COPS: MAN KILLS FAMILY AFTER DIVORCE FILING

ENOCH, Utah — A Utah man fatally shot his five children, his mother-in-law and his wife and then killed himself two weeks after the woman had filed for divorce, according to authorities and public records.

Police also revealed during a Thursday news conference that officers investigated the 42-year-old man and his family a “couple of years prior,” suggesting possible earlier problems inside the household. Enoch Police Chief Jackson Ames did not elaborate.

Investigators know about the divorce petition but not if it was the motivation behind the killings, Mayor Geoffrey Chesnut said. The killings rocked the small farming town of Enoch in southern Utah about halfway between Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. Its communities of new homes are made up primarily of large families that belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, known widely as the Mormon church.

The deceased were members of the faith and well known in town. Many residents served in church alongside members of the slain family or went to school with the children, city officials said.

“This is a tremendous blow to many families who have spent many nights with these individuals who are now gone,” Chesnut said. City Manager Rob Dotson said the community was “feeling loss, they’re feeling pain and they have a lot of questions.”

Officials said that they believe Michael Haight killed his wife, his mother-in-law and the couple’s five children. Each appeared to have gunshot wounds. Court records show that Tausha Haight, 40, filed for divorce Dec. 21. Her lawyer said Thursday that Haight had been served with the papers Dec. 27.

The victims were found inside the house. The children, three girls and two boys, ranged in age from 4 to 17, authorities said. The other victim was Tausha Haight’s 78-year-old mother, Gail Earl.