Yes, they are mormon based on a neighbor saying they go to the same church. It's down South by Cedar City. Does anyone know anything further?

https://www.ksl.com/article/50551135/this-community-is-hurting-8-members-of-family-found-shot-to-death-in-enoch-home

https://www.deseret.com/utah/2023/1/4/23539914/8-people-shot-killed-enoch-home

At least hints of murder/suicide

"It is overwhelming and appreciated. And we appreciate the prayers that are being prayed on behalf of his family, and those who love and care for them," Dotson said.

“We won’t know the mindsets, the thoughts of the individuals who experienced this tragedy. But we all can pray ... that their families and the neighbors, and all will come to an understanding of what happened in this place,” Dotson said.

Enoch is next door to Cedar City.

A pending divorce was involved.

"...we all can pray..."

Or we can stop worshiping guns.

The Second Amendment- like the rest of the Constitution- was not written by God. It can be amended or even repealed- and God will not be offended. Really. I promise.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/05/2023 09:47AM by slskipper.

+1

"What a tragedy. I’m praying for the community of Enoch tonight." said the Lt. governor.

I am so tired of gun toting thoughts and prayers people. Done.

+1. Well said.

Assuming this was a devout LDS family, with deep historical and ancestral roots, actively pursuing their place in the Celestial Kingdom, making every decision based on that premise, what happens to one or all of them psychologically when that structure falls apart.

For regular individuals going through a breaking apart of their family it would be difficult enough to go on, to try to create a new life for themselves. But with support of family, perhaps mental health resources, there is hope.

But if your eternal family and your eternal life fall apart, wouldn't that be exponentially more difficult to find hope or reason to go on?

Just one more aspect of the damage done by that soul-sucking church.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/05/2023 09:59AM by Twinker.

I agree. It's one thing to deal with the difficulties of a divorce in this life, but to imagine that it means the break up of the family in the "next life" once the temple seal has been broken, must be so distressing. Perhaps the misguided/mentally ill family member who killed the others thought they were all going to the CK because the family was still technically temple sealed.

It's difficult to make sense of family members killing each other. Mental health must have been a factor, and we all know the Mormon church, with its cruel threat of separating loved ones in the next life, is crazy-making.

I was absolutely horrified when I read about it on CNN this morning. Hate to conjecture on who the killer was, and what the MO was.


HH =)

The LDS meme that the City of Enoch was so righteous that it got twinkled is probably going to have to be put on ice for a while.

https://www.deseret.com/utah/2023/1/5/23540663/enoch-utah-shooting-8-people-family-members-killed-police-investigating

"The small southern Utah town of Enoch was reeling Thursday after a 42-year-old man shot and killed his wife, their five children and his mother-in-law, before turning the gun on himself, police say.

Michael Haight, his wife Tausha Haight, 40, Tausha’s mother Gail Earl, 78, and the couple’s five children — a 17-year-old daughter, 12-year-old daughter, 7-year-old daughter, 7-year-old son and a 4-year-old son — were all found deceased Wednesday afternoon at about 4 p.m."

"Fifth District Court records in Cedar City show Tausha Haight filed for divorce on Dec. 21, 2022. On the same day, the court issued a domestic relations injunction saying both parties must not harass or intimidate each other, by any means, including electronically. It also warns against domestic violence or abuse against the other person or a child."

Unfortunately, a restraining order is usually a death sentence.

It seems like the injunction cut both ways, though. I wonder if we'll ever get the full story. I would love to know what exactly prompted her request for a divorce after having five children with the man.

“It’s just a terrible thing to happen in a small town like this,” said Esther, who lives around the corner from the home and used to be in the same ward of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. “Everybody knows everyone here.”

Yes, per this comment the family was LDS. So sad 8 people dead:(

I hope they really are "translated" directly to a heavenly place and don't have to process the depth of this tragedy. These events are just way beyond my capacity to fathom the depths of hell delusional adults create for their children. TEARS!

The father has been described as a "local church leader". I suppose we will find out soon enough what that means.

And this is patriarchy taken to its logical extreme. Follow my orders or I will destroy you.

Let's look at the probabilities.

