Wisconsin man charged with 1992 killings of woman and boyfriend in apparent revenge for 1977 snowmobile accident
A Wisconsin man was charged Friday with killing a woman and her boyfriend in 1992 in apparent revenge for a fatal snowmobile accident that happened when the suspect was 7 years old, prosecutor said.
Tony Haase, 52, of Weyauwega, faces two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in connection with the stabbing deaths of Tanna Togstad and Timothy Mumbrue in March 1992. Tongstad's father was involved in a snowmobile accident in 1977 that left Haase's father dead, according to a criminal complaint.
Investigators wrote in the complaint that they've been working the case for decades and identified Haase as possible suspect. They did not say in the complaint how they learned about him. Officers took a DNA sample from him during a traffic stop on July 6 that matched DNA found on Tongstad's body.
He told detectives on Thursday that on the night the couple died he got drunk and began thinking about the snowmobile accident, the complaint said.
"For some reason he started to think about the accident that killed his father. Those thoughts led to him going to the home of Tanna Togstad," the complaint says.
He went to Tongstad's rural farmhouse, where he said he fought with Mumbrue and punched Tongstad in the face, knocking her out.
He described moving his arm in a "stabbing motion" toward Mumbrue's chest and stabbing Tongstad in the chest as she regained consciousness, according to the complaint.
Togstad died from a single stab wound to the chest, and Mumbrue was found with multiple stab wounds, the complaint says. Togstad's pet dog had also been stabbed to death.
When asked why he didn't tell investigators right away about what happened, Haase replied "I didn't want it to sound like I had it planned," the complaint said. He told investigators when he eventually saw the news report he thought "Holy f***, what did I do?"
Online court records indicate Haase made his initial court appearance Friday. Waupaca County Circuit Judge Raymond Huber set cash bond for Haase at $2 million. Haase's attorney, Alex Gelhar, didn't immediately return a message seeking comment on the case.
"This arrest happened because of investigators' unwavering pursuit of justice over the course of three decades," said Attorney General Josh Kaul. "Thank you to everyone whose commitment to this investigation made this arrest possible."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.