Utah family killed in murder-suicide was previously known to police, officials say

ENOCH, Utah (KSL) – The Utah family of eight who died in a grisly murder-suicide this week was previously known to police, authorities said.

Chief Jackson Ames with the Enoch City Police Department said officers “had been involved in investigations with the family a couple years prior.”

For now, police aren’t saying what those investigations were for.

On Wednesday, police found eight members of the Haight family dead at their home in Enoch from apparent gunshot wounds.

Police said it appears the husband and father, Michael Haight, shot and killed his wife Tausha, his mother-in-law Gail Earl, and his five children – a 17-year-old girl, a 12-year-old girl, 7-year-old twins (a boy and a girl), and a 4-year-old boy before he died by suicide.

The gruesome discovery was made during a wellness check at the home. According to Enoch City Manager Rob Dotson, someone with whom Tausha Haight had an appointment Wednesday morning called authorities to report that she had missed the appointment. The caller requested that law enforcement conduct a wellness check at the Haights’ home.

Even the mayor of Enoch is grasping to comprehend how an entire family in their close-knit community, active in church, known to everyone around them, is gone.

“This is a tremendous blow to many, many families,” Enoch Mayor Geoffrey Chestnut said.

Investigators said they discovered Tausha Haight filed for divorce two weeks ago.

The investigation is ongoing.