Tony Haase, center, appears in court March 20, 2024, for the 1992 murders of Tanna Togstad and Timothy Mumbrue. (Image courtesy Waupaca County courts/Zoom)
WAUPACA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Tony Haase will go on trial July 14, 2025, for the 1992 murders of Tanna Togstad and Timothy Mumbrue, a judge ruled Wednesday. A six-week trial is scheduled.
Togstad, 23, and her boyfriend, Mumbrue, 35, were found stabbed to death in their Royalton farmhouse on March 21, 1992. Togstad died of one stab wound to the chest, while Mumbrue was stabbed multiple times, according to the autopsy report cited in the criminal complaint. The couple’s pet dog was also stabbed and killed. Haase’s father was killed in a snowmobile crash in 1977, and one of those drivers was Togstad’s father. Haase was charged in August 2022.
Although the case has been pending for more than 18 months, this is the first time a trial date has been set.
One reason for the date being set so far out into the future is that not all of the evidence has been turned over to the defense. After a motion to compel by defense attorney John Birdsall, prosecutors were given 45 days to make sure everything has been provided to Haase’s attorneys. Waupaca County District Attorney Kat Turner said the state will be able to make that deadline.
The court also referenced a defense motion to suppress, apparently of Haase’s statements to police. A hearing on that issue will be held Oct. 15-16.
Other motions by both sides are due in December, with additional hearings possible after that.
Police identified Haase as a suspect, and a DNA sample was taken from him during a traffic stop. Test results showed him to be a “major male contributor” to the fluids recovered from Togstad’s body, the complaint states.
Haase, now 53, initially denied any involvement, but during questioning, he eventually admitted to the murders.
Eventually, Haase disclosed to investigators that his father had been killed in a snowmobile accident when he was 5 or 8 years old. Investigators had discovered Haase’s father died on Dec. 31, 1977, when Haase was 7 years old.
Haase continued and described that his father was operating a snowmobile in a group of three that was racing. The second snowmobile hit his father’s, and his father was killed. The third snowmobile then ran over the driver of the second. He described it as a horrible accident.
Haase explained that on the evening of March 20, 1992, he became very drunk as he went from one bar to another by himself. 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.
Haase could not articulate why he went there but insisted it was not to hurt anyone. He described himself as being in a drunken stupor that night. Haase describes getting into a “scuffle” with Mumbrue. He could not remember if he had brought a knife or if the knife was at the house. During the “scuffle,” he and Mumbrue were wrestling while standing up, and he moved his arm in a stabbing motion toward Mumbrue’s chest. He described Mumbrue falling to the floor near the foot of the bed.
Haase remembered Togstad yelling, “What the f—,” and that is when he punched her in the face. It is believed he would have knocked her out at this time. At some point, Togstad started to stir, and that is when he stabbed her in the chest.
When asked why he didn’t tell investigators right away, Haase replied, “I didn’t want it to sound like I had it planned.” Haase told investigators he did not know why he did it. At this point, Haase told investigators when he saw the news report he thought, “Holy f—, what did I do?” the complaint states.
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