Eight dead in Utah murder-suicide: Michael Haight, who killed wife and five kids, left note, investigators reveal

Michael Haight murdered his wife, Tausha, 40, and their five children, who ranged in age from 4 to 17. Photo / Facebook

Warning: Distressing content

A Utah man who fatally shot his wife, five kids and mother-in-law left a suicide note saying he “would rather rot in hell” than continue being controlled by his wife, investigators say.

”This is nonsense and I can’t handle it for one more day. We will not be a burden on society. I kept asking for help and you wouldn’t listen,” Michael Haight, 42, wrote in a suicide note included in the investigators’ report released on Friday.

The suicide note marks a contrast from other revelations included in the 57-page report released by the city of Enoch.

In the report, Haight - not his wife Tausha - is described as controlling and abusive, in texts from his kids, and by community members interviewed after the tragedy.

The report paints a picture of Haight as a volatile husband concerned about maintaining a facade of perfection throughout the southern Utah community in which they lived, where the majority of residents are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The suicide note, and details about how bedding was laid over the bodies, suggest the violence was planned in advance rather than an act of impulse or the heat of passion.

People close to the Haights interviewed by investigators said Haight had lost his job at Allstate Insurance in nearby Cedar City, Utah.

Despite his wife’s wishes and pursuit of divorce, Haight remained living in the family home with his wife, five children and mother-in-law, who was there out of safety concerns.

The report also details how Haight, his wife, mother-in-law and five children were found in bedrooms throughout the family home on the afternoon of January 4 after a neighbour entered and found the bodies.

Police had gone to check on the Haights earlier in the afternoon after concerns about their welfare were reported, but left after it appeared nobody was home.