True-Crime Fans Help Drive HBO Documentary on Decades-Long Double Murder Case
Amateur investigators Eileen and Keen Umbehr spent twenty years pushing for a new trial in the 2002 Topeka double homicide, a story now chronicled in HBO’s three-part series “A Killer Story.”
In July 2002, Karen Harkness and Mike Sisco were shot dead in Topeka, leading to the conviction of Dana Chandler, who was sentenced to life without parole. The Kansas Supreme Court later vacated the convictions, citing legal deficiencies, and the case underwent two retrials before a third conviction in 2025. Throughout this period, Alma, Kansas residents Eileen and Keen Umbehr devoted their resources to re-examining the evidence, communicating extensively with veteran journalist Joe Sexton and amassing thousands of documents.
Their persistence helped shape the HBO documentary “A Killer Story,” directed by Matthew Galkin and executive-produced by Joshua Levine, which premiered on September 10. The series not only recounts the murders and courtroom battles but also interrogates how detectives, prosecutors, and true-crime enthusiasts cling to certainty, often at great personal cost.
