A police crime scene trailer sits outside the home of Michael Haight on Jan 5, 2023 in Enoch, Utah. Haight, who was 42, is accused of killing his wife, mother-in-law and his five kids that range in ages from 17 to 4 years old with a gun. The police say there are no additional suspects and the community is not in further danger. — AFP
SALT LAKE CITY: A Utah man who fatally shot his wife, her mother and their five kids before turning the gun on himself had done online searches about how loud different guns sound and whether neighbors could hear gunshots five days before the killings, new court records posted online show.
According to a document containing the findings of a police search warrant, a search of Michael Haight’s phone showed he searched Google with the question, “can you hear a gunshot in a house”. He also researched how loud 9mm and 40mm guns were.
The findings, first reported by KSL.com, add weight to the notion that the Jan 4 killings in the small town of Enoch were planned. Relatives said Haight, 42, had also previously taken guns from the home, leaving his wife and mother-in-law unable to defend themselves.
Police believe Haight carried out the shootings, which came two weeks after his wife Tausha had filed for divorce, but have not announced motive for the shootings.
Last month, records showed that authorities had investigated Haight for child abuse in 2020 but that police and prosecutors decided not to charge him.
In an interview with authorities then, Macie Haight, the family’s eldest daughter, detailed multiple assaults, including one where she was choked by her father and “very afraid that he was going to keep her from breathing and kill her”. However, Tausha Haight told authorities she did not want her husband to be prosecuted, hoping the investigation would be “a wake-up call” for him.
In another previously released search warrant from the shooting investigation, one of the family’s daughters sent a text message to friend the day before the killings “stating her dad came home, was acting strange and she was worried”. – AP
