A Waupaca County judge has kept alive a wrongful death lawsuit tied to the 1992 killings of Tanna Togstad and Tim Mumbrue, rejecting Tony Haase’s bid to dismiss the case and allowing the family to press on despite his criminal acquittal.
Judge Vincent Biskupic, in a three-page decision issued Monday, allowed Togstad’s surviving siblings to step in as replacement plaintiffs and approved negligence and recklessness claims to be added to the suit. The civil case, filed shortly before the criminal trial ended, seeks $17 million in damages and names wrongful death, sexual battery, battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress among its claims.
Haase was acquitted in August in the 1992 murders of Togstad and Mumbrue, who were fatally stabbed at a home in rural Waupaca County. Prosecutors had said DNA placed him in the home and matched samples recovered from Togstad’s body, while the defense questioned whether he had given a false confession and pointed to another nearby suspect with a history of violence who later died by suicide in 1995.
The ruling matters because it keeps the civil case moving even after the criminal case ended in Haase’s favor. Biskupic also denied a motion by Maple Valley Mutual seeking a ruling that Haase’s alleged conduct is not covered under homeowners insurance, a decision that leaves the coverage fight in the case as well.
Richard Togstad filed the lawsuit on behalf of his late sister, and discovery is still ongoing. No trial date has been set, but another hearing is scheduled for Monday on other pre-trial motions, keeping the question of liability and damages squarely before the court.
