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player ready...Radcliffe Haughton had threatened violence against his wife before. Last year, he barricaded himself in the couple’s home, where police said he pointed a “long-barreled black object” out the window at Zina Haughton after she called for emergency help, according to court records.
This month, Zina called police to report that her husband had slashed her car’s tires outside her workplace.
“His threats terrorize my every moment,” she wrote in a petition requesting a temporary restraining order.
Despite the threats, Radcliffe Haughton was never convicted of serious offenses. But Sunday, authorities said Haughton made good on his threats, killing his 42-year-old wife and two other women and wounding four others in a shooting spree at the Azana Salon & Spa in Brookfield, Wis., west of Milwaukee. Haughton then turned the gun on himself inside the salon, where his body was found later.
Thomas Ahern, spokesman for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, said Haughton, who previously lived in north suburban Northbrook and Wheeling, purchased a .40-caliber handgun from a private citizen Saturday — two days after a court ordered him to turn in all firearms.
In addition to Zina Haughton, the Waukesha County medical examiner’s office Monday identified the victims as two other Wisconsin women: Cary Robuck, 35, of Racine, and Maelyn Lind, 38, of Oconomowoc. Like Zina, they were licensed beauticians at the spa, across the street from Brookfield Square Mall.
“I want to emphasize how very brave Zina was because she was a hero,” said Betty Brunner, 65, of Jackson, Wis. She was talking to Zina before her 11 a.m. hair appointment when Haughton walked in, pointed his revolver straight up in the air and yelled, “Everybody down, everybody down!”
“I’m sure she saved a lot of lives by trying to de-escalate the situation,” said Brunner, who did not see the shootings. Radcliffe pulled Zina behind a wall away from the reception area before he began firing, she said.
Authorities said they had responded to calls at the Haughton household since 2001 that ranged from animal complaints to domestic abuse. But during the most serious incident — when Radcliffe barricaded himself in the house in January 2011 — Zina refused to cooperate, and charges against her husband were eventually dropped, according to police.
Yet when seeking a court order of protection Oct. 8 after her tires were slashed, Zina wrote: “He threatened to throw acid on my face, burn me and my family with gas. … He said he would kill me if I left him or ever contacted police.”
The couple’s tumultuous relationship — they were in the process of divorcing — was also known to neighbors who frequently heard the couple arguing at their home in Brown Deer, Wis., north of Milwaukee.
Zina temporarily moved out of the home several times, said Ernest Polk, who lives across the street.
On Oct. 4, Zina asked Brown Deer police to escort her to her house so that she could remove her belongings, according to a police report. She then drove to work at the salon and saw that her husband had arrived there earlier, she told police.
She went inside the spa, where she and three co-workers reported seeing Haughton pull up to her car in his black Mazda, then lean out the window and slash the tires on her Audi, according to the police report.
Haughton was arrested and booked into the Waukesha County Jail on misdemeanor allegations of criminal damage to property and disorderly conduct-domestic violence, said Waukesha County District Attorney Brad Schimel.
Haughton posted $350 bail and was released later that day, Schimel said. The conditions of Haughton’s release prohibited him from intimidating, harassing or threatening his wife, Schimel said.
Despite the arrest, Haughton was never formally charged in the case, Schimel said. Prosecutors finished drafting a criminal complaint against Haughton on Oct. 16, but a representative of the Brookfield Police Department hadn’t yet sworn to the complaint, so it couldn’t be filed with the court, Schimel said.
Such a delay is common in cases involving defendants who are not in custody, Schimel said.
Although restrictions placed on domestic violence suspects, as conditions of bail or in temporary restraining orders, usually stop most suspects from following through on their threats, Haughton was clearly an exception, Schimel said.
“Ultimately, that piece of paper does keep a lot of people from committing further law violations,” Schimel said. “It doesn’t stop everybody.”
Schimel also said he did not believe Brookfield police were aware of Haughton’s previous encounters with law enforcement in neighboring Milwaukee County when he slashed his wife’s tires.
On Thursday, the court approved a four-year restraining order that barred Haughton from all contact with Zina. He was ordered to turn in his firearms to the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office, according to the order. He did not turn in any weapons, according to a sheriff’s spokeswoman.
Haughton had clashed with police before at the family’s home in Brown Deer.
On Jan. 8, 2011, Zina called 911 and said she and her husband had been in a fight and to “hurry up.” When police arrived, they saw that Haughton had thrown his wife’s clothes and bedding in the front yard and poured tomato juice on her car, according to court records. Zina, who had been sitting in her car, came out and spoke to police outside.
Haughton refused to speak with police or to exit his home, documents show. He had thrown his telephone in the yard and stood in front of a window, where he slid open the curtains, the report states.
“The defendant pointed a long-barreled black object out the window,” the court document states. “He aimed this long-barreled object at Zina Haughton, who stood 3 feet away from officers outside. … Because of the defendant’s actions, officers were forced to take cover and set up a perimeter.”
The 90-minute standoff ended when officers left the scene, according to the court record. Zina told police that her husband, a former Marine, did not own any guns. She also refused to allow them to enter the home, according to Brown Deer police.
While no arrests were made, police referred the case to the Milwaukee district attorney’s office, which charged Haughton with disorderly conduct and domestic abuse, according to court records. But the investigating officer could not attend the court hearing date, resulting in the dismissal of the case, according to police.
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“We understand that domestic violence victims are not always willing to cooperate with the police and are fearful of further retaliation. However, without key information, the police are limited in their ability to make a forced entry into a private residence or pursue appropriate charges,” according to the news release.
The shots that broke out about 11 a.m. Sunday prompted a massive police search and lockdown at a nearby shopping mall and country club for several hours because authorities first believed Haughton had fled, The Associated Press reported.
Haughton was a 1985 graduate of Wheeling High School who transferred there his senior year from Glenbrook South High School in Glenview, Wheeling High spokeswoman Venetia Miles said. Public records indicate Zina has close relatives who live in McHenry County.
Haughton had been enrolled in general classes at Milwaukee Area Technical College as a full-time student since 2009, said spokeswoman Kathleen Hohl. She said he was preparing to apply to the school’s nursing program.
Geoffrey Lee, a professor at the college, said Haughton had been in his two-semester anatomy class since January. Lee said he was an attentive student who got along well with his classmates.
“A lot of my students know what he did was probably the most monstrous act you can perform,” Lee said. “But what I saw in him was different. That wasn’t really what we saw from him in class at all.”
Though Haughton rarely talked about his personal life with his professor, he told Lee at the start of the semester that his wife was planning to divorce him. Lee said he appeared visibly upset. Lee became worried when Haughton started missing class, something he seldom did last semester.
“I was more worried about him hurting himself than anything,” Lee said.
Tribune reporters Michael Holtz and Robert McCoppin and freelance reporter Amanda Marrazzo contributed.