Utah insurance agent who killed his five kids, wife and mother-in-law in murder-suicide, left suicide note saying he’d rather ‘rot in hell’ than put up with ‘manipulative’ wife

Michael Haight, 42, fatally shot his five kids, wife and her mother in the city of Enoch, Utah, on January 4, after he was investigated for child abuse

Haight shot his wife Tausha Haight, 40, their five children – Macie Lynn, 17, Briley Ann, 12, twins Ammon Michael and Sienna Belle, 7, and Gavin Drew, 4

He also shot and killed his mother-in-law, Gail Earl before turning the gun on himself

Armed with the history of domestic abuse, Tausha had filed for divorce from her husband on Dec 21

Michael Haight was being investigated for child abuse leading up to the killings 

Tausha told a DCFS caseworker who visited the family on Dec 19, that that her husband had threatened to take his own life or ‘make her life hell’ if she left him

Michael Haight, [photo], fatally shot his five kids, wife and her mother in the city of Enoch, Utah, on January 4, after he was investigated for child abuse

The Utah father who killed himself after murdering his five kids, wife and mother-in-law left his family a warped suicide note where he confessed he’d rather ‘rot in hell’ than deal with his wife another day.
Michael Haight, 42, on January 4, fatally shot his wife Tausha Haight, 40, along with their five children – Macie Lynn, 17, Briley Ann, 12, twins Ammon Michael and Sienna Belle, 7, and 4-year-old Gavin Drew, inside the family’s home after he was investigated for child abuse.
He also shot and killed his mother-in-law Gail Earl, before turning the gun on himself.
Local police and the city of Enoch have also released the disturbing bodycam footage of the shooting, showing cops padding through the family’s eerily silent home while their bodies lay inside. 
Michael Haight’s twisted suicide note has also emerged with the killer claiming his wife had driven him to violence.
The note runs counter to investigations showing he was the abuser in the family and his wife was the victim. 

Michael Haight [center] fatally shot his wife Tausha Haight and their five children – Macie Lynn, 17, Briley Ann, 12, twins Ammon Michael and Sienna Belle, 7, and Gavin Drew, 4, after he was investigated for child abuse. He also shot and killed his mother-in-law

Enoch Police Department Bodycam footage of the scene where Michael Haight killed his five children, wife, and mother in law, before taking his own life

Local authorities released disturbing footage from the scene of the slaughter. Michael Haight’s suicide note claims his wife had driven him to violence, despite investigations showing he was the abuser in the family and his wife was the victim 

The report builds off documents released after the murder-suicide that detailed how Haight removed firearms from the home, was investigated on suspicion of child abuse, and searched online for ‘gunshot in a house’ in the lead-up to the shootings.
Caseworkers visited the Haight household in the small town of Enoch on Dec. 19, two weeks prior to Michael Haight fatally shooting his wife, their five children and his wife’s mother before killing himself, as shown case documents from the Utah Division of Child and Family Services ,obtained by the Deseret News through a public records request.

The agency had opened the investigation 11 days earlier based on abuse of the couple’s oldest daughter Macie Lynn, 17, that had occurred in previous years.
The latest alleged abuse happened just days before the visit when Haight was accused of throwing his 7-year-old son Ammon Michael to the ground after he got upset with him. 
His wife, Tausha Haight, told a caseworker that she was concerned about the tone her husband had used and ‘how he looks when he is angry,’ the report revealed.
On Dec. 19, 2022, a caseworker with the Utah Division of Child and Family Services visited the household in Enoch, Utah. The house was clean, according to the caseworker’s notes, with a kitchen stocked with food and the children’s rooms free of hazards. there were no visible signs of neglect.

Police look in on two of the children’s bedrooms after their father had committed the killings

Tausha asked caseworkers not to interview her husband until after she filed for divorce, which happened Dec. 21.
She told caseworkers that her husband had threatened to take his own life or ‘make her life hell’ if she left him. Caseworkers never interviewed Michael Haight.
They were not waiting for the wife´s approval to do the interview, but rather gauging next steps in the investigation, said Department of Child and Family Services spokesperson Miranda Fisher.
‘Unfortunately this tragic incident occurred prior to further intervention,’ the agency’s summary report said.
Previously released records showed that authorities had investigated Haight for child abuse in 2020 but that police and prosecutors decided not to charge him.

Michael Haight killed his wife Tausha Haight [right], and her mother Gail Earl [left] as well as their five children

The newly released report documents detail several reports of abuse, including an incident in 2021 when Haight suddenly slammed on the brakes on the highway. 
‘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,’ Haight wrote in the note included in the report released by the city of Enoch.
It scared the family and left red marks from the seat belts on their bodies. In another incident, Haight grabbed his oldest daughter’s head and threw her into the hard part of the couch.
The daughter, Macie, told caseworkers that her dad would tower over her and her siblings and get close to make them feel intimidated.
‘Dad jumps to react to anything he doesn’t like,’ said Macie, the records show. ‘He yells a lot and wants to make sure they know he is right.’

