Eight dead in Utah murder-suicide: Wife sought divorce, records reveal

Sharon Huntsman, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from Cedar City, Utah, leaves flowers outside a home where eight family members were found dead in Enoch, Utah this week in a murder-suicide. Photo / AP

A 42-year-old man killed seven family members, including five children, then killed himself two weeks after the suspect’s wife had filed for divorce, according to authorities and public records.

Officials in the city of Enoch said Michael Haight, 42, killed his wife, mother-in-law and the couple’s five children. Each of the victims appeared to have gunshot wounds, officials said.

They were found on Wednesday (Thursday NZ time).

Court records show that Tausha Haight, 40, filed for divorce from her husband on December 21. Her lawyer said today that Haight had been served with the divorce papers on December 27.

Police said during a press conference today they had previous interactions with the family, but they did not elaborate.

Officers were sent to check on the family after relatives and friends contacted officials because they had not heard from the victims. Officers found them dead inside the home.

The children ranged in age from 4 to 17 and included three girls and two boys, authorities said. The other victim was Tausha Haight’s 78-year-old mother, Gail Earl.

James Park, who represented Tausha Haight in the divorce case, said she had not expressed any fear that her husband would physically hurt her but declined to elaborate, citing the investigation into the killings. Park said he only met with her twice, mostly recently on Tuesday (Wednesday NZ), and said she “was an incredibly nice lady”.

Enoch is a small town of about 8000 people located 390km south of Salt Lake City and about equally distant from Las Vegas.

The home where the victims were found was decorated with Christmas lights and located in a neighbourhood of newly built single-family houses on a ridge overlooking the farming community of Enoch. It has a view of houses with snow-covered roofs and mountains in the distance. Half the surrounding block was cordoned off by police tape.

Enoch is on the outskirts of Cedar City, one of the fastest-growing cities in Utah, which is one of the US’s fastest growing states. Cattle and sheep line the highway that runs through the town, along with signs that advertise “Custom New Homes” and recreation in southern Utah’s famous national parks and recreation areas.

Enoch City Manager Rob Dotson said the community was sent reeling by news of the eight bodies and that the deceased were well-known in the town.

In most of Utah, the predominant religion is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known widely as the Mormon church.

“Many of us have served with them in church, in the community and gone to school with these individuals,” Dotson said. “This community at this time is hurting. They’re feeling loss, they’re feeling pain and they have a lot of questions.”

“We all can pray that their families and the neighbours and all will come to an understanding of what happened in this place, probably in a day or two, or maybe longer,” he said.

After hearing about the deaths, Sharon Hunstman, of Cedar City, came to the neighbourhood with a bouquet of white flowers. She said the deaths had deeply rattled Iron County and cried as she arranged the bouquet.

“It’s just one big community,” she said. “We all have one heavenly father.”

The five children attended schools in the Iron County School District, officials said in a letter sent to parents.

Enoch sits off Interstate 15 in rural Utah, just north of the city of Cedar City and about 130km west of Bryce Canyon National Park. - AP