The Cost Of Having NO VOICE In Our Legal System

The Story:

Daniel Wendell Halseth, born in Estacada, Oregon, on January 28, 1976, was the beloved son of Wendell and Christine Halseth. He was violently murdered on April 9, 2021, in Las Vegas, NV. by his 16-year-old daughter and her 18-year-old boyfriend. He came home from a successful business trip at 8pm Wednesday from Boston to Vegas and told his business partner he would check in the next morning. No one could reach him the next two days and his body was discovered on Friday. He was apparently murdered when he got home. His daughter repeatedly told concerned family trying to reach him that his phone wasn’t working and he was fine.

The 16 and 18 year old both plead guilty to 9 felony counts and are now in prison for his murder. His heinous murder made totally no sense to all who knew and loved Dan. Why could this happen to this most amazing, kind and loving father? From the time of divorce due to her infidelity and lies the mother a 10 year attack of vitriol and hate toward Daniel was non stop. Attacking Daniel was a great cover up for her misdeeds including multiple claims of sexual assault charges against her husband and other men. Did her hate find a place in his youngest daughter? Did her years of ongoing attacks even after the murder to demean and vilify a father fill this souless daughter with such rage and hatred to destroy the life of a man whose only crime was to refuse to believe his daughter could not be reached through love and understanding. Why?

Six months prior to his murder, his daughter pleaded with him to rescue her from claims of physical and mental abuse at the hands of her mother and step-father. She even provided photos to Dan as evidence of harm happening to her. She begged him to come save her life. Dan made it happen immediately and moved from Texas to Oregon because his children were always the most important "miracles" in his life. He went to court to allow his daughter to come live with him and change custody to him. She was so grateful and told him how much it meant to her. When she ran away from her mother's and the police were called- she told them and anyone who would listen that she did not want to go back to her mother's and wanted to stay with her father. The police told her that it was her choice and she could remain with her father. At one point the police were called by the mother because her daughter had apparently climbed in a window in her own house to meet the mother instead of meeting at a fast-food restaurant. It infuriated the mother who insisted on the police arresting her and removing her from her own house. To go where? This mother had full custody and responsibility for this sixteen year old and never once suggested to meet with Daniel to see what they could do together as responsible parents. Never once did the mother raise any concerns regarding her daughter's behavior/problems. What she did instead was to continue to rail her disdain and demands for money that along with gifts over the years never made it to the 3 children.

For her 16th birthday- she asked if her dad would give her a make over with new hair style, clothing, make-up and a photo shoot of the "new" her. He arranged it along with balloons and messages of positive quotes and loving messages of how far she had come and how she was turning the corner to be the best she could be. He told her how proud he was of her.

She felt so adamant to live with her father that she wanted the judge who was hearing the custody case to hear from her. At 16, she felt that the whole reason the custody hearing was happening was because of her request for her father to be there for her. She wrote a letter that her therapist reviewed and at her request, Daniel presented it to the judge because his daughter didn't feel her voice was being heard. She did not want to return to the mother under any circumstances. The judge was furious with Daniel and apparently was having side conversations/emails with the mother, said despite the facts, the daughter would ultimately end up with the mother. This happened to be the same judge who for 10 years heard the divorce and custody hearings despite Daniel's concern for his bias and request for a different judge.

A movie the twosome posted on their YouTube channel showed them both giggling about the murder and the boyfriend suggested the crime was done for sex promised by the 16 year old. He also reportedly had mentioned that the mother was in on it and he only helped his girlfriend "clean it up".

Daniel's integrity and honor along with his family privacy were prime targets for the internet for years including after the sentencing. Daniel was not there to defend himself to answer the conspiracy theories /attacks/assumptions by lots of hateful people. This gave ample voice to the mother to continue her false claims and support of her daughter for murdering her father. Daniel couldn't stand up for himself, like all victims of a violent crime; Daniel had no voice to say what happened. He had no voice. The crime had to be solved and once those guilty admitted to the crime, sentencing occurred, the justice system moved on. The Halseth family faced continuous hate emails, phone calls by those feeding into the hate syndrome social media is prone to deliver.

The family hoped when the trial happened the truth would be there to answer the WHY. The family was warned by the DA that they needed to be careful in saying anything to the media in case it would impact the case against the murderers. Through it all from the DA perspective, they were representing the citizens of Nevada for a murder - shockingly to the family the victim had no voice! The goal was to arrest and punish those guilty and they did. The mother who had custody and responsibility for her underaged daughter at the time of the murder had no parental accountability and because there was no trial, she never had to answer for any potential part she may have played in the murder.

Nevada typically calls for the Death penalty in capital cases like this- but her age limited her sentence to 20 years. The final custody hearing supporting her request to officially live with her father was still in the courts at the time of the murder. The accused never faced a mandatory court/jury because the murderers took a plea deal. As such they never had to answer ANY questions from the police / prosecution as to the motive and/or what led up such a heinous act of violence by these two murderers.

The detectives told the family that they had never in all their years on the force witnessed such a violent act of murder and lack of remorse by the daughter especially for someone so young. They followed the case and were instrumental in apprehending and preparing the case for the DA and Grand Jury. They wanted justice for Daniel and told us they would be following the case. When the plea deal was offered, the judge was concerned that the accused didn't understand how solid the case was against them. The DA was instructed to share with the accused some key pieces of evidence against them from the Grand Jury Indictment. The boyfriend and his parents were visibly distraught when faced with the vivid pictures and testimony. The daughter and mother were not. For a time it was looking like a trial was going to happen. (by the way- in a capital crime- the defense fees are covered by the tax payers) At least the family hoped the trial would bring accountability and clarity.

All of the family's need to know the why didn't matter as soon as both of accused accepted a plea deal by the DA due to the preponderance of the evidence that proved their guilt without doubt. It became even more traumatic for the family at the time of the sentencing. They were prepared by the DA that at the time of sentencing the accused could say anything they wanted. They had no idea of what that meant until they came face to face with the brazen and cruel lies. The family went first- his aunt, brothers and mother shared the loss of Daniel and examples of what he meant to everyone he met. The family had requested at minimum the judge and the accused view a 5 minute video to face who he was but it was denied. The family was told they only could address the judge and could not addressed the murderers. Then the murderers had their say in court. The boyfriend went first and apologized to the family, in tears, and said he hoped that he could be half the man Daniel Halseth was. Then the loving daughter who plead guilty to 9 felony accounts stepped forward and spewed her venom. Not only did she offer any apology or remorse- instead she read a 7-page handwritten slanderous fabrication; with no evidence or mention of any of her allegations during the 18 months in litigation by either defendant or the police investigation. The bizarre accusation sounded very familiar to the family however, it was almost verbatim the same words that her mother had made over the years in her pattern of false claims of sexual assault against others. One of the reasons we were told she probably created the false narrative was that in facing time in prison- she needed to be a victim not the premeditated murderer who stabbed her father 71 times; attempted to dismember and burn her father's body; robbed him, stole his savings from his bank account along with his car and took off to Salt Lake where they were captured days later. The same loving father she begged to save her 6 months prior, literally gave up his life.

One of the defendant's attorneys immediately approached the family following the shocking fabrication and told them that he was sorry the law allows lies to be stated as "the truth” by the accused at sentencing because there was never any mention during the investigation of any wrongdoing by the father. who from the time of the murder to the sentencing never had a voice. The DA has told the family that as hard as it may be on the family, justice was served by the guilty plea and maximum sentencing they could get. They said we may never know the "why".

His grave leaves it a forever question in the hearts of all who knew and loved Daniel with sadness and grief. The video was created to be his voice as to who he was- and loved.

Daniel's Video- Remember Me