Tony Haase leaves the courtroom after being found not guilty of murder on August 11th, 2025. (Fox 11 Online)
WAUPACA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — The family of murder victim Tanna Togstad filed a civil wrongful death lawsuit against Tony Haase, the man acquitted of killing Togstad and Timothy Mumbrue in 1992 — seeking at least $17 million in damages.
Togstad’s brother, Richard, filed the lawsuit on behalf of his sister’s estate.
A Waupaca County jury reached the not guilty verdicts on Aug. 11. The civil lawsuit was filed Aug. 6, while the trial was still going on, court records show.
The civil lawsuit recounts the events much in the same way that the criminal complaint did: Haase was upset about the snowmobile crash which killed his father — which Togstad’s father was involved with. He went to the house, killing Togstad, Mumbrue, and her dog.
The suit claims the news of the arrest helped contribute to the death of Helen Hoffman, Tanna’s mother.
“The grief was too much. Having carried the grief and uncertainty of her daughter’s unsolved murder for thirty years, Helen M. Hoffman died just two days after learning that it was Tony Haase from down the road that killed her daughter,” the suit claims.
The suit seeks at least $5 million for compensatory and psychological damages, at least $2 million for Togstad’s pain and suffering, and at least $10 million in punitive damages.
Haase has not been served with the suit, not formally responded. No hearings have been scheduled.
The suit argues the three-year statute of limitations for filing would have started with Haase’s arrest, and therefore the window to file the suit would have closed on Aug. 12, 2025.
Comments