First, 80% of Enoch residents are religious. Of the religious, 90% are LDS. That means the odds of the killer being Mormon are 90%.*

Second, the alleged killer's name is Michael Haight. That pushes the odds of his being Mormon even higher.

We are close to 100% probability.



*ETA: Source

https://www.bestplaces.net/religion/city/ut/enoch



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/05/2023 05:35PM by Lot's Wife.

Presumably, the man was a descendent of Isaac Haight, 1st mayor of Cedar City in 1853, the man who ordered the attack on the Fancher party.

One wonders what the impact of that kind of legacy would be.

Yep. That's what I thought when I saw the name "Haight." That family has been prominent in southern Utah since before the massacre.

Ya gotta watch those Haight divorce settlements.

The name rang the same bell for me too. Ignorant non-American question: when pronounced, does it really rhyme with "hate"?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/2023 08:02AM by Soft Machine.

The pronunciation is exactly "hate."

I never thought of that same-sound thing before. Now I'll always think of it every time I hear that name.

We have Haights in Canada. The name has always been familiar to me. I didn't realize there was significance within Mormonism.

A David Haight works at the Canadian Space Agency.

You could be forgiven for being surprised that Canada actually *has* a space agency. :)

To the contrary, I've always thought Canadians were spacey.

Lot's Wife Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> To the contrary, I've always thought Canadians
> were spacey.


There are worse things to be. :)

A report I read last night said that the family was known to the local police who had visited the home several times. The court papers make it sound like both parties in the divorce were abusive, and at least one party was using social media to advertise their issues. Certainly not a good thing to have a gun in the house in this case. Brother Haight looked a bit creepy to me, but may just be Mormon genetic issues.

You can Pray.

It is as effective as pissing on snowballs or pouring salt on cement.

Haight is an old mormon name. There was a general authority by the name of David B Haight. He was a member of the quorum of the twelve, lived a long life and died in 2004. There was also a Haight family member involved in the Mormon Mountain Massacre. Issac C Haight was a mormon leader at the time of the massacre.

The city leader I heard interviewed on TV last night said the little town was just like a big loving family or something corny like that. STOP! RED FLAG! I know the people I have been angriest at and wanted out of my life would be my over the top, lying, cheating, misogynist, TBM, b*stards, 2nd anointed brothers and their wives.

Families can be good but when families go bad they can go very very bad.

Lot’s of suicidal people in the country today. It’s statistically higher in Utah. It’s a small step to go from a suicide to a murder suicide. It’s the trend and with the societal corruption levels where they are, this trend ain’t changing anytime soon.

Disclaimer - this is my speculation.

I'm guessing that being a "church leader", means Bishop. Too young to be High Priest or Elder's Quorum president.

They had five kids. He was mostly gone doing his very important work. She was overwhelmed raising the kids and honoring the "priesthood holder". Got fed up.

I would almost guarantee she went to the bishop who told her to straighten up and support her priesthood holder husband, ie. more sex, better behaved kids, cleaner house, freshly baked bread.

Things went from bad to worse. She was ready to leave. He wasn't having it. And being a good Utah Mormon, he owned guns. What could go wrong?

Repeat. My speculation.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/2023 09:50AM by Twinker.

I want to hear about the guy's gun collection.

"During a Thursday news conference, Dotson said that someone with whom Tausha had an appointment with on Wednesday morning called Cedar City police after she missed the appointment and asked that authorities check on her."

Calling the police for a welfare check after one missed appointment makes me think that this person has some information.

I think so as well -- perhaps the other party is a counselor of some sort.

https://www.sltrib.com/news/2023/01/05/8-found-fatally-shot-utah-home/

Now the following are my thoughts remember is used to say in the temple that the women need to harken into their husbands?

Antidepressant drugs can make people suicidal and even homicidal. In Utah there are many people on those type of drugs.

“Haight” is a name of Mormon royalty in the Cedar City area. Isaac Haight was a Mormon leader involved in the Mountain Meadows Massacre. In this case I’m sure the wife’s divorce filing was at least part of the murderer’s motivation, but he also likely had mental illness in his family (the killer’s father, a Cedar City dentist, committed suicide in 2018).

