WAUPACA (NBC 26) — A decades-old double homicide trial is officially underway in Waupaca County, where Tony Haase is accused of killing Tanna Togstad and Timothy Mumbrue in 1992.
Opening statements began today in the case against Haase, who prosecutors say stabbed the couple to death in their home in the town of Royalton.
The state argues that DNA from seminal fluid on Togstad's body was linked to Haase, and a bloody handprint left on her door belongs to him. Prosecutors also pointed to Haase's own statements as evidence.
"So what ties Tony Haase to these murders? The seminal fluid found on Tanna's body. The bloody handprint on the door. The memories that Tony has of being there. The memories that Tony has of committing the murders," the prosecution stated.
Haase's defense team countered that the DNA samples were degraded, contaminated, and could potentially point to other relatives.
"You're going to find manipulation of DNA testing evidence. To make it fit. To make it fit for Tony, or somebody. Because after 30 years, they needed to get somebody," the defense argued.
Among the first witnesses to take the stand were a friend of Togstad and Mumbrue's brother.
"She was my best friend. We spent a lot of time together, especially when we weren't dating other people," testified Jill Jonley, Togstad's friend.
"Tim really loved his son," Todd Mumbrue said of his brother. When asked about his nephew's name and age in 1992, he replied, "Cody. I believe he was 4."
Togstad's sister, Veronica Johnson, also testified, recalling seeing a mysterious truck pulling out of Tanna's driveway the morning after she was stabbed.
The trial is scheduled to run through August 22.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
**Below is a previous version of the story that was posted to the web before an over-the-air story was broadcast.**
The jury trial for Tony Haase, the Weyauwega man charged in a 1992 double homicide, begins this Thursday after a jury selection that lasted three days wrapped up.
Prosecutors charged Haase in 2022 with killing a woman and her boyfriend over 30 years ago in apparent revenge for a snowmobile accident.
Fifty-two-year-old Tony Haase faces two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in connection with the stabbing deaths of Tanna Togstad and Timothy Mumbrue in March 1992. According to the criminal complaint, Tongstad's father was involved in a snowmobile accident in 1977 that left Haase's father dead.
Investigators wrote in the complaint that they've been working the case for decades and identified Haase as possible suspect. They did not say in the complaint how they learned about him. Officers took a DNA sample from him during a traffic stop on July 6, 2022 that matched DNA found on Tongstad's body.
He told detectives that on the night the couple died he got drunk and started thinking about the snowmobile accident, the complaint said.
He went to Tongstad's rural farmhouse, where he said he fought with Mumbrue and punched Tongstad in the face, knocking her out.
He described moving his arm in a "stabbing motion" toward Mumbrue's chest and stabbing Tongstad in the chest as she regained consciousness, according to the complaint.
