PORTLAND, Ore. - When Susan Kuhnhausen returnedhome from work one day earlier this month, she encountered an intruderwielding a claw hammer. After a struggle, the 51-year-old nurse fendedoff her attacker by strangling him with her bare hands.
Neighborspraised the woman for her bravery, and investigators said they believedthe dead man — Edward Dalton Haffey — was burglarizing Kuhnhausen’shome.
But after an investigation, police now say the intruderKuhnhausen strangled was apparently a hit man hired by her estrangedhusband — Michael James Kuhnhausen Sr. — to kill her.
The58-year-old husband was taken into custody Thursday and charged withconspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder. He was ordered heldon $500,000 bail.
Haffey had worked as a custodian underKuhnhausen at an adult video store, according an affidavit filed by theMultnomah County District Attorney’s office.
Kuhnhausen and hiswife were in the process of getting a divorce, and she told officers“her husband was distraught about the divorce and wanting to reconcilebut that she was insisting on the divorce,” the affidavit states.
Abackground check showed Haffey had served lengthy prison terms forconspiracy to commit aggravated murder and convictions for robbery andburglary.
Inside a backpack Haffey left at the scene was a dayplanner with “Call Mike, Get letter,” scribbled on the week of Sept. 4,the affidavit said. Michael Kuhnhausen’s cell phone number was jottedon the inside of a folder, it said.
An emergency room nurse wholives in a southeast Portland neighborhood, Susan Kuhnhausen arrivedhome on the evening of Sept. 6 to find Haffey coming at her with a clawhammer.
She was struck in the head and wrested the weapon away,but the struggle continued and Haffey bit the nurse, according topolice. A large woman, she was eventually able to get the slight Haffeyinto a chokehold and police later found him dead in a hallway. Anautopsy revealed the cause of death as strangulation.
Police say she acted in self-defense.
Therewas no sign of forced entry into the home, but according to theaffidavit, Susan Kuhnhausen offered an explanation for the lack ofevidence of a break-in: Her estranged husband had the security codesfor the home’s alarm system, and would have been able to disarm it.
Michael Kuhnhausen denies any involvement, the affidavit states.
Susan Kuhnhausen was out of town attending a nursing conference and did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Sheleft this message on her voicemail: “I’m not able to answer all thecalls that I’ve received in the past few days. I’m being comforted byyour concern and your support. I want you to know that our lives areall at risk for random acts, but more likely random acts of love willcome your way than random acts of violence.”
© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14859827/
Neighborspraised the woman for her bravery, and investigators said they believedthe dead man — Edward Dalton Haffey — was burglarizing Kuhnhausen’shome.
But after an investigation, police now say the intruderKuhnhausen strangled was apparently a hit man hired by her estrangedhusband — Michael James Kuhnhausen Sr. — to kill her.
The58-year-old husband was taken into custody Thursday and charged withconspiracy to commit murder and attempted murder. He was ordered heldon $500,000 bail.
Haffey had worked as a custodian underKuhnhausen at an adult video store, according an affidavit filed by theMultnomah County District Attorney’s office.
Kuhnhausen and hiswife were in the process of getting a divorce, and she told officers“her husband was distraught about the divorce and wanting to reconcilebut that she was insisting on the divorce,” the affidavit states.
Abackground check showed Haffey had served lengthy prison terms forconspiracy to commit aggravated murder and convictions for robbery andburglary.
Inside a backpack Haffey left at the scene was a dayplanner with “Call Mike, Get letter,” scribbled on the week of Sept. 4,the affidavit said. Michael Kuhnhausen’s cell phone number was jottedon the inside of a folder, it said.
An emergency room nurse wholives in a southeast Portland neighborhood, Susan Kuhnhausen arrivedhome on the evening of Sept. 6 to find Haffey coming at her with a clawhammer.
She was struck in the head and wrested the weapon away,but the struggle continued and Haffey bit the nurse, according topolice. A large woman, she was eventually able to get the slight Haffeyinto a chokehold and police later found him dead in a hallway. Anautopsy revealed the cause of death as strangulation.
Police say she acted in self-defense.
Therewas no sign of forced entry into the home, but according to theaffidavit, Susan Kuhnhausen offered an explanation for the lack ofevidence of a break-in: Her estranged husband had the security codesfor the home’s alarm system, and would have been able to disarm it.
Michael Kuhnhausen denies any involvement, the affidavit states.
Susan Kuhnhausen was out of town attending a nursing conference and did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Sheleft this message on her voicemail: “I’m not able to answer all thecalls that I’ve received in the past few days. I’m being comforted byyour concern and your support. I want you to know that our lives areall at risk for random acts, but more likely random acts of love willcome your way than random acts of violence.”
© 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14859827/