Many LDS members and much of LDS culture puts forth a close to perfection life style, kind of an all or nothing. Going from near "perfect" (i.e., wife and 5 kids) to loser (i.e., divorced) shattered the very foundations of his existence.

Killing your children is unimaginable.

I bet his wife was also very far from that which she showed to the public, which in those parts means showed to LDS Inc.

-------

Somewhat related, waaay to many people get married who shouldn't, and waaay to many people have children who shouldn't.

I'd sure like to have heard her conversations with her bishop.

My guess is there might have been some marital struggles but in reality, couples can and do have issues to work out. Thankfully a good many do. But when you add the burden of the toxic Mormon temple covenants into a troubled marriage its like kindling for a fire. Women are taught and make covenants before God that they will obey the law of their husbands. I remember seeing the sisters in the sessions I attended, bowing their veiled heads and saying 'yes' with their right arm to the square. When Sister Haight served her priesthood leader, to whom she made a covenant to obey, with divorce papers he said 'nope'. Another sign of a cult.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/07/2023 12:28PM by tamboruco.

The fallout from partner's trouble is always bad and the kids take much of the collateral damage. It doesn't have to be divorce for it to escalate.

Mormonism just adds another layer of disillusionment to our society's delusions of happiness and success.

Elder Berry Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The fallout from partner's trouble is always bad
> and the kids take much of the collateral damage.

True.


-----------------
> It doesn't have to be divorce for it to escalate.

True.


----------------
> Mormonism just adds another layer of
> disillusionment to our society's delusions of
> happiness and success.

And that disillusionment, that sense of damnable failure, increases the odds of bad things happening--especially to the children.

All of this is horrific. How can a parent blow away their own children? Granted, it's a tough call whether the best interests of the child are better served by summary execution than by growing up Mormon.


Mormonism is an enabling religion for the mentally unstable. Rubicon's hypothesis of antidepressants could be a clue. The stress of the divorce could have triggered a deadly psychosis. Apparently, associates knew the situation was dangerous. Intervention is tricky business in our society.

bradley Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ... it's a tough call whether the best interests of the child are better served by summary execution than by growing up Mormon.

This is no contest. Life is vastly better than violent death. Children grow up and hopefully get the chance to make their own choices about how to live their life, as many BICs who post here amply demonstrate. But the only way to be able to exercise that choice is for a parent to NOT unlawfully and terribly and selfishly and unforgivably rob their child of that opportunity.

I don't know if it's been established that this man had mental health issues. It's an easy go-to in order to explain occurrences most of us can't fathom.

Just being a TBM creates an environment in which daily modern American life can cause mental health issues.

I wondered if finances played into it. He may have felt that he faced an impossible task, trying to support a wife, five kids, and then his own separate household. He was an insurance agent and a financial planner who had just quit his insurance job. Not the best time to discover that your SAHM to five is planning a divorce.

Plus, he may have felt that he was losing his family.

I'm not making excuses for him -- just trying to understand what drove him to that point.

I strongly suspect you are right,

Besides the factors you describe, divorce is a moral as well as a familial failure. He sounds like he was an aspiring church leader, but a divorce will make it nearly impossible for him to become a bishop or anything higher.

He probably went from visions of wealthy church leadership and high social status with a great Mormon family to confronting a future of legal strife, poverty, alimony, and child support with no prospect of church leadership but rather the stigma of a failed family. There is no question that for an ambitious man, this would represent close to the worst possible twist of fate.

Maybe it's just me.....

saw the photo today of the husband, wife and five children. But the husband had been photoshopped out and Jesus had been photoshopped in his place.

....felt kind of creepy to me.

If you have Facebook look up “Protect Every Child” per screenshot it says “True, directory has him as Enoch Stake Executive Secretary between 2014 and March 2022”.

Only gossip? Is here a member on this board from the Enoch Stake who can verify this information?

