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) – DNA evidence about an alternate suspect will not be allowed at Tony Haase’s trial on July 14 for the 1992 murders of Tanna Togstad and Timothy Mumbrue, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Haase faces two counts of first-degree murder for the March 21, 1992, deaths at a farmhouse in Royalton. Haase was charged in 2022 after confessing to the murders. Haase’s father was killed in a snowmobile crash in 1977, with Togstad’s father one of the drivers involved.
Earlier this year, the defense obtained permission from the court to argue an alternate suspect is the one responsible for the murders. The suspect, one of Haase’s relatives, is dead. Prosecutors then exhumed the body in June to perform DNA tests, seeking to show he is not the murderer.
The test results were returned this week, which special prosecutor Amy Ohtani said excludes that person as the suspect.
Defense attorney John Birdsall objected to its use at trial, noting the defense has not received the full scientific report, and the lack of time to get experts to analyze it.
Judge Raymond Huber said the evidence was coming in too close to trial to allow the defense proper time to react.
“You had years to exhume his body and obtain his DNA. That wasn’t done, so I am going to exclude the results. It’s just not timely,” the judge said, addressing prosecutors.
If the state asked for an adjournment of the July 14 trial to allow time for the defense to prepare for the DNA results on the alternate suspect so they could be used, the judge said there would likely be a significant reduction in Haase’s $2 million cash bond. Prosecutors did not make such a request, however.
Wednesday’s ruling prompted prosecutors to ask the judge to reconsider the ruling allowing the defense to blame the alternate suspect. Judge Huber denied it.
Ohtani said the state may file an appeal with the appeals court on the rulings. Judge Huber said the state can do so, but there’s no reason for him to delay the case.
“For now, the trial is on,” Judge Huber said.
Although the murders happened in 1992, Haase wasn’t charged until August 2022.
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 (expletive),” 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 (expletive), 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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