A Wisconsin man, previously accused of a brutal double homicide allegedly carried out in retaliation for his father’s accidental death, is now a free man, sparking outrage among the victims’ families.

Tony Haase, 54, was charged last year with the first-degree intentional homicides of Tanna Togstad, 23, and Timothy ‘Tim’ Mumbrue, 35. The charges stemmed from a grisly crime committed in March 1992.

Prosecutors claimed that Haase entered Togstad’s farmhouse, where he allegedly stabbed Mumbrue multiple times before sexually assaulting Togstad, subsequently stabbing her, and killing her dog. The couple was last seen alive at a local bar around 11:30 p.m.

The vicious attack sent shockwaves through the close-knit rural community of Weyauwega in Waupaca County, leaving residents reeling.

For decades, investigators tirelessly pursued leads in the unsolved case until a breakthrough came when the daughter of an original suspect provided new information, leading them to Haase as a potential suspect.

Despite facing life imprisonment and a $2 million bond, a stunning turn of events occurred in August when a Waupaca County jury acquitted Haase, finding him not guilty of the charges.

The NBC Dateline episode ‘Raising the Dead’ airs Friday at 9 p.m./8 p.m. CT. Host Keith Morrison exclusively interviews family members and friends of victims Mumbre and Togstad and the family of Haase.

Retired Chief Deputy Al Kraeger, Retired Agent Mike Sasse, Detective Captain Nick Traeger, who also worked on the case are also interviewed.

Couple Tanna Togstad, 23, and Timothy ‘Tim’ Mumbrue, 35, were brutally stabbed on  March 21, 1992 at Togstad’s farmhouse in rural Wisconsin 

Tony Haase was charged with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide in 2022. In August, he was acquitted of the charges 

Haase was seven years old when his father was killed in a snowmobile crash during an outing with two of his dad’s friends.

It was December 31, 1977 and one of those drivers of the snowmobile was Togstad’s father.

Wisconsin authorities had long suspected Haase may have been involved in the double murder, but were only able to take a DNA sample from him following a traffic stop on July 6, 2022.

Then on Monday, July 18, 2022 a Wisconsin State Crime Lab analyst found that the DNA was ‘consistent with the profile previously detected from the bodily fluids recovered from the body of Togstad,’ according to the criminal complaint.

He was arrested three days later at his place of employment, the Waupaca Foundry, the complaint says, and was brought in for questioning.

At first, the criminal complaint says, Haase denied he had anything to do with the murders of Togstad and Mumbrue, but after a while, authorities say, he admitted ‘he was afraid he was involved.’

In the criminal complaint, Haase said his father was operating a snowmobile in a group of three that was racing. The second snowmobile hit his father, and his father was killed. The third snowmobile then ran over the driver of the second.

Haase said it was ‘a horrible accident.’ One of the other snowmobile drivers was Tanna Togstad’s father,’ WSAW News7/WLUK reported.

Haase admitted to investigators that he went to Togstad’s home on March 20, 1992, it is claimed. He had been in a ‘drunken stupor’ after going bar hopping and started thinking about the snowmobile crash that killed his father and involved Togstad’s father.

He insisted he did not plan to hurt anybody, but had ‘snippets’ of memories of knifing Togstad and Mumbrue. In the complaint, he described getting into a ‘scuffle’ with  Mumbrue, but said ‘he could not remember if he had brought a knife or if the knife was at the house. 

Togstad’s home on Butternut Ridge Road in Royalton is where the double homidice took place 

The prosecution (left) and the defense sparring during the August trial 

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, the complaint said.

He recalled Togstad yelling, ‘what the f***’ and that is when he punched her in the face, and when she started to stir, that is when he stabbed her in the chest.

Haase said he did not tell investigators when they asked him because he ‘didn’t want it to sound like he had it planned.’ 

He also told investigators he did not know why he did it and when he saw the news report he thought ‘Holy f—, what did I do,’ the complaint states.

Tim’s older sister Tina Spierings described her brother as ‘her protector’ and was crushed with the verdict 

Rick Togstad continues to fight for his sister Tonna. He filed a civil wrongful death suit against Haase weeks after the trial 

During the August trial at the Waupaca County Courthouse, the prosecution stated that Haase was guilty of murdering the couple at their Royalton home, and the DNA evidence proves that he was there.

‘We are here today, and we know exactly who did this crime. Those swabs knew. The science knew and was waiting for technology to catch up,’ the prosecution said.

They also showed Haaese’s confession tape to the jury with the prosecution stating: ‘There are only three people who know if Tony ‘s confession was truthful, and two of them are dead.’ 

The defense argued that the DNA evidence and the evidence from the crime scene were mishandled and unreliable, specifically, the crime scene collection, the fingerprints, the DNA, and the blood at the scene, and the handprints that were on one of the doors of the home.

They also argued that the confession was coerced. The defense also attempted to pin the murder on Haase’s uncle, Jim Tiel.

‘They were just desperate to arrest somebody for this notorious crime,’ the defense said. 

Haase’s wife, Tracy Haase, who was at her husband’s trial every day, told Dateline’s Keith Morrison ‘In my heart, I know he did not do this. There is no possible way he could have ever done something like that.’

However, the victims’ families and friends are devastated and continue to fight.

Togstad’s brother, Rick Togstad, filed a civil wrongful death suit against Haase. 

‘It isn’t about financial gain,’ he said. ‘I don’t want his house. I don’t want his retirement. Acknowledgement is what I want.’

The case officially remains unsolved.