Dane County Deputy District Attorney William Brown said that on July 1, Halderson, 23, shot his father before killing his mother once she came home hours later.

The remains of Bart Halderson, 50, were discovered in Dane County on July 8, the same day Chandler Halderson was arrested. The remains of 53-year-old Krista Halderson, the suspect’s mother, were discovered six days later along the Wisconsin River in Sauk County, the complaint shows.

Catherine Dorl, Halderson’s attorney, argued that he is “just a normal kid” who enjoyed playing video games and didn’t kill his parents, according to the Wisconsin State Journal.

“They simply don’t know what happened,” Dorl said regarding the prosecutors’ case.

Halderson allegedly led those around him to believe that he was going to graduate from the renewable resources engineering program at Madison Area Technical College (MATC) and that he had a job at American Family Insurance and a better one he would start at Elon Musk’s SpaceX.

Halderson falsified dozens of emails between himself, MATC and American Family to buttress his story. However, his father began to question why he never had any money, Brown said.

Bart Halderson eventually had a conversation with an MATC official that revealed his son’s lies, Brown said, alleging that shortly after that conversation, Chandler Halderson shot his dad.

On July 7, Halderson reported his parents missing, telling authorities that his parents went with an unidentified couple on a trip to the family cabin close to White Lake in Langlade County, Wisconsin, on July 2 and had yet to return, according to the criminal complaint, the Associated Press reported.

Halderson is now charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating and hiding a corpse and giving false information to authorities in the deaths of his parents.

Dorl urged jurors to presume her client innocent, to put aside their emotions when viewing disturbing evidence and to rely on logic. It is not a juror’s job to be a “story collaborator,” she said.

“Look for what’s missing,” she said. “Look for alternate explanations.”

Eighteen jurors were selected to hear the case, but only 12 will be tasked with reaching a verdict since six alternates are chosen at random and dismissed once closing arguments are over. The trial is expected to last three to four weeks.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.