In the quiet community of Farwell, Michigan, the tranquility was shattered on a cold day in February 1982. George Wallace Post, a 53-year-old man, became the first victim in a horrific event that would come to be known as the Rock Road massacre. A respected mail carrier, treasurer of the local school board, and commander of the VFW post, George was a well-liked and active member of his community.
The architect of this tragedy was Robert Lee Haggart, the 32-year-old estranged husband of
George's stepdaughter, Garnetta. The day after the murders was scheduled to be the final court hearing for Haggart's divorce from Garnetta. On February 16, 1982, Haggart went to the Post family's farmhouse on Rock Road in Garfield Township. There, he used George Post's own shotgun to murder him. George's body was later discovered at the bottom of the basement stairs.
The rampage did not end with George. Haggart proceeded to kill six other members of the Post family. His victims included George's wife, Vaudrey; his stepdaughter, Garnetta Haggart; his stepdaughter, Helen Gaffney; and three of Helen's young children. The only survivor was Helen's one-year-old daughter, who was found alive, shielded by her mother's body.
Following the murders, Haggart fled the state. A multi-state manhunt was initiated, and just two days later, he was arrested in Jasper, Tennessee. Due to the extensive pretrial publicity in Clare County, the trial was moved to Midland County. The prosecution presented a strong case with eyewitnesses who placed Haggart at the farm on the day of the murders and ballistics evidence linking a bullet from the scene to a gun found in Haggart's possession at the time of his arrest. Blood evidence found on clothes in the Tennessee apartment where Haggart was staying also matched one of the victims.
In October 1982, after deliberating for over seven hours, the jury found Robert Lee Haggart guilty of six counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder for the death of the youngest child. He was sentenced to seven life sentences in prison. Haggart never took the stand in his own defense. He died of natural causes in prison in November 2002 at the age of 53. While incarcerated, he reportedly confessed to a corrections officer, stating, 'The ball was rolling, and I just couldn't stop it,' implying he couldn't leave any witnesses alive.
