In his own words: Bart Halderson’s father remembers his son and daughter-in-law Krista

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) - Days before 24-year-old Chandler Halderson is sentenced for killing his parents, Bart and Krista, Bart’s father, Blake Halderson, opens up about how his son and daughter-in-law lived their lives and how hard it’s been living without them.

Up to this point, family members have stayed out of the spotlight, showing up to the trial daily, but not wanting to do public interviews. For the first time, we are hearing from Bart’s father.

NBC15′s Elizabeth Wadas reached out family members of Bart and Krista after the trial ended by sending hand written letters, asking if they wanted share memories of the couple.

A few days later, Blake Halderson, Bart’s dad, responded by email. He wanted memories of his loved ones shared, so he wrote them down, and he sent them to us.

Hi Elizabeth,

Thank you for your letter and kind thoughts, they mean so much to us along with all the others that have reached out to us with support. I watched the complete trial and coverage from many news outlets on the internet and found the vast majority of them to have handled it so professionally. I thank everyone working on the case in Dane County and was amassed with all the time and money they put into it and finding out everything possible. Dane County went way beyond anything I could have ever expected. Dane County officers reached out to us and offered so much help. I hope they understand how much we appreciated everything they did. Then you have the public organizations that also organized to help out in searches also doing so much. The general public has been fantastic offering prays and condolences that we are so thankful for. I am sure I missed a lot like friends and family, so sorry for that but they know who they are and how much we appreciate all of you.

Bart grew up in a rural setting never causing any problems and working hard to get good grades in school. He was loved by all and always had a grin on his face and a special kind of humor. Bart and Krista were very special, working hard to achieve what they wanted to enjoy in life. They had a lot of talents and were always ready and willing to help everyone. Bart was getting into and enjoying woodworking, making several fantastic projects and remolding of their home. They enjoyed cooking and frying out. They loved going to and working around their cottage on a beautiful lake. They will be happy to know that it will be kept in the family and enjoyed by all of us. They also enjoyed sport and musical events. They were that special couple down the street that everyone loved and any parent would be proud to say that is my son or daughter, I know we were. The world would be a much better place if they would have been allowed to gracefully get old.

They will be missed so much leaving such a big hole in everyone’s life that knew him. Seeing pictures of them on the wall or just waking up during the night thinking of them is hard. The pain never goes away but in time should get less over time. The thing that brings me the most comfort is knowing yes, they have left their earthly body and replaced it with their heavenly spirt body. They are together with those loved ones that have passed made whole in the prime of their life enjoying a much better world watching over us and even showing up in different times and different ways telling us all is good. Now they have no limitations of any kind.

Thoughts from Bart’s Dad (love and miss you so much)

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