First full day of testimony wraps up in Tony Haase cold case trial

WAUPACA, Wis. (WBAY) - The first full day of testimony got underway Friday in the Waupaca County cold case double-murder trial.

Witnesses called by prosecutors so far shared memories of Tanna Togstad and Tim Mumbrue, while others talked about the March weekend in 1992 when the two were found murdered in Togstad’s farmhouse.

Tony Haase is on trial for their murders. He was arrested in 2022, 30 years after Togstad and Mumbrue were stabbed to death, based in part on DNA evidence and statements to investigators.

Authorities say Haase was 21 at the time of the killings and blamed Togstad’s father for the death of his own father in a snowmobile crash when Haase was a child.

Witnesses testified that Togstad and Mumbrue were last seen on Friday night, March 20, 1992.

Randy Johnson, Togstad’s brother-in-law, lived next door. He testified about hearing a dog barking around 4:15 Saturday morning, and then heard a loud vehicle and saw tail-lights, but he didn’t think much of it.

The next day, Sunday, after noticing Togstad’s horse wasn’t taken care of and Tim’s yellow truck was in an unusual spot, he went to the farmhouse with two other family members and found her body.

“I guess the thought that I had was that she was dead. I thought somebody was still in the house, I didn’t know, so we ran. I remember saying, Jeff’s saying ‘Oh my god, is this some sick joke?’ You know, stuff like that, I remember that,” said Johnson.

Article continues below the video

“How would you describe your mental state in that moment?”

“Pretty upset. Pretty freaked out. I don’t know how to say it.”

“Were you thinking entirely clearly?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Were you able to process what you had just seen?”

“No, because when I walked in the house I had to go quite a ways in before I seen it, it hit me.”

Former Waupaca County Sheriff’s Office detective Gary Schmies took the stand last on Friday. He was the first person to analyze and photograph the crime scene back in 1992.

He described what he saw in the farmhouse and the bedroom, including Tanna Togstad and Tim Mumbrue’s bodies, a bed full of blood, and Togstad’s dog, also dead.

Schmies was not cross-examined by the defense on Friday.

Our reporter in the courtroom will have First Alert updates on Action 2 News.