When a man broke into her house and tried to kill her, Susan Kuhnhausen was not about to allow herself to be victimized.
YoutubeSusan and Mike Kuhnhausen in happier times.
“Does she need an ambulance?” asked a 9-1-1 dispatcher during an emergency phone call on September 6, 2006.
“No, she’s a nurse,” came the reply. “She says to call an ambulance for the guy. He may be dead.”
The voice on the end of that phone call was Susan Kuhnhausen’s neighbor. She had just been attacked in her home by a man trying to kill her, and she successfully fought back. But little did she know that the man who tried to kill her was hired by her own husband. Today, Susan, now Susan Walters, is an outspoken advocate for victims of violent crime.
Susan Came Home From Her Shift At Portland Medical Center Expecting A Relaxing night
YouTubeWhen Susan got home, she found her husband was gone and he had left a note.
It’s 2006 and Susan Kuhnhausen and her husband Michael Kuhnhausen live together in southeast Portland, Oregon. They had been married for 18 years, but when she came home from a shift at Providence Portland Medical Center, where she had been an emergency room nurse for 30 years, all she found was a note from her husband that read, “Sue, haven’t been sleeping. Had to get away—Went to the beach.”
Susan had expected a calm night at home after her shift, but in the darkness of her and her husband’s bedroom, she saw a man she had never seen before. The man’s name was Ed Haffey and he had a criminal record.
Ed Haffey had agreed to kill Susan – after being paid $50,000 by Michael Kuhnhausen.
Haffey was wearing yellow rubber gloves, the death was supposed to look like the result of a burglary gone-wrong, and jumped out behind the bedroom door to attack her.
Portland Police DepartmentEd Haffey had a previous criminal record.
Here’s where Susan’s 30 years of experience as an emergency room nurse came in handy. She had learned a thing or two about self-defense over the course of her thirty-year-long career.
Susan later said as soon as she saw Haffey she realized, “He is here to kill me.” She added, “I don’t know why. I don’t know who he is. But his intent was clear.”
She jumped into action. Haffey lunged at her with a claw hammer and hit her square in the temple. Kuhnhausen was 5’4” tall and her would-be killer had five inches on her. But she outweighed him and had that self-defense training on her side.
Susan Fought Back – And Won
YouTubeSusan testifying in court with a photo of the bruises that resulted in her defense against Haffey’s attack.
She fought back, tackling him and pushing him against the wall. Susan was not going to make it easy for her assailant to kill her.
“You’re strong,” Haffey said, uttering his only words during the ordeal.
Susan later said in interviews one of the clues that tipped her off to Haffey’s intentions was his lack of communication.
“He didn’t ask any ‘burglar’ things – where’s your money, where’s your safe,” Susan recalled. “It became quickly clear that his intent was murder. And I fought.”
Susan wrestled the hammer from Haffey and hit him in the head a few times. Adrenaline kept her going, she screamed at him, “who sent you?!” Haffey didn’t respond, he just kept fighting her, eventually getting the hammer back.
At one point, Haffey spun her around and delivered a punch split that her lip and knocked her to the floor. He stood over her, hammer in hand. Somehow, using all her strength, she managed to pull him down to the ground. Kuhnhausen started viciously biting him. The fight lasted about 15 minutes before she threw her leg over his body and climbed on top of him, pinning him down.
Susan Kuhnhausen wrapped her hands around his neck. She kept asking him who he was sent by, demanding an answer, but Haffey remained silent. She kept him in a chokehold until he stopped breathing.
It Didn’t Take Long For The Police To Trace Haffey Back To Susan’s Husband
Morbid/FacebookA crime scene photo from inside Susan’s home after the attack.
After Haffey was down, Susan grabbed the hammer and ran to her neighbor’s house to call 9-1-1. When the police made it to Susan’s house, they found Haffey’s body.
They found that along with the hammer, Haffey had a bottle of Hershey’s chocolate syrup and his diabetes medication on his person. Further investigation revealed that he also possessed a personal planner, which under September 4, 2006 said “Call Mike”, along with Michael Kuhnhausen’s phone number.
From there, it wasn’t difficult for police to put the story together. Haffey and Michael had worked at the same adult video store. Not only that, but Haffey had a history with killing for money.
In 1994, Haffey had been convicted of arranging the killing of his ex-girlfriend. Turned out, Haffey had only been free from prison for about three years before getting involved in Michael’s plot to kill his wife.
YouTubeMichael Kuhnhausen on trial for paying a man to kill his wife.
Susan learned almost immediately the fate of Haffey after their fight. In the moments after learning of his death, she did not revel in her victory.
“I immediately began to think about his family,” Susan recalled on the TV show I survived…. “Everybody has somebody who loves them. Children, a wife, a mother, a dad … the worst of this is not that somebody tried to kill me, but that I had to kill someone else to survive. But I have no shame because I did not choose this death for him. I chose my life. I chose life.”
Police found Susan’s one week after the failed murder plot. The very next day after police found him, Susan filed for divorce.
On August 30, 2007, Michael Kuhnhausen was convicted of solicitation of aggravated murder, and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. However, he would later get total prison time reduced for good behavior.
But even with the reduce sentencing, Michael would never see the outside world again. He died of cancer while in prison, three months before his release date.
Susan Kuhnhausen, who now goes by Susan Walters, has put her focus on advocacy and the development of a web-based portal for crime victims. She regularly works with WomenStrength and GirlStrength programs, and the Oregon Crime Victims Law Center, as well as other advocacy groups in the Portland area.
Next, you can read about these female gangsters who killed their way into the underworld. After that, read about how dozens of women made sure Akku Yadav never raped again.
