48 Hours Mystery: Haunted

A Daughter Thinks She Knows Who Killed Her Father. Seven Years Later, Can She Prove It?

(CBS)  It was July 7, 2002, and Harold and Betty Worswick were going to meet their daughter, Karen Harkness, and her boyfriend, Mike Sisco, for a Sunday afternoon fish fry.

"Well, the day started off like any other day for my wife and I. It was a happy day and it was a Sunday," Harold recalled.

But when they arrived at their daughter’s house, the door was locked.

"And I rang the doorbell and knocked on the glass and couldn't raise anybody," Harold said. "I thought, 'This is strange.'"

Mike’s mom, Carol Sisco Engler, was also invited that day.

"The front door was locked, which was unusual," she told "48 Hours Mystery" correspondent Harold Dow. "And so we went around to the back, and the back door was open just a little bit. And so, we walked in - couldn't find anyone."

The house was quiet and Mike and Karen were nowhere to be found.

"So, anyway, Harold went downstairs, which was Karen's bedroom," Carol explained.

"As I got down there, just as I got to the foot of the stairs, I could see Karen," Harold said. "She was layin' face down on the bed, head kinda off the right side of the bed and her arm was off there… And I said, 'Oh, Christ.' I knew she was dead. I reached over and touched her, but she was cold. And then I found Mike on the outside of the bed. And - I could see that he'd been shot a number of times and had lost a lot of blood."

"Well, it didn't seem real, you know. It just seemed like a dream," Carol continued. "But, Harold wouldn't let Betty or I go downstairs, and I'm very glad he didn't. I've got my own horrible scenes of it anyway. And then, immediately, we called 911."

It was seven years ago when Topeka Detective Richard Volle got the case that would haunt him to this day.

"I got a radio call just after two o'clock on July 7, 2002. It was a report of two dead bodies in a basement," he explained. "Well, the first thought is, you gotta consider a robbery."

Mike and Karen had been dating for about four years. On the night of the murders, they had gone to a casino north of Topeka and had won big.

"The electronics were all there, there was no forced entry. There was just nothing to suggest a robbery," Det. Volle explained. "In fact, we ended up finding a fairly substantial amount of cash in the pockets of the victim."

With robbery ruled out, Det. Volle focused on the victims.

"They were such a sweet couple," Carol said. "He really loved Karen. And I know Karen loved Mike. She took up fishing and they went on camping trips."

It’s a mystery - who would want to kill Karen and her boyfriend?

Det. Volle retraced the couple's evening, starting at the casino.

"Looked like they were having a good time. Didn't have any issues with anyone. And in a - you know - casinos have cameras everywhere. And we didn't see any indication that they'd had a struggle with anybody, any kind of altercation." And, he said, no one suspicious was following them out.

Karen Harkness, 53, was divorced with two grown children; Chad and Erin.

"I remember telling her on several occasions that if I could be half the mom that she was to me, then I would be the best mom in the world," said Erin Sutton.

"It was a surprise to everybody that this would happen to somebody like her," said Chad Harkness.

Detective Volle was unsentimental in his investigation and looked at Karen’s son, Chad, and Karen’s ex-husband as possible suspects.

"I was asked to come down to the police station… I was hooked up to a polygraph machine and asked if I had murdered my mother or in any way participated in the murder of my mother," Chad explained to Dow. "They looked at my father as well."

Both Chad and his father were eliminated as suspects. But if Karen wasn’t the intended target, then maybe it was Mike. His son, Dustin, couldn’t believe anyone would want to kill his father.

"I mean everyone that I saw that knew him, you know, would, you know, shake his hand and give him a big smile," Dustin said.

Mike Sisco, 47, sold welding equipment in Topeka. The divorced father had custody of his two teenage children.

"He was a wonderful son, and he was a very good father," said Carol.

But Mike was having real problems with his daughter, Hailey.

"I wasn't happy with my dad. I wasn't happy with my mom. I wasn't happy at my school," Hailey Sisco said.

In the months before the murder, the 17-year-old was angry at everything, but it was her father who she really turned against.

"I hated my dad," Hailey said. "I - I flat-out hated him."

Things only got worse when Hailey spent more and more time with her boyfriend, Chris Seel.

"My dad hated him," she told Dow. "Chris was the bad - you know, bad boy - definitely didn't follow the straight and narrow.

"You ultimately moved out of the house?" Dow asked.

"My dad gave me an ultimatum: 'Either you follow my rules or you move out.' And I moved in with Chris. And then my dad was killed and…"

Because of that tension with her father, Hailey and her boyfriend attracted police attention. Hailey said "they searched Chris's house completely."

Mike’s sister, Cathy Boots, and her husband, Mark, thought maybe the young man and Hailey could be involved in the murders.

"She was acting so irrationally, no one knew what was going on," said Cathy.

So at the same time Hailey had to deal with the murder of her father, she also had to defend herself and her boyfriend from police suspicions.

"Me and Chris were interviewed, I mean, they came and talked to us. I’m sure we were on their list of who, you know, of people who did this," she said.

"All the checking that we've done on Hailey and her boyfriend, there was nothing there that - that suggested that she could be responsible for this," Volle said.

All the leads in Topeka went nowhere.

"If money's a motive, that's easy to track. If revenge is a motive, that's a little bit easier to track. But there was nothing that was in Mike and Karen's lives that would lead to revenge," Volle said. "I mean, they didn't do anything to anybody. We just don’t have any ideas."

But Mike Sisco knew who might want him dead. And he told his brother-in-law Mark Boots a week before the murders.

"He said, 'Mark - you're gonna wake up some morning and you're gonna find out I'm dead. And you're gonna know who did it.'"

[sn1955]

Re the theory she must have bought gas along the way or on the return trip to Colorado: Dana could have paid cash for gas instead of using cards.

[An_Attorney_in_Kansas]

I hope the family sees this post. However, people tend to forget about K.S.A. 75-702: Duties and responsibilities; authority (of Attorney General) to prosecute. The family could pursue this option if the county prosecutor again refuses to prosecute the case. I represented a family many years ago that sought to pursue this avenue in the murder of a family member.

[Repubwife]

All really good, valid points. I didn't get to see the show, but did read the transcript. Very sad story. I pray for Mike & Karen's families, especially the children. My comment, though, is directed at DSW385...most cops are NOT lazy OR stupid. Most cops are hard-working, decent individuals who do a wonderful job protecting us from the evil that is out there today for not nearly enough pay and a lot less gratitude than they deserve. I'm guessing that if someone in YOUR family was killed or needed help, you would not hesitate to call those officers. And know what? They would assist you just like they would anyone else who didn't have their head up their heinie!

[raydernation]

You know what, most of the comments have been right on point. But I have to play devils advocate. I wouldn't rule out the daughter. I really wouldn't, she made some statements in the beginning of the episode that led me tocast a wary eye at her as well.. Remember how she said she hated her father. How her father told her my house my rules. She didn't care for that and moved, she was very vindictive. I wouldn't rule her out, At all.

[DSW358]

Yes, this was bungled police work. Unfortunately, most police are lazy, stupid, lazy, stupid, mostly lazy...it isn't like CSI Miami or NCIS, there is the occasional diligence but these cops botched it from the start. Sickening. Dana fits a psychological profile for being the killer like OJ Simpson fit the profile for killing his wife. This was a crime of passion, that is the key piece of evidence, the violence with which they were killed. I am sad for this kids, they need to get away from their mother and not return to her. She is evil, it just happens sometimes. As for the family of Karen, they should bring a wrongful death civil suit against Dana, that should "show her for what she is." I hope Dana is arrested and brought to justice. I also hope that law enforcement realizes how important it is to our society and that the "botching" of such an obvious case does not go on elsewhere.

[carolcape]

This whole case was bunged up by sloppy investigation of the police officers. The crime scene should have been cordoned off immediately. As was stated, there were too many walking over the evidence. And the evidence was in the closet, two wine bottles that were thrown out. For sure, those were the courage drinks that the ex used while she waited to murder her husband and his to be new wife. This is so sad that nothing has been done on this case. I mean it is evidence she was a stalker and I wonder how long she got away with doing this. I don't think her ex realized that she was a psycho jealous woman. And after making comments as she made, he should have been afraid for his life. He should have done a great deal more to keep him and his new love safe. I hope that the evidence is forthcoming and that this woman gets the death penalty.

