Intruder strangled by nurse: a hit man?
Plot - Police say the estranged husband of Susan Kuhnhausen hired Edward Haffey to kill her
Friday, September 15, 2006
MAXINE BERNSTEIN
The Oregonian
Michael James Kuhnhausen Sr. first hired Edward Dalton Haffey to mop up the mess at Fantasy Adult Video.
Police say he then hired Haffey, a convicted felon with a long criminal history, to kill his wife.
Kuhnhausen, the estranged husband of the emergency room nurse who strangled an intruder in her Southeast Portland home last week, was charged early Thursday with criminal conspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder.
Detectives say Michael Kuhnhausen, 58, helped disarm the security alarm at the Southeast Alder Street home earlier in the day and let Haffey in. Haffey waited with yellow rubber gloves and a claw hammer for at least four hours until Susan Kuhnhausen arrived home from work.
A court affidavit released Thursday describes what Susan Kuhnhausen called the "fight of her life" -- the violent struggle she had with her attacker, and how what first looked like a bizarre burglary turned into a tangled, domestic-related murder plot.
One of the first clues left behind was the dead intruder's backpack. Inside was a day planner, with "Call Mike, Get letter," scribbled on the week of Sept. 4, and Michael Kuhnhausen's cell phone number jotted down on the inside of a folder.
Susan Kuhnhausen, 51, lived alone at the house she and her husband owned in the 7900 block of Southeast Alder Street. She told police she was insisting on divorcing Michael, but he was distraught and wanted to reconcile.
Susan, an emergency room nurse for 30 years, returned home from Providence Medical Center shortly after 6 p.m. Sept. 6. She parked her car in the garage in back, unlocked the back door and then disarmed the security alarm. She walked to the front of her house and out the front door to retrieve her mail. When she came back in through the front door, she relocked it and walked into the hallway.
Sudden attack
Suddenly, a man with gloves wielding a hammer came at her. He struck her several times in the head as she tried to grapple with him. She managed to wrench the hammer from his hand, and they tumbled to the floor.
She lost hold of the hammer when she fell but continued to wrestle with Haffey, police said. Haffey bit Susan Kuhnhausen several times, and she bit back.
Finally, Susan Kuhnhausen was able to get on top of Haffey, and place him in a choke hold with her bare hands. He continued to struggle, but she kept her choke hold until he moved no more.
With hammer strikes to her face and bite marks up and down her body and limbs, Susan fled to her neighbor's house. Her neighbor called 9-1-1 at 6:51 p.m.
Portland police found Haffey dead on the hallway floor inside the blue clapboard home with a white picket fence.
They identified the 59-year-old dead man right away. He had his wallet on him.
Thought husband involved
Susan Kuhnhausen told homicide detectives immediately that she believed her husband was involved.
She told detectives that her husband was the only other person who knew the security code to her house alarm -- and there was no sign that someone had forced a door or window. She also knew her husband had stopped by the house earlier that day because he had left a note on the kitchen table, letting her know he was going to the beach.
Detectives Rich Austria and Steve Ober began to check out Haffey's background. They found his lengthy prison terms for conspiracy to commit aggravated murder, and convictions for robbery and burglary.
They also discovered he had worked as a custodian for the Fantasy Adult Video stores.
A day after the attack, Susan learned that her estranged husband had used one of their joint credit cards to make an expensive purchase at Silver Lining pawn shop.
She called the shop, and found out he had bought a .357-magnum revolver.
Michael Kuhnhausen's daughter, Angela, told police that her father left a suicide note at her home the day after the attack and disappeared.
Detectives focused on Michael Kuhnhausen. They talked to Fantasy Adult Video and learned that Michael was supervisor for custodians, and had in fact hired Haffey.
A Clackamas County sheriff's deputy took Michael Kuhnhausen into custody on Wednesday night. Police seized his revolver and took him to the Portland police detective division for questioning.
Shift in story
He told detectives he had been in Susan's home Sept. 6 . Detectives knew from alarm company records that the house alarm had been turned off and on twice in the early afternoon. He said he stopped by to leave a note and grab a soda. He said the pop was warm, and he went back to get a cold one.
At first, Michael claimed he did not know the man who attacked Susan, and asked to see a doctor.
Police took him to Portland Adventist Hospital. An ER doctor cleared him, and they brought him back to detectives.
This time, he admitted he knew Haffey, the man who attacked his wife. He claimed he didn't have anything to do with it. And, he said if he told them the truth, they wouldn't believe him anyway.
Michael Kuhnhausen, who had no criminal record in Oregon, was booked into jail at 12:20 a.m. Thursday, according to jail records. His next court date is 2:10 p.m. next Thursday.
Susan Kuhnhausen was treated the night of her attack and released from the hospital where she works. She has been out of town, attending a national Emergency Nurses Association conference in San Antonio.
But she leaves this message on her home voice mail:
"I'm not able to answer all the calls that I've received. I'm being comforted by your concern and your support. I want you to know that our lives are all at risk for random acts, but more likely random acts of love will come your way than random acts of violence.
"I would encourage you all to follow guidelines for home security and personal safety and security. I love my neighborhood. This is my home. I feel safe here. Thank you all so much."
Maxine Bernstein: 503-221-8212;
[email protected]