Pulled this off another forum - apparently this is on Twitter:

"He was a two- faced abusive monster. My brother and sis-in-law were good friends with them for years- in fact SIL has been interviewed by multiple news stations about this tragedy because she was friends with Tausha. Her missed
appt was 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. My brother said he was controlling, manipulative, and mentally abusive for years but no one knew how bad until recently. He would demand she have dinner on the table ready when he got home. No one ate until he took the first bite. If she was preparing dinner and he would call and say he wanted something else, she had to start over. Once he was late coming
home so she let the kids start eating. When he got home and saw them eating without him- he threw all the food on the
floor and made her start dinner all over again.He controlled her friendships and what she could/could not do. He controlled her access to money and she had a meager allowance to pay bills and care for the kids. He had hit her before
and would choke her till she passed out. My bro says his biggest fear now is that he'll get off with people thinking he was a good guy who somehow snapped or had mental illness. He was not. He was a deceiver and a monster. He played the role of good upstanding church guy but
would go home and abuse his family. She had told many bishops and Stake Presidents over the years about his mentally abusive behavior, but he would always downplay it and they would
believe him and discount what she said. He had been an Exec Secretary in the Stake Presidency, so why would anyone believe he was a monster? She lived in fear and it wasn't until just a few weeks ago that she disclosed the true nature of his physical abuse that she started working with divorce attorneys, women's crisis center, and DCFS to get herself and her kids away from him. But this bastard cut that all short."

If that's true, it's very sad. It's a shame that she couldn't get safely out with the kids before declaring her intention to divorce.

From Facebook

"Dear Protect Every Child I can confirm that a friend of mine lived in the area and he gives first hand confirmation account that this killer of seven was in the Stake Presidency as an executive member of the Stake Presidency for going on 8 years. This killer was released a few month's ago from his Stake calling. My friend Roger has also confirmed that the 12 and Prophet with his two counselors released a statement last week that the bishops read to their Wards to not talk about this family to ANYONE last week."

It sounds like the church is in CYA mode. They don't want any lawsuits.

I don't think this is about lawsuits as much as publicity. This is a PR disaster for the good folks at MLM Central.

Even the "help line" can not keep the members quiet.

There is a lot more.

https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comments/104647u/officials_have_revealed_the_identities_of_the_3/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android_app&utm_name=androidcss&utm_term=2&utm_content=share_button

Looks like this will soon disappear and be forgotten which what those in the Church would like.
My question is this something that came about because of the toxic culture of Mormons. Or the product of the general abusive male growing up in the US.
There are unanswered questions. It is interesting that he removed all guns from the home a while before the murders happened. Did he plan this in advance?
Some years before the police visited the Haight house. Why?
Who called the police for the welfare check. Someone was worried.
I hate the way this was covered up by the Church and the community. But it is typical of Mormons to look good on the outside while living a total lie.

My friends and family in Utah have shed some light.

Michael was exec secretary of his stake, released a few months ago.

Tausha was working with the crisis center to plan her separation. She knew she was at risk since the greatest danger for an abused spouse/partner is when they leave. Her mother was staying with the family due to the tense circumstances.

She'd filed for divorce on Dec. 21. He was served on Dec. 27. I have no knowledge about when the guns were removed.

She had an appointment with the Crisis center and didn't show up for it which prompted the call for a welfare check. When police checked they found the victims and shooter all deceased.

I understand that the ward members received an email directing members to not speak about the family and not talk to the media.

As for the "toxic culture", it's my personal opinion that the church gives a man tacit permission to do whatever he feels he needs to do to rule the household as the priesthood holder. If that permission is coupled with an already controlling, egotistical nature, it does not bode well for the wife.

According to my source who knew Tausha well, she was a believer but a "nuanced" Mormon. Michael was all in.

As mentioned earlier here on RFM. Michael's father Robin Haight took his own life in 2018.

Also noted above, Michael Haight was the great, great, great grandson of Isaac Chauncey Haight, 1st mayor of Cedar City and commander of the Iron Country Militia who gave the order to attack the Fancher party at Mountain Meadows. He had also served earlier as Joseph Smith's body guard.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/15/2023 08:42PM by Twinker.

Here is another link.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/murder-suicide-suspects-obituary-remembering-180450319.html
There is a picture of the family and instead of Michael, Jesus Christ is in it.

Why add Jesus Christ to the picture? I know that several women got sealed to Joseph Smith after his death. Has any woman been sealed to Jesus Christ?