Inside a Couple’s Fight to Clear Woman Convicted of Killing Her Ex-Husband and His Partner: ‘Nothing Else Matters’ (Exclusive)

Alexandra SchonfeldMon, August 31, 2026 at 2:00 PM UTC

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Eileen Umbehr and her husband Keen in ‘A Killer Story.’Credit: Courtesy of HBO -

A new three-part docuseries titled A Killer Story reexamines the double homicide of a couple in Topeka, Kan., more than 20 years ago.

It follows former New York Times journalist Joe Sexton, who was contacted by a woman convinced that Dana Chandler — the woman convicted of the crime — is innocent

The first episode of the three-part series will air on HBO on Sept. 10

A new three-part docuseries revisits the 2002 killings of a Topeka, Kan., couple and the woman convicted of murdering them.

A Killer Story, which will premiere on Sept. 10 on HBO, features former New York Times journalist Joe Sexton, who was repeatedly contacted by Eileen Umbehr, a Kansas woman convinced that Dana Chandler — the ex-wife of one of the victims who was convicted of the murders — is innocent.

‘A Killer Story’ poster.Credit: Courtesy of HBO

The trailer, which PEOPLE can exclusively reveal, begins with Sexton recalling the emails he received from Umbehr, who had no personal connection to Chandler or the case.

“It was a breathless email from a housewife in the tiny town of Alma, Kansas,” he explains.

Sexton explains in a voiceover that no DNA or fingerprints were found at the Topeka home where Mike Sisco and his partner, Karen Harkness, were killed in 2002. He adds that during the initial investigation, family members pointed investigators toward Sisco’s ex-wife, Chandler.

“When they arrested Dana, everybody believed they got the right person, except for us,” Umbehr says of herself and her husband, Keen, later adding, “They focused on Dana Chandler in spite of the fact that they couldn’t put a weapon in her hand or that she lived 540 miles away.”

No murder weapon was ever recovered, adding to the lack of physical evidence tying Chandler to the crime scene.

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Dana Chandler in ‘A Killer Story.’Credit: Courtesy of HBO

Her husband later says, “We’re just so committed to this case, that there’s really nothing else in life that matters.”

Sexton asks the couple, “The detective who was leading it closed his eyes to any other evidence that might have pointed him elsewhere. Do you worry that you are making that very mistake?”

Chandler was sentenced to life in prison in June 2025, CBS News reported at the time, after being arrested in 2011 and convicted the following year. Six years later, her convictions were overturned because of prosecutorial misconduct, but the case was not dismissed.

Joe Sexton in ‘A Killer Story.’Credit: Courtesy of HBO

A new district attorney retried Chandler in 2022, but the trial ended with a hung jury. A third trial began in 2025 and Chandler opted to represent herself, CBS reported. She was found guilty, and she was sentenced to life in prison in June.

Prosecutors relied largely on circumstantial evidence, including hundreds of calls Chandler made to Sisco and Harkness and a 27-hour period when her cellphone went silent around the time of the killings, according to reporting by CBS.

A Killer Story will air weekly in three parts starting Sept. 10 on HBO.

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”