Sounak Sengupta
Investigation Discovery’s ‘American Monster: Day Three After Murder’ chronicles how 45-year-old Daniel Halseth was gruesomely murdered and mutilated inside his Las Vegas home in April 2021. The perpetrators did zilch to hide their identities, recording videos and posting them online while being on the run. The authorities eventually apprehended them within a couple of days of the heinous crime. If you’re interested in finding out more, including the killers’ identities and current whereabouts, we’ve you covered.
How Did Daniel Halseth Die?
Daniel Wendell Halseth was born to the late Wendell Allen Halseth and Christine Halseth in Estacada in Clackamas County, Oregon, on January 28, 1976. He was a graduate of Hood River Valley High School and earned a Bachelor of Music from Western Oregon State University. Friends and family described his talent and love for music, which he shared wherever a set of drums or a piano was nearby. He was fondly known as “Drummer Dan” because of his energy and talent. He also secured a master’s in business from Corbin University.
Daniel’s mom, Christine Halseth, recalled on the show how her son enjoyed the outdoors, going on long walks and halting to take pictures of nature, especially flowers. He always lifted people and had a perpetual smile on his face using his free time to help returning veterans. His expertise in IT made Daniel a valuable consultant and facilitator on projects nationwide. He met Elizabeth, an Oregon high school senior while studying at Western Oregon State University, and the two married in Salem, Oregon, on July 2, 2001.
During their 11 years of marriage, Daniel and Elizabeth gave birth to three children — Dana, Jordan, and Sierra Halseth. Daniel was a “family man” who maintained regular contact with her mother, and Christine became concerned on April 9, 2021, when she did not hear from her son for a couple of days. Worried, she contacted Peggy Newman, Daniel’s friend and landlord, who drove to his Las Vegas home on the 8400 block of Dunphy Court. She was welcomed by the distinct aroma of fire and received no response after repeatedly calling.
Peggy called the fire brigade, and the firefighters extinguished the small fire in the garage. However, they were shocked to find Daniel’s lifeless body, and they immediately determined the blaze was not the cause of his death. He had sharp force injuries to his head, neck, and torso, and the perpetrators had attempted to dismember his body. According to the autopsy report, he had been stabbed and slashed over 70 times, and his body was mutilated after his death.
Who Killed Daniel Halseth?
According to reports, Daniel’s 11-year marriage with Nevada State Senator Elizabeth Halseth was marred by allegations of domestic abuse. It eventually ended in a bitter divorce after Daniel pleaded guilty to two counts of coercion and battery. The court awarded Elizabeth the primary custody of their three children, but she and Daniel began disputing the custody arrangement in 2020. In the months leading up to his murder, Daniel was reportedly displeased with his 16-year-old daughter, Sierra, dating Aaron Guerrero, then 18.
The show explained the teen couple had been dating since June 2020 and had allegedly been hatching a plot to rob their parents and run away to Los Angeles. However, Daniel had caught a whiff of their purported plan and forbade Sierra from seeing Aaron. But the rebellious teenager refused to listen to her father’s warning and started plotting a more sinister scheme with her boyfriend. Reports stated Aaron fleed from home in the pre-dawn hours of April 8, 2021, and purchased a chainsaw, a circular saw, a handsaw, and lighter fluid with Sierra.
After buying disposable gloves and a drop cloth, the couple stole more than $1,300 from the account that Daniel shared with his ex-wife. They killed Daniel and mutilated his body before setting the garage on fire to remove traces and evidence of their heinous crime. When a concerned Christine called Sierra regarding her father not answering his phone, she lied to her grandmother that he was in the shower and his phone was broken. The couple fled to Salt Lake City with Daniel’s debit card and his 2016 Nissan Altima.
As per the show, Sierra kept sending messages to her grandmother to keep her away from Daniel’s home. To one text where Christine wrote: “Hey, Sierra, I’m trying to get a hold of your dad. Where is he?,” Sierra replied, “His phone has been acting up, but he’s okay. It should be fixed by tomorrow night, no worries.” However, the charade did not last long, with the investigators issuing an arrest warrant for the couple after Elizabeth discovered money was missing from their joint bank account.
The show played fragments of the videos the couple recorded on Sierra’s cell phone as they were on the run from the authorities. In one of the videos, they could be seen joking about Daniel’s murder while lying together in a tent. They also announced their YouTube channel and seemingly mocked the police for not being able to apprehend them even though three days had passed since the homicide. The video showed Sierra bursting into laughter and playfully stating, “Whoa, don’t put that on camera.”
However, law enforcement eventually caught up with them when Salt Lake City transit officers stopped the teenage couple after they deboarded a light rail in the downtown area without purchasing tickets on April 13. When the traffic officers ran a background check, they found the teens were wanted for murder in Las Vegas. They immediately arrested the couple. The police tracked down the stolen Nissan to discover a bloody rug, and examining Sierra’s cell phone yielded the incriminating video, essentially a confession.
Sierra Halseth and Aaron Guerrero Remain Incarcerated
According to the Las Vegas criminal legislature, a teenager aged 16 or older is automatically prosecuted as an adult. After extraditing the couple to Clark County, Sierra and Aaron were charged with murder with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit murder, arson, robbery with a deadly weapon, conspiracy to commit robbery, and four counts of fraudulent use of a credit or debit card. The couple initially pled not guilty to all charges but changed their plea during their May 2022 trial.
Sierra and Aaron pleaded guilty to all nine counts and were sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 22 years in October 2022. The court also ordered them to pay $5,000 in restitution. According to official court records, 18-year-old Sierra is incarcerated at the Florence McClure Women’s Correctional Center in North Las Vegas, while Aaron, 20, is serving his sentence at the High Desert State Prison in Clark County, Nevada. Both will not be eligible for parole before 2044.
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