A dad who shot his kids, wife and mother-in-law before killing himself left a suicide note saying he would rather “rot in hell” than “put up” with his partner any longer. Michael Haight, 42, from Utah, shot his family earlier this year before turning the gun on himself.
In a brutal mass killing, he shot his daughters Macie, Briley, Sienna, and sons Ammon and Gavin. He also shot his wife Tausha and her mother Gail Early, 78.
The killer was already being investigated for child abuse before he carried out the chilling murders.
His wife had also been planning to file for divorce from Haight before he carried out the horrific attacks.
Investigators had previously claimed in a 57-page report that Haight, and not his wife, was controlling and abusive.
For instance, one incident in 2021 included in the report noted how Haight slammed on the brakes suddenly when racing down the highway. The family was reportedly terrified by the incident, which left them with left red marks on their bodies.
But the killer’s suicide note accuses his wife as the one whose behaviour was controlling.
The report cites the family’s communications before the killings as well as interviews with community members following the horrific tragedy in January.
Haight’s suicide note, which has been included in a new report, reads: “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.
“I would rather rot in hell than to put up with another day of this manipulation and control over me.”
The report also described how bedding was laid over four of his kids’ bodies in bedrooms throughout the home, leaving one child uncovered.
The seven-year-old was instead laid out on the floor while the rest of the children were found in their beds.
A neighbour also said she was woken up on the night before the eight bodies after hearing multiple “bangs” that she suspected were fireworks, the report explains.
According to people close to the Haights that were interviewed by investigators, the killer had lost his job at Allstate Insurance in nearby Cedar City and was trying to set up an independent agency.
Haight also carried on living in the family home despite his wife’s desire to divorce him. The couple lived there with their five children as well as the wife’s mother-in-law, who was reportedly there out of safety concerns for her daughter.
Caseworkers also visited Haight’s house on December 19, just two weeks before the shootings, to investigate an allegation against the family’s seven-year-old son, Ammon.
An investigation into the family 11 days before had also been opened based on allegations of abuse involving the oldest daughter in the family.
Caseworkers were asked not to interview the husband until after the wife filed for divorce, which she did on December 21.
According to reports, the wife told police that her husband had been threatening to take his own life or “make her life hell” if she left him. Caseworkers never interviewed Michael Haight.
If you’re feeling like you want to die, it’s important to tell someone.
