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June 29, 2025 9 mins
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Human Wreckage, the true crime podcast
, where we dive deep into thefractures of the human soul,
where every story isn't justabout violence but what's left
behind the damage, the courage,the fallout, the fight to rise
again.
I'm Thomas, and in this episodewe're starting with a story so
unbelievable, so harrowing andso personal.

(00:20):
It still sends chills down thespines of seasoned detectives.
This is the story of SusanKuhnhausen, a 51-year-old urn
nurse from Portland, oregon, whocame home one ordinary night to
find a man waiting in theshadows, a man sent to kill her
by someone she once promised tolove forever.
She'd worked a long shift thatday, just like any other.

(00:40):
She clocked out, drove home andunlocked the door to her modest
house in Portland's Montevillaneighborhood.
She expected quiet, maybe someleftover pizza, a phone call
with a friend.
What she got was a claw hammerto the head.
But Susan was no ordinarytarget.
She'd spent nearly threedecades as an ER nurse on the

(01:01):
front lines of trauma, chaos andlife or death decisions.
She knew how to stay calm underpressure, she knew anatomy, she
knew pain and, most of all, sheknew how to fight to survive.
What happened in the next 14minutes would change the course
of her life forever.
Before we get into the detailsof that brutal confrontation,
let me take you back, becausethis story isn't just about what

(01:23):
happened in that house.
It's about who sent that manand why.
It's about Michael Kuhnhausen,susan's husband of 17 years.
By all accounts, michael wasquiet, mild-mannered, an adult
video store janitor who mostlykept to himself.
But beneath that ordinaryexterior was a man drowning in
resentment, financial stress andyears of emotional distance

(01:44):
from the woman he had oncemarried.
Their marriage had beenunraveling for years.
Michael was controlling,emotionally withdrawn.
Susan had finally reached herbreaking point and filed for
divorce.
She changed the locks, tookback her name, but what she
didn't know was that Michaelwasn't ready to let her go.
He didn't beg her to come back,he didn't plead, he planned,

(02:07):
and what he planned was hermurder.
Michael knew just where to finda man willing to kill.
He turned to a former co-worker, edward Haffey, a convicted
felon with a long criminalhistory and a heroin addiction.
Michael offered him $50,000 tobreak into the house, wait in
the shadows and beat Susan todeath with a claw hammer.
He even disabled the housealarm himself, ensuring Susan

(02:29):
would walk straight into a trap.
But what Michael didn't planfor was Susan fighting back.
What he didn't count on was herusing every ounce of her
strength, training and fury tosurvive and survive.
She did.
Susan Kuhnhausen did whatalmost no one in her situation
ever does she overpowered herattacker.
She turned the tables, she tookthat hammer, she fought, she

(02:52):
choked the man with her barehands until he stopped moving,
until he stopped breathing.
When the police arrived, theyfound Susan bloodied, bruised,
but alive, and Edward Haffeydead on the floor.
What followed was a twiststraight out of a psychological
thriller.
Detectives found a handwrittennote in Haffey's backpack that
said Call Mike.
That Mike was MichaelKuhnhausen.

(03:15):
Investigators quickly piecedthe puzzle together and it
didn't take long before Michaelwas arrested and charged with
solicitation of aggravatedmurder.
In court he didn't deny it, hepleaded guilty and in 2007, he
was sentenced to 10 years inprison, but he didn't serve the
full sentence.
In 2014, michael Kuhnhausendied in prison from natural

(03:37):
causes, just months before hisscheduled release.
Susan changed her name after theattack to distance herself from
the man who tried to kill her.
But she didn't fade quietly.
She became an advocate fordomestic violence.
Survivors she learned to shoot.
She took self-defense classes.
Survivors she learned to shootshe took self-defense classes.
She reclaimed her voice andtold her story, not for pity,

(03:57):
but to show others what survivallooks like, what rage turned
into power looks like, whathuman wreckage can become when
you don't let it define you.
The case of Michael Kuhnhausenis a stark reminder of the
depths to which humandesperation can sink.
In 26, kuhnhausen orchestrateda murder for higher plot against
his wife, susan Kuhnhausen, adedicated emergency room nurse

(04:19):
in Portland, oregon.
This narrative delves intoMichael's background, the events
leading up to the crime, theaftermath and the broader
implications of his actions.
Michael Kuhnhausen was born in1948.
Details about his early liferemain sparse, but by the
mid-2000s he was working as ajanitor at Fantasy Adult Video,
an adult bookstore in Portland.

(04:40):
His employment there wouldlater play a pivotal role in the
tragic events that unfolded.
In 1988, michael married SusanKuhnhausen, a dedicated
emergency room nurse.
The couple settled in a modesthome in southeast Portland's
Montevilla neighborhood.
Over the years, their marriagefaced challenges, including
financial difficulties andpersonal differences.

(05:01):
Despite these issues, thecouple remained together, though
their relationship had becomestrained.
By 2006, michael and Susan werein the midst of a contentious
divorce.
Susan had named her brother asthe beneficiary of her life
insurance policy, a decisionthat did not sit well with
Michael.
Financial records revealed thatMichael had lost his job weeks

(05:21):
earlier and had no place to live.
Desperate and facing theprospect of losing his home,
michael concocted a plan to haveSusan killed.
He enlisted the help of EdwardDalton Haffey, a 59-year-old
ex-convict with a criminalhistory that included robbery,
burglary and conspiracy, tocommit aggravated murder.
Haffey had worked for Michaelas a janitor at Fantasy Adult

(05:43):
Video.
Michael promised Haffey $50,000to carry out the murder.
To facilitate the plan, michaeldisarmed the security alarm at
their home, allowing Haffey toenter undetected.
On September 6, 2006, haffeyentered the Kuhnhausen home and
attacked Susan with a clawhammer.
However, susan fought backfiercely, managing to disarm

(06:04):
Haffey and strangle him to deathin a desperate struggle for her
life.
When police arrived, they foundHaffey dead and Susan severely
injured but alive.
Investigators soon uncoveredthe conspiracy orchestrated by
Michael.
They found notes in Haffey'sbackpack linking him to Michael,
including a day planner entrythat read Call Mike, get Letter.
In August 2007, michaelKuhnhausen pleaded guilty to

(06:28):
solicitation to commitaggravated murder.
He was sentenced to 10 years inprison.
However, he served only aportion of his sentence as he
died from cancer in 2014, justmonths before his scheduled
release.
In a civil court case, susanKuhnhausen sued her ex-husband
for the trauma and damagescaused by his actions.
The jury awarded her over $1million in damages, including $1

(06:51):
million in non-economic damages, while she did not expect to
collect the full amount.
The judgment served as asymbolic victory and a deterrent
against future harm.
The case of Michael Kuhnhausenserves as a stark reminder of
the potential for violence thatcan exist within intimate
relationships.
It underscores the importanceof recognizing signs of control

(07:14):
and manipulation and takingsteps to protect oneself.
Susan's survival and subsequentactions demonstrate resilience
and the power of the humanspirit to overcome even the most
harrowing circumstances.
While Michael Kuhnhausen's lifeended in prison and disgrace,
his actions left an indeliblemark on those involved.
Susan Kuhnhausen's storycontinues to inspire and serve
as a testament to the strengthof individuals who refuse to be

(07:37):
victims.
Michael Kuhnhausen's descentinto criminality and the
subsequent events highlight thecomplexities of human behavior
and the potential for darknesseven in seemingly ordinary lives
.
And the potential for darknesseven in seemingly ordinary lives
.
His story is a cautionary taleabout the dangers of desperation
and the lengths to which somewill go when faced with personal
and financial crises.
Susan Kuhnhausen didn't justsurvive.

(07:58):
She refused to be a victim, notof a hammer, not of fear, and
not of the man who promised tolove her.
She turned a planned executioninto a battle, and won, not by
luck, not by miracle, but byinstinct, rage and the kind of
quiet strength forged inemergency rooms and hard-lived
marriages.
It's easy to think we'd all dothe same in her shoes, but the

(08:19):
truth is most don't walk away.
Most don't have the training orthe chance or the warning.
Susan did, and she used everysecond of it to fight for her
life.
But what makes her story evenmore powerful isn't the physical
survival.
It's what she did after shechanged her name.
She reclaimed her voice.
She told the truth over andover so others could see the

(08:42):
danger hiding behind familiarity, so others might leave sooner.
Speak louder, fight harder.
We call this podcast HumanWreckage, not because people are
broken, but because we allleave wreckage behind.
Some of us rise from it, otherscause it.
Susan's story shows us what itlooks like to rise.
If this episode moved, you,share it.

(09:02):
Leave a review, start aconversation you never know
who's listening, who might needto hear that survival is
possible.
And if you or someone you knowis experiencing domestic
violence.
Please don't wait.
Call the National DomesticViolence Hotline at 800-799-7233
.
Help is always there.
Next week, on Human Wreckage,we'll take you to a quiet suburb

(09:24):
where a missing person caseturned into something far more
sinister and far more personal.
Until then, stay aware, staysafe and remember.
Sometimes the most dangerousperson in your life is the one
who used to say I love you.
This is human wreckage.
Thanks for listening.
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