WAUPACA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Although it’s been more than 15 months since Tony Haase was charged for the 1992 murders of Tanna Togstad and Timothy Mumbrue at a rural Royalton home, the parties still aren’t ready to set a trial date.
Haase’s father was killed in a snowmobile crash in 1977, and one of those drivers was Togstad’s father. The murders were in 1992, and Haase was charged in August, 2022.
In court Tuesday, defense attorney Nicole Muller said the crime lab had just recently turned over reports and evidence related to DNA and fingerprints. Defense experts will need some time to review that before the defense will be ready to set a trial date.
Judge Raymond Huber set a status conference for March 20, with the hope of setting a trial date at that hearing.
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.
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 the other snowmobile drivers was Tanna 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.
