Police in Utah investigated a man accused of abuse, before he committed murder-suicide
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A Utah man who police say killed his wife, her mother and their five kids before turning the gun on himself had been investigated two years prior for child abuse, but local police and prosecutors decided not to criminally charge him, new records released Tuesday show.
The Associated Press obtained police records that shed light on warning signs as well as a previous investigation by police into a violent pattern Michael Haight’s behavior toward his family. The authorities acknowledged that they knew of the previous problems at the house, but did not elaborate on them during the news conference following the Jan. 4 deaths in Enoch. This was due to an ongoing investigation. They didn’t immediately answer questions regarding why they were not pursuing criminal charges.
In a 2020 interview with authorities, Macie Haight, the family’s eldest daughter, detailed multiple assaults including one where she was choked by her father and “very afraid that he was going to keep her from breathing and kill her.”
An Aug. 27, 2020 police call regarding potential child abuse was the basis for the child abuse investigation. Macie was 14 when she told investigators that her father had been violent since 2017. This included beatings, choking, shaking and even grabbing her by the shoulders. He also smashed her against a wooden piece at the back.
Two years later, eight bodies were found at the home by police, including Macie. The shootings were carried out by Michael Haight (42), two weeks after his wife filed for divorce. He also took guns from her house, which could have been used as a stop-gap measure, according to police.
Michael Haight said that he did not assault his daughter in 2020 and that it was all a mistake. He said Macie was “mouthy” and admitted to getting angry, attributing some struggles to his father’s death and brother’s divorce.
Also, the investigator’s notes shed light on Haight’s treatment of Tausha, his wife. Macie claimed that her father would often make fun of her mother. This accusation he refuted. Haight stated that he took his wife’s cellphone and iPad to monitor her text messages in order to see if any of them were negative about him.
Tausha Haight told authorities she didn’t want criminal charges filed against her husband and hoped the incident would be “a wake-up call” for him.
Though an investigator told Haight that his behavior was “close to assaultive,” the records say that Enoch Police and the Iron County Attorney decided not to file criminal charges against him.
Iron County Attorney’s Office Tuesday said in a statement, that their office was called in 2020 to determine if there was sufficient evidence to prosecute Haight.
“Although specifics are not articulated, this conclusion was likely based on an inability to prove each element of the offense(s) beyond reasonable doubt and/or statute of limitations barriers,” the statement said.
It also said that the Enoch police had not provided transcripts of interview or police reports for review to prosecutors.
Matt Munson (the attorney representing Michael Haight’s family) was not available for comment immediately.
After receiving a distress call from a friend, who claimed that Tausha Haight missed an appointment earlier this week, police found the bodies of the Haight families. Enoch, a small town in southern Utah that has 8,000 residents, was the scene of the crime.
Officials last week said that law enforcement continues to investigate the Haight family death investigation. National attention was paid to the murder-suicide, with condolences from President Joe Biden and officials in Utah. This tragedy highlighted how family mass murders have become an alarmingly common tragedy in the United States. They occur on average every 3.5 week for the past 20 years.