Dateline: Raising the Dead - A complete timeline of the Tony Hasse murder investigation, revisited 

Dateline’s two-hour episode Raising the Dead aired on Friday, November 21, 2025, at 9 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. CT on NBC.

You can also watch it on Peacock and the NBC app. The episode is narrated by the Dateline team, specifically by Keith Morrison in his well-known voice. It looks back at a cold case from rural Wisconsin that started in 1992 and became major news again in 2025 after a DNA match and a public trial.

At the center of the story is the murder of 23-year-old Tanna Togstad and her boyfriend, Tim Mumbrue, in March 1992. They were found in a farmhouse in Royalton.

Dateline uses old crime-scene reports, old videos, and interviews with family members, lawyers, and police. The episode explains what officers believe happened on the night of the murders. It also shows how evidence saved for 30 years, new scientific tools, and long court battles led to an arrest, a not-guilty verdict, and later a civil wrongful-death case.

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Dateline: Raising the Dead timeline explained

March 21, 1992 — The crime

According to Dateline, police were called to a farmhouse near Royalton in Waupaca County. Inside, they found Tanna Togstad and Timothy Mumbrue. Both had been stabbed to death.

Investigators said the attack was wild and intense. The autopsy showed Tanna died from one stab wound to her chest, while Tim had several stab wounds. The couple’s dog was also killed.

In 1992, detectives searched the farmhouse, collected biological evidence, and talked to numerous people in the small community. But they couldn’t find the killer. Hence, the case went cold.

1990s–2010s — A cold case kept alive

Even though the police had no strong leads, they saved all the evidence, including swabs and other biological material from the crime scene, as shown in Dateline.

Over many years, police talked to more than a hundred people and followed every tip they got. The case sometimes resurfaced in the local news, with billboards, reminders on anniversaries, and family members and police asking the public for help.

Meanwhile, saving all the evidence would become very important many years later.

Breakthrough: DNA testing and new attention (late 2010s–2022)

New DNA technology made it possible for police to test the old evidence again. As per Dateline, when they retested the saved samples, they found a possible new match.

News stories report that police got a DNA sample from a pen that a local man used during a traffic stop. Some reports say this happened in 2016. Others say it was in July 2022. But all reports agree on one important thing: police compared the DNA from the pen to the DNA from the 1992 crime scene. The DNA matched. Because of this match, the police decided to file charges.

Prosecutors said the preserved swabs “knew” what modern science would finally show once the technology became advanced enough, the Dateline episode revealed.

August 2022 — Arrest and interview

In August 2022, police arrested Tony (Tony Garrett) Haase, who lived in Weyauwega. A lab had matched his DNA to samples taken from Tanna Togstad’s body and other evidence from the 1992 crime scene.

Prosecutors said that during interviews, Haase told investigators he had been drunk on the night of the murders and had broken, foggy memories of a fight at the farmhouse. They said he talked about a struggle with Tim Mumbrue and some violent act involving Tanna Togstad, as shown in Dateline.

Prosecutors also said Haase had a possible motive. They said there had been family anger for many years because of a 1977 snowmobile crash that killed Haase’s father and involved Tanna’s father.

Pretrial steps (2024–mid-2025)

Before the trial, Haase’s lawyers fought against some of the evidence. They said the DNA from the pen police collected during a traffic stop was taken in a way that broke the Fourth Amendment (the rule about searches). They wanted the court to dismiss that DNA.

A judge from Waupaca County authorized the DNA from the pen to be utilized by the prosecutors. The Appeals Court did not allow the judge’s decision to be obstructed either. The ruling enabled the matter to be resolved before a jury in summer 2025, Dateline reported.

In addition, Haase’s defense attempted to cast suspicion on someone else by mentioning the uncle who had passed away in 1995. Moreover, they pointed out that the evidence might be faulty due to improper handling over the years and the risk of it being mixed up or contaminated, considering it was so old.

July–August 2025 — The trial

The trial started in mid-July 2025 and went on for several weeks.

The prosecutors focused on two main things:

The DNA match that linked Haase to the biological evidence found on Tanna Togstad.

A long police interrogation video and transcript where Haase made statements that sounded guilty. The video lasted many hours, and the jurors saw it.

As per 26 Northeast Wisconsin, Waupaca County District Attorney Kat Turner told the jury:

“Those swabs knew, the science knew, it was just waiting for technology to catch up.”

She wanted the jury to see how important the saved evidence was.

The defense argued back. They said the confession was forced and could not be trusted. They also said the DNA and palm-print evidence still left reasonable doubt, meaning the jury could not be completely sure Haase was the killer.

August 11, 2025 — Verdict: Not guilty

After about four days of discussion, the jury said “not guilty” on both charges. All jurors agreed.

Haase’s lawyer, John Birdsall, told reporters that he and his team were “100 percent convinced of his innocence” from the beginning. He also said the jury paid close attention during the trial. Some jurors later told local news that they had doubts about the DNA evidence and about whether Haase’s confession was truly voluntary.

Prosecutors in Waupaca County said they were disappointed. The not-guilty verdict did not end the arguments in the community about what really happened on that night back in 1992, as shown in the Dateline episode.

August 19, 2025 — Civil wrongful-death lawsuit filed

A few days after the not-guilty verdict, Tanna Togstad’s family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit. They asked for almost $17 million. They accused Tony Haase of emotional harm, sexual assault, battery, and wrongful death.

Tanna’s brother, Richard Togstad, told The Post-Crescent:

“For our family, we need something for closure.”

He also told 26 Northeast Wisconsin:

“Because Tony got to live his life, and my sister didn't. He got to have kids, he got to have grandkids, Tanna got nothing.”

Haase’s lawyers said the claims were not true. They asked the court to dismiss the case or let it go to a jury trial. The civil case was still active when the Dateline episode aired.

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What Dateline shows (and why it matters)

Dateline explains the same main points that the news reported. First, a terrible double murder happened in a small farmhouse in 1992. The police saved the evidence very carefully. This helped them test DNA many years later. The prosecutors said the DNA match and Haase’s recorded words proved he did it.

But the defense said his confession was forced, and the DNA could be mixed up or had another explanation. The Dateline episode shows parts of the trial, courtroom videos, and old interviews. It helps viewers understand why old cases are challenging. Science can solve old crimes, but it can also raise difficult questions about old evidence and how fair it is to use it so many years later.

Dateline also shows the human side of it all. Even though Haase was found not guilty, his life changed completely. The Togstad family filed a civil lawsuit. This reminds viewers that criminal and civil cases use different rules.

Criminal cases need proof beyond a reasonable doubt. Civil cases only need more likely than not. Richard Togstad said his sister “got nothing,” showing how much hurt remains even without a criminal conviction.