Weyauwega man charged in 30-year-old double homicide

A 30-year-old double murder may have been solved with the help of dogged investigators and DNA evidence.

Tanna Togstad, 23 and her boyfriend Timothy Mumbrue, 35, were stabbed to death in March 1992. They were found dead in a bedroom in Togstad’s rural Weyauwega farmhouse. Her dog had been stabbed to death too.

For three decades the homicides have remained unsolved. On Friday, authorities charged a 51-year-old Weyauwega man with the deaths.

According to the criminal complaint, Tony Haase was charged Friday with two counts of first degree intentional homicide for the deaths of Togstad and Mumbrue.

Haase was identified in an investigation into the cold case led by an agent with the Wisconsin Department of Justice. The complaint states that investigators were able to use DNA evidence taken from Haase during a traffic stop last month to tie him to the murders.

Division of Criminal Investigation special agent Jay K. Yerges, who has been working on the case since 2015, and other agents took Haase into custody Thursday at his workplace, a Waupaca foundry. They then interviewed him at the Waupaca County Sheriff’s Office.

When questioned, the complaint states, Haase told investigators he had been drinking heavily the night of the murders. He said his father had been killed in a snowmobile crash involving Togstad’s father years before.

Haase told investigators he went to Togstad’s home in a “drunken stupor” because he had been thinking of his father’s death. While there, he got into a scuffle with Mumbrue that he says led to the stabbing.

“When asked why he didn’t tell investigators right away Haase replied ‘I didn’t want it to sound like I had it planned,’” the complaint states. “Haase told investigators he did not know why he did it. At this point in the interview, Haase told investigators when he eventually saw the news report he thought ‘Holy (expletive), what did I do.’”

Attorney General Josh Kaul issued a statement thanking those who had remained committed to the investigation.

“This arrest happened because of investigators’ unwavering pursuit of justice over the course of three decades,” he stated.

A statement from the DOJ said they were aided in the investigation by the Waupaca County Sheriff’s Office, the Wisconsin State Patrol, the Wisconsin State Crime Lab, the Waupaca County District Attorney and the FBI.

Haase’s bond was set at $2 million in his initial appearance in court Friday.