[nrdee]

I know that by habit, I always have my oil changed at the same place every couple of months. If I take a trip, it might move my date up just a bit depending on how many miles I drove. I get a computer print out that states the last time I was there, the mileage on my car and the projected date and mileage that I should be back. If you can't prove that she was not in her apartment, surely you could look at the mileage of her car, my sticker on the windshield lets me know how many miles I have left to go.

[dtaylor521]

My questions are about the gas purchases. The evidence showed she bought gas on 2 consecutive days. Did she fill up her car each time? If so, why would she fill her tank 2 days in a row when she says all she did was hike in the mountains 2 miles from home and run a few errands?

[rsmik]

The Topeka cops need to start watching TV cop shows. And I am betting that the real reason Dana wasn't charged was due to extradition costs.

[nantucketman]

I wonder if anyone checked the inspection sticker of Dana's car when they initially investigated the case? If she just by chance got a new one July 1, 2002, the odometer reading would be recorded either on the sticker or at the garage where it was done. If they wrote down the mileage on her odometer at time of the murder and it was 1000 miles plus, then alibi is no good. Also she may have just reregistered her car which also records the odometer reading. motor vehicle would have that info.

[cle55412]

These 2 links might add substance to DC's pathology:


http://www.facebook.com/search/?q=Dana+chandler&init=quick#/profile.php?id=803812419&ref=search&sid=1481091798.794730720..1

http://www.linkedin.com/profile?viewProfile=&key=47268397&authToken=FXlh&authType=NAME_SEARCH&pvs=ps&trk=hb_upphoto&goback=%2Epsr_*1_Dana+Chandler_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_*1_Y_us_80212_*1_*1_*2_*2_*2_Y_Y_*1_Relevance

[nantucketman]

My wife and I just watched the show and afterward we had a couple of thoughts about Dana's alibi.

If she stated she was at home the weekend of the murders, there is a way to check that without anyone seeing her. Her power meter reading for those 2 days. If nobody is home and the lights are off there would be a flat, steady rate of electricity consumed. If she turns on a light at night, the meter speeds up and the consumption increases. This should be available from the power company. If the reading is flat for 24 hours, she wasn't home.

Next is the gun. She must have purchased that before the murders and a check of her bank/credit cards would prove that as well as cameras at the various gun outlets - Walmart, Cabelas, etc. She must have bought a silencer also as no neighbors heard any shots??

The distance of 500 miles each way is 1000 miles round trip, in her vehicle that gets on high side 30mpg is 33 gallons. Her tank is max 20 gallons plus 10 gallons in the cans. That is 3 gallons too short so I think she stopped for gas somewhere near her home on return trip as she wouldn't have made it all the way without stopping for gas.

Good show. She is guilty and hopefully the power company still has records back to 2002. Good luck!

[Jkb57]

Well done Nantucketman, also might add the mileage on a smaller car is around 14 gals max and say 30 mpg= 420 range. One way using 5 gal. puts it 570 range heading back and a fill-up not making it all the way hence another 5 gal with the fill-up. Now let's say DC is back still another fill up the next day and no more cans needed. Seems to me some could speculate on the in-between fill up around 30 to 40 miles from the murder point. Bet it could be a carry-out for wine and smokes. Just a thought? The gun sure to be gone. The Elect. bill yr to date if she lived there for the period of time. Investigate friends and such might be in order. Thanks for your thoughts, well done.

[carolcape]

This is a a great thought about the electricity. Also, if the police had found the wine previous when they were in the initial investigation, that would have been a red hot lead. Fingerprints, probably and saliva samples and DNA, the whole works, but this was such a tragedy that evidence was lot.

[marionmusick]

Harold, the show was the finest hour that I`ve seen. I am mike Sisco Uncle. my wife and I always watch 48 hrs. Myself, your work was outstanding, thank you and the cast of 48 hrs.

Marion Musick