--- title: "Man Accused of Dismembering Parents After They Discovered He Didn’t Actually Work at SpaceX" description: "A 23-year-old man from Wisconsin reportedly murdered an dismembered the bodies of his parents after they found out that he made up the fact that he worked at SpaceX and would be moving to Florida last summer." date: "2022-01-06" modified: "2022-01-06" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/man-dismembering-parents-spacex" categories: - "Space" - "SpaceX" tags: - "SpaceX" --- # Man Accused of Dismembering Parents After They Discovered He Didn’t Actually Work at SpaceX ![A 23-year-old man from Wisconsin reportedly murdered an dismembered the bodies of his parents after they found out that he made up the fact that he worked at SpaceX and would be moving to Florida last summer.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* In a grisly crime, a 23-year-old man from Wisconsin reportedly murdered and dismembered his parents after they found out that he had fabricated plans to move to Florida for a job at SpaceX last summer. Prosecutors claim the man in question, Chandler Halderson, actually spent his time playing video games all day while telling his parents he was hopping on meetings that never actually happened, [the *Wisconsin State Journal*]() reports. When his father figured out the ruse, Halderson reportedly shot both him and his mother. The rest of the story is even more gruesome, if prosecutors are to be believed: after shooting his parents, the *Journal* reports, Halderson is accused of dismembering their bodies and scattering the remains in ditches, farm land, and trash cans around the area. He then reported them missing a week later. The 23-year-old is now on trial, facing charges of mutilating a corpse, hiding a corpse, and providing false information about a missing person, the newspaper reports. It's an incredibly tragic story that's straight out of a horror movie — not to mention a grim illustration of the incredible cachet of SpaceX as an employer, especially among Elon Musk fans. Halderson's defense claims he didn't actually murder his parents, nor did he dismember their bodies. He was just a kid, they say, who happened to be really into video games. But it sounds like there's substantial evidence that Halderson went to extreme lengths to keep up his charade, creating fake paper trails to make it look like he was still in renewable energy engineering school before claiming to be hired by SpaceX last summer. "Dane County attorney William Brown said in his opening statements that 'Chandler spun an amazing web of lies'," the *Journal* reported. In reality, Halderson dropped out of school after about a semester, [according to *Rolling Stone*](). Instead of actually going to Florida for his fake job at SpaceX, he reportedly faked a head injury and concussion. The rest of the evidence is even more damning. Investigators found the remains of a human skull in the Haldersons' fireplace, as well as a bloody tarp, saw blades, and other cutting instruments, *Rolling Stone* reports. "He had burned his parents’ heads in that fireplace," Brown said at the trial, according to the *Journal*. The police also recovered an SKS rifle. Halderson wrote a list in the Notes app on his phone, including chemicals like hydrogen peroxide and lemon, *Rolling Stone* reports. It's a grim and unsettling story that's bound to have even more twists and turns, as the trial goes on over the next three weeks. **READ MORE:** [Man Allegedly Fabricated SpaceX Job Offer Then Dismembered Parents When They Discovered His ‘Web of Lies’]() \[*Rolling Stone*\] **More on SpaceX:** *[China Furious With Elon Musk for Endangering Its Space Station]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()