Tony Haase PC: Fox 11 Online
WAUPACA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — A prosecutor and defense attorney sparred in court Friday about what evidence has, hasn’t, will and won’t be shared in a 1992 double murder case, but it remains on track, for now, to go to trial in July 2025.
Tony Haase, 54, is charged for the March 21, 1992 murders of Tanna Togstad and Timothy Mumbrue at a Royalton farmhouse. A five-week trial is scheduled to start July 14, 2025 on two counts of first-degree murder.
Charges were filed in August 2022. Haase has been in jail since, unable to post the $2 million cash bond.
In court Friday, defense attorney John Birdsall expressed frustration with prosecutors for not turning over certain evidence in the case. Concerned that further delays could jeopardize next summer’s trial date, Bridsall said he would file a motion by the end of June asking for Haase to be released on a signature bond if all of the materials aren’t provided.
Special prosecutor Nathaniel Adamson argued the defense wasn’t entitled to a particular report that it wants, but otherwise the state is working to provide any of the materials being requested by Birdsall.
Judge Raymond Huber made no rulings Friday. He noted there is a motion hearing planned for July 10, when the evidentiary issues can be sorted out, if they haven’t been resolved by then.
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 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. One of those drivers was Togstad’s father.
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.
When they were killed, Togstad was 23 and Mumbrue was 35. 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.
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