Leroy Kuhnke (Photo courtesy: Wisconsin Department of Corrections)
WAUPACA, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A man convicted for a 1995 murder in Waupaca County will not get to see how he was being investigated for the then-unsolved murders of Tanna Togstad and Timothy Mumbrue in 1992, after the Wisconsin Supreme Court said it will not review the case.
Leroy Kuhnke, 55, is serving a prison term for the Oct. 6, 1995 murder of Jeffrey McGlin. In 2023, Kuhnke requested “all documents” related to the investigation in the March 1992 murders of Togstad and Mumbrue. Kuhnke said he was a subject of the investigation and wanted to know the details thereof.
Kuhnke was not charged in that case, however. Tony Haase was charged in August of 2022 – after Kuhnke said he was being investigated. Haase is scheduled to stand trial July 14.
As for Kuhnke, in March 2023, he requested the investigative records from the Waupaca County Sheriff’s Department, but it denied the request as “[d]isclosure would interfere with an ongoing prosecution as this is still an open case with the Waupaca County District Attorney’s Office.”
Kuhnke appealed to the circuit court, which also denied the request.
Kuhnke then took to the case to the appeals court, which rejected it March 2024.
He appealed again. The Wisconsin Supreme Court – which decides which cases it wants to hear – voted not to take up the case, leaving the appeals court ruling place, the state courts office said Monday.
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.
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.
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