Chris Halsne joined the FOX31 Problem Solvers investigative team after spending 14 years as lead investigative reporter for KIRO-TV in Seattle. His in-depth reporting on controversial topics have earned him a National Edward R. Murrow award for Investigative Reporting, several National Press Club Consumer Journalism awards, and numerous regional Murrow and Emmy honors.
Halsne’s specialties include exposing government corruption, cold case crimes, aviation, using computer data to discover new truths and keeping politicians and powerful community leaders honest.
In addition, The Humane Society of the United States has recognized his exposes’ into animal abuse with its highest honor – the national Genesis Award.
Halsne believes strongly in the Society of Professional Journalists principal: Give voice to the voiceless.
After receiving his journalism degree from the University of Kansas, Halsne worked for television stations in Missouri, Florida, Michigan and Oklahoma.
Halsne is a documentary filmmaker, an author and a guy who loves sports and the outdoors.
His wife of 27 years grew up in Colorado and has always considered this area her home. They have two grown daughters: The oldest is a Certified Prosthetist-Orthotist pursuing a PhD. The other is an officer in the United States Army.
TELLER COUNTY, Colo. — A former Idaho nurse has pleaded guilty to tampering with physical evidence in the disappearance of Kelsey Berreth and has agreed to testify against the man charged with killing her. Krystal Jean Lee Kenney entered the plea Friday to the charge related to the death of Berreth, a mother who was last seen on Thanksgiving. The tampering charge is a class 6 felony. Prosecutors in December charged Berreth’s fiance, Patrick Frazee, with murder and solicitation of murder […]
GOLDEN, Colo. — Jenell Mejia dreads opening her own mail. For the past six months, she’s been inundated by unpleasant surprises: overdue bills, court summonses, threats to suspend her driver license and letters from various government agencies, including criminal prosecutors. Her name is on the documents, but the rest of the contents are entirely unfamiliar. Mejia is a victim of identity theft and fraud, one of the most common crimes in Colorado. In fact, she’s the perfect victim: she has good […]
DENVER — New footage of the shootout between Denver police and a suspect was released to FOX31 on Monday. The video, sent to us by a viewer, shows officers surrounding the home where the suspect was holed up with a gun. FOX31 has taken precautions not to show graphic scenes from the footage but discretion is advised. The suspect died at the hospital on Monday, the Denver Police Department said. The two officers that sustained gunshot injuries are still in […]
ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — A district court judge ordered that the criminal charges against the former principal and assistant principal of Prairie Middle School in the Cherry Creek School District should be dismissed because the statute of limitations on the alleged crimes ran out before they were indicted by a grand jury, the 18th Judicial District Attorney’s Office announced Wednesday. For the past year, Prairie Middle School principal David Gonzalez and assistant principal Adrienne “A.J.” MacIntosh have been fighting the criminal charges […]
GOODING, Idaho — The search for answers in what happened to a missing Woodland Park woman is leading investigators nearly 800 miles away. Prosecutors say Kelsey Berreth’s fiance, Patrick Frazee, killed her on Thanksgiving day – and might have had help from someone near Gooding, Idaho, where Kelsey’s phone pinged three days after she was last seen. FOX31 Problem Solver Chris Halsne has traveled to Idaho for answers. In the video above, he tells us that a task force there […]
DENVER — 31-year-old Amanda Jo Garcia has plenty of reasons to pretend to be someone else. Police and court records show Garcia has been arrested 21 times in Colorado on at least 80 different charges, including forgery, fraud, criminal impersonation, drugs, and theft to list a few. If she’s ever had a driver’s license, there’s no record of it this decade — only a long trail of citations for speeding, impaired driving, and being a habitual traffic offender with a […]
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Colo. — The leader of a group home for at-risk youth has been arraigned in Jefferson County for reportedly abusing boys placed under his care by the Colorado State Department of Human Services. Wearing a yellow jail jumpsuit, 56-year-old William Sexton stood in front of a judge Monday facing nine criminal counts, eight felonies and one misdemeanor. The charges, spread within two separate yet connected cases, include five counts of sexual assault on a child by one in a […]
CRESTONE, Colo. — In life, 29-year-old Kristal Anne Reisinger was a naturally gifted clairvoyant and medium. Perhaps in death, she can help solve her own mysterious disappearance? Reisinger’s best friend, Amy Ervin, believes that “100 percent.” “They have access to realms, for lack of a better word, that not all of us do,” Ervin told FOX31. FOX31 first profiled Reisinger last summer on the anniversary of her disappearance. She vanished the week of July 13, 2016 from the tiny southern […]
LAKEWOOD, Colo. — A warrant has been issued for a certified nurse’s assistant accused of stealing medications from the elderly and dying. Detectives working for the Lakewood Police Department’s “Families Crime Team” are asking for 38-year-old Euphama Jane Martinek to be arrested on at least one count of felony Theft from At-Risk Adult – Position of Trust. Records at Jefferson County District Court indicate additional victims and charges are possible as the investigation into Martinek continues. Administrators at the Western […]
LAKEWOOD, Colo. — A live-in, group home leader, in charge of overseeing at-risk-youth in Jefferson County, has been charged with sexually abusing five boys under his care. FOX31 reported last month on the arrest of 55-year-old William Wayne Sexton. He was hired by the non-profit Savio House and contracted and paid by the Colorado Department of Human Services for overseeing a residential treatment center called “Bridgeway.” Public records show Savio House agreed to provide secure homes for teenage juveniles with […]
LAKEWOOD, Colo. — There’s never a good moment to have a house fire, but as it turned out for 83-year-old Jim Haberer and his family, having such an unfortunate event erupt on March 23rd, was especially bad timing. Years in the planning, in early March, eight major Jefferson County fire and police agencies voted to consolidate all their emergency 911 dispatch centers into one mega operation. Updated electronics, computers, and facility-space in Lakewood cost taxpayers about five million dollars, according […]
LAKEWOOD, Colo. — New documents show a Jefferson County group home leader, arrested for molesting at-risk youths under his supervision, had tattoos inked into his arm with the name or names of at least one of his alleged victims. Affidavits show 55-year-old William Wayne Sexton sits in jail facing at least 10 felony counts of sexual assault, including charges related to sexual assault by a person in a position of trust with children under the age of 15. When Sexton […]
