He Insured His Son for $700,000 — 17 Days Later, His Son Was Dead

On January 1, 1991, a fire tore through the Karlsen family home in Calaveras County, California. Karl Karlsen rescued his three children. His wife, Christina, never made it out. After her death, he collected about $200,000 in life insurance. One of the children who survived that fire was Levi. Seventeen years later, on November 20, 2008, 23-year-old Levi Karlsen died beneath a pickup truck at his father’s property in New York. He was a father of two. The truck had been resting on a single jack. His death initially appeared to be a terrible accident. But seventeen days before Levi died, Karl had obtained a $700,000 life insurance policy on his son, naming himself as the sole beneficiary. He later collected $707,000. Two deaths. Two insurance payouts. One father whose account would change. Then Karl’s second wife, Cindy, began asking questions. She contacted investigators and recorded conversations with her husband. Those recordings helped expose what had happened in the garage—and renewed scrutiny of the fire that had killed Christina years earlier. Federal court record. This documentary follows the evidence behind the Karl Karlsen case: the insurance records, Cindy’s recordings, the police interview, the fire investigation and the admissions made in court. It examines how the investigation into Levi’s death led authorities back to California, where Christina’s family had waited decades for answers. In 2013, Karl pleaded guilty to second-degree depraved-indifference murder in Levi’s death and received a sentence of 15 years to life. In 2020, a California jury convicted him of Christina’s first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. ABC News / 20/20. Behind the court records is a family that lost a mother, then a brother and father. Levi survived the fire that took his mother. His own daughters later had to grow up without him. This is the story of Christina and Levi Karlsen—and the evidence that brought their deaths back into the light. 🔔 Subscribe to The Unquiet Case for in-depth true crime documentaries examining the evidence, investigations and people behind each case. 👍 If you value carefully researched crime documentaries, like this video to support the channel. 💬 Which case would you like us to investigate next? Tell us in the comments. 📖 REFERENCES New York Appellate Division — People v. Karlsen (2017) U.S. District Court — Karlsen v. Kilpatrick (2019) California Court of Appeal — People v. Karlsen, C091740 (2023; reproduction) California Supreme Court — Petition conference results, January 10, 2024 Seneca County Sheriff’s Office — 2013 Annual Report ABC News / 20/20 — Daughters on losing their mother and brother to dad who killed for insurance payouts ABC News — NY Man, Already in Prison for Murdering Son, Now Charged in Wife’s Death The Washington Post — California verdict coverage, February 6, 2020 Oxygen — True Cause of Fire Discovered in Karl Karlsen Case Footage: ABC News / 20/20, “The Sins of the Father,” Parts 7–10. Photographs include material credited to Erin DeRoche, Kati Reynolds, Cindy Best and Calaveras County authorities. #KarlKarlsen #TrueCrime #TrueCrimeDocumentary #LeviKarlsen #ChristinaKarlsen #MurderInvestigation #SolvedCases #TheUnquietCase #coldcases #coldcasesolved