In the quiet, rural setting of Farwell, Michigan, a horrific tragedy unfolded on February 16, 1982, forever scarring the small community. On that cold winter day, 29-year-old Helen Gaffney, a female, and six of her family members were brutally murdered in what would become known as the Rock Road massacre. The devastating event took place at the family's farmhouse, shattering the peace of the close-knit town.
Helen, along with her three children, Angela, 10, Thomas, 7, and Amy, 4, were shot and killed in a pickup truck outside the residence. Miraculously, Helen's one-year-old daughter was found alive, physically unharmed, shielded by her mother's body during the assault.
The perpetrator of this heinous crime was identified as Robert Lee Haggart, the 31-year-old estranged husband of Helen's half-sister, Garnetta Haggart. The murders occurred on the eve of Robert and Garnetta's contentious divorce hearing. In addition to Helen and her three children, the other victims were her mother, Vaudrey Post, 43; her stepfather, George W. Post, 54; and her half-sister, Garnetta Haggart, 22. The motive for the killings was believed to be Haggart's desire to eliminate any potential witnesses against him in the upcoming divorce proceedings. He later confessed to a corrections officer, stating, 'the ball was rolling, and I just couldn't stop it.'
Following the massacre, Haggart fled the state, prompting a manhunt that ended with his arrest two days later on February 18, in Jasper, Tennessee. He was extradited back to Michigan to face justