Robert Lee Haggart

Robert Lee Haggart was born in 1950 and raised in Rosebush, Michigan, where he attended Mount Pleasant High School. In 1968, he enlisted in the United States Army. During his military service, he qualified as a sharpshooter and served overseas in both Germany and Vietnam. After being discharged, Haggart returned to central Michigan.

Following his return, Haggart worked various jobs related to agriculture, including farm labor, livestock feed sales, and eventually employment as a livestock auctioneer. Within his community, he developed a reputation for heavy alcohol consumption and unstable personal relationships.

In June 1974, after attending a wedding reception at the Rosebush American Legion Hall, Haggart had sexual contact with a fourteen-year-old girl who had also been drinking at the event. He was initially charged with rape but later pleaded to a reduced charge of taking indecent liberties. He received a sentence of three years’ probation. Soon afterward, another woman accused him of assault, and he was sentenced to two years and ten months in prison for probation violations. He served approximately two years and was released on parole in June 1977, returning again to Rosebush.

In October 1977, the body of Doris A. Arndt was discovered near Interstate 75. She had been raped and strangled and was last seen alive in Haggart’s company at a bar in Midland, Michigan. Haggart was questioned at the time but never charged. Decades later, DNA evidence linked him to her murder.

A court hearing to finalize the divorce between Robert Haggart and Garnetta Ronning was scheduled for February 17, 1982. Garnetta returned to Michigan to attend the hearing. Haggart also returned, leaving Tennessee by bus on February 15, 1982.

On February 16, 1982, members of the Post family gathered for a reunion at their farmhouse located at 5603 West Rock Road in Garfield Township, Clare County, Michigan. The farm lay several miles west of the village of Farwell, a small rural community of approximately 700 residents at the time.

According to the prosecution’s reconstruction, Haggart arrived at the farmhouse and fatally shot George W. Post, age 53, using Post’s own shotgun. George Post’s body was later found at the base of the basement stairs. Haggart then confronted Helen Gaffney, age 29, Garnetta’s stepsister, who attempted to flee the property in a pickup truck with her four children. Haggart opened fire on the vehicle with both a shotgun and a handgun.

Helen Gaffney was killed while shielding her children Angela (10), Tom (8), and Amy (7), all of whom also died from gunshot wounds. A fourth child, Amanda Gaffney, aged fifteen months, survived after being pushed to the truck floor by her mother. She was later found alive but covered in blood from her family members.

Prosecutors stated that Haggart concealed evidence at the scene by covering bloodstains with snow and waited for Garnetta’s arrival. Garnetta arrived at the farmhouse with her mother, Vaudrey Post, age 42. Both women were shot and killed as they entered the kitchen.

The killings occurred between approximately 5:00 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Another Post daughter, Alice Russell, arrived later with her husband and children and discovered the bodies. They fled to a neighbor’s home, and authorities were notified. Michigan State Police, forensic teams, and a helicopter were dispatched to the scene.

The event became known as the Rock Road Massacre and was the worst mass murder in Michigan since 1971. It was also the first homicide in Clare County since 1979.

Haggart fled Michigan in Vaudrey Post’s Buick LeSabre and returned to Tennessee. On February 18, 1982, he was recognized by his roommate, who contacted police. Haggart was arrested at a roadblock without resistance. Bloodstained clothing recovered from his apartment was later linked to two of the victims.

He waived extradition and was returned to Michigan on February 20, 1982. Due to extensive pretrial publicity, the trial was moved to Midland County. The case went to trial in September 1982.

After deliberating over several days, the jury convicted Haggart on October 8, 1982, of six counts of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder, and attempted murder for the attack on Amanda Gaffney. On October 22, 1982, he was sentenced to seven life sentences plus 32 years.

In December 1982, the Associated Press ranked the Rock Road murders as the third most significant news story in Michigan that year. Surviving members of the Post family later filed a civil lawsuit and were awarded a $36 million judgment in 1986.

Robert Lee Haggart remained incarcerated for the rest of his life. He died of natural causes in prison on November 21, 2003, at age 53.

In 2009, DNA evidence formally linked Haggart to the 1977 rape and murder of Doris A. Arndt, confirming long-standing suspicions in that case.