford said. “I think it was obvious, that you could see it. But the prosecution wasn’t there to put the court case together.”
Shawnee County District Attorney Mike Kagay will have to decide whether to seek yet another trial in the 20-year-old case. Chandler’s first conviction was overturned by the Kansas Supreme Court due to prosecutorial misconduct.
Police and prosecutors fixated on Chandler since Sisco and Harkness were killed in July 2002 in the basement of a duplex in southwest Topeka. Chandler has been incarcerated for the past 11 years, but efforts to convict her have been complicated by the absence of evidence connecting her to the crime scene.
The district attorney at the time of the killings, Robert Hecht, declined to file charges because he believed lack of evidence would make it difficult to secure a conviction.
In 2009, newly elected District Attorney Chad Taylor welcomed CBS’ “48 Hours” to spotlight the unsolved case and publicly identify Chandler as the prime suspect. In 2011, Taylor brought a film crew and news reporters with him to arrest Chandler in Duncan, Oklahoma.
Chandler was convicted at a trial in 2012 after lead prosecutor Jacqie Spradling repeatedly lied to the jury about evidence, and lead Detective Richard Volley provided false testimony about a protection from abuse order that didn’t exist. The state Supreme Court set aside Chandler’s guilty verdict and subsequently disbarred Spradling for her misconduct.
The retrial at Kagay’s direction began with jury selection a month ago. That followed several years of arguments about evidence and frequent changes in defense counsel. The jury began deliberating Aug. 25.
Prosecutor Charles Kitt told jurors in opening and closing arguments that this case was about rage and jealousy.
“This is not a case that science can solve for us,” Kitt said. “This case is about obsession with Mike Sisco. Jealousy that Mike Sisco was able to move on with his life. Jealousy about the new relationship that Mike Sisco had formed. Jealousy about the relationship that Mike Sisco had with his kids. Rage because of all of that.”
Evidence showed Chandler was furious with her ex-husband, who won custody of their children and child support after a divorce in the late 1990s. Family and friends testified about Chandler’s extensive harassment in the years leading up to the killings. Police found no sign of theft at the duplex where Sisco and Harkness were shot a dozen times with a 9-mm gun.
