Tony Haase appears in Waupaca County court for his trial. July 17, 2025. PC: Fox 11 Online
WAUPACA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Opening statements began Thursday in the trial for a decades-old Waupaca County double homicide.
Tony Haase faces two counts of first-degree murder for the 1992 slayings of Tanna Togstad and Timothy Mumbrue.
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. A dog was also killed.
The prosecution outlined their case during opening statements, in front of a jury that took three days to select. Prosecutors claim Haase stabbed the victims, leaving behind a bloody palm print and enough DNA evidence to build a profile.
“Without a state crime lab in 1992, who even had DNA testing capabilities, that preservation, that protection of the crime scene, yielded evidence that would eventually solve this crime,” said Prosecuting Attorney Amy Marie Machiko Ohtani.
The prosecution also claims Haase confessed to the crime during questioning in 2022.
“You’re going to hear about the memories he’s had, about being involved in this absolute horrific crime,” Ohtani said.
The defense casted doubt, saying Haase’s confession was coerced and the more than 30-year-old evidence was mishandled.
“They had just enough in the year 2000 to come up with this partial profile reference,” said Defense Attorney John Birdsall. “This partial profile was just that — it was partial. It was also degraded, clearly degraded.”
The defense claims a third party involved in the murders wasn’t properly investigated — Haase’s uncle, Jeff Tiel.
“Investigators were told for decades and decades by witnesses, including his ex-wife and his daughter and many others, who said, ‘You’ve got to look at Tiel.’ And every single time, the investigators said, ‘Sorry, he’s been cleared’,” Birdsall said.
Tiel died in 1995.
The trial is scheduled to last for up to six weeks, with witnesses already taking the stand Thursday.
After police identified Haase as a suspect, a DNA sample was taken from him during a traffic stop in July 2022. Test results showed him to be a “major male contributor” to the fluids recovered from Togstad’s body, the complaint states. After those DNA tests were returned, Haase was interviewed by police, and charges were filed.
Haase initially denied any involvement, but during questioning, he eventually admitted to the murders, according to the criminal complaint.
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.
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