The caskets of Tausha Haight, her mother Gail Earl and her five children, Macie Lynn, 17, Briley Ann, 12, Ammon Michael, 7, Sienna Belle, 7, and Gavin Drew, 4, rest during a graveside service on Jan 13, 2023

A previously released police search warrant returned revealed that 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. Relatives have also said Haight had previously taken guns from the home, leaving his wife and mother-in-law unable to defend themselves.
The eulogy for Haight saw the accused killer hailed for ‘making it a point to spend quality time with each and every one of his children,’ who were described as a ‘cherished miracle’ to him and his slain wife.
It’s unclear who wrote the glowing tribute, but Haight is survived by his mother, siblings and grandparents. 
Separately, in a GoFundMe set up for his wife, mother-in-law and children, his image is replaced with a photo of Jesus.

GoFundMe set up for the deceased family had bizarre portrait that further featured a photoshopped image of Michael Haight replaced with Jesus

The bizarre piece further featured a photoshopped image of Haight replaced with Jesus, and elected to ignore the January 4 murders of his wife, Tausha, their five children.
The couple’s children Macie, Briley, Sienna, Ammon and Gavin were all discovered by police the morning after the murders with fatal gunshot wounds, with their mother and grandmother both suffering the same fate. 
Not far from their bodies was Michael Haight, who police believe carried out the killing spree before turning the gun on himself.
Haight’s obituary further fanned unrest surrounding the grisly slayings, which has left the small town of 8,000 in mourning, and relatives saying it could have been avoided.
Haight removed all guns from the home prior to the alleged killings, Tausha sister Jennie Earl told The Associated Press, leaving the family ‘vulnerable.’
Haight’s tribute, meanwhile, did not mention the killings, and offered a glowing description of the deceased’s life – as any other obituary, penned under more normal circumstances, might. 

The comments section for the obituary also did not mention his slain family members

The piece – which was also posted online but swiftly deleted as many took offense to it – described how Haight was born on January 7, 1980 in Seattle, and moved to Cedar City, Utah, with his family as a small child.
It described how in his youth, Haight ‘loved spending time participating in city league baseball, basketball, soccer, various outdoor and scouting activities,’ and touted how the septuple-murder suspect ‘achieved the rank of Eagle Scout.’
The eulogy said Haight ‘excelled at everything he did’ and revealed that, as a Mormon, he went on a mission to Brazil for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,’ adding that ‘Haight ‘loved the people he met on his mission and had many fond memories of his time spent there.’

It was revealed that Tausha had filed for divorce from her husband, Michael, on December 21

The obituary said he went on to marry Tausha in 2003 while the two had been attending Southern Utah University, before graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in 2004.
Painting the portrait of a devoted family man, the obituary said Haight ‘enjoyed making memories with the family’ and that he ‘lived a life of service’ to the Mormon church, also known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 
‘Each of these children were truly a cherished miracle to them,’ the piece asserts, adding that ‘Michael made it a point to spend quality time with each and every one of them.
‘Michael lived a life of service. Whether it was serving in the church or in the community, he was willing to help with whatever was needed.’
The funeral for Michael Haight was to be held privately, separate from a procession held for the other seven members of the family, attended by friends, neighbors, family, and classmates, according to his obituary.

Enoch police would usually conduct welfare checks when neighbors raise concerns or when individuals have not been seen for an extended period of time 

The victims were found on the night of the killings when police did a welfare check at the Haight family’s home on Jan 4

Shortly after being published in The Spectrum, the local newspaper, the glowing tribute was quickly met with a barrage of criticism – including from Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action which seeks to address incidents of gun violence in the US.
One of the most prominent activists against gun violence in the country, Watts shared a link to the obituary on Twitter, citing several quotes, including one that insisted that Haight had ‘lived a life of service.’
The anti-gun activist would also share a statement from the family of Haight’s slain wife, in which relatives warned the media for ‘using our family’s story for any advocacy of political agendas,’ while insisting that ‘God that can render a forgiving heart.’
Appalled by the appeal, Watts wrote: ‘And if that’s not gross enough, the wife’s family put out a statement supporting… guns.’

Tausha’s Facebook page is littered with images showing how her ‘happy’ family grew in recent years, but on Jan 4, Michael Haight [center], fatally shot his wife, her mother and the couple’s five kids

Watts went on to cite how none of the comments on an online version of the obituary – which has since been made private – mentioned Tausha Haight or her kids.
‘None of the obituary comments mention the victims,’ the anti-gun activist wrote.
Authorities are now looking to glean a motive for the killings, apart from the prospect of Haight being disgruntled over his looming divorce.
An account from a friend of the family on social media offered said Michael Haight ‘was a two- faced abusive monster,’ adding that those who knew the couple best ‘said he was controlling, manipulative, and mentally abusive for years but no one knew how bad until recently.’

The family’s home in Enoch, Utah, is secured with police tape as investigation continues into the Haight murders

The post, which was re-shared by several people close to the family, insisted that Haight ‘controlled’ his wife’s friendships, and that days before her murder, Tausha missed an appointment with a women’s crisis center. 
‘She was in the process of finally working to get herself and the kids away from him when he did this,’ the account further asserted.
Tausha’s sister Jennie Earl told the AP that her brother-in-law had removed all guns from the home prior to the alleged killings leaving  Tausha, her mother, and her sister’s five children more ‘vulnerable.’
Cops in the small farm town are still probing the 8 person single family murder-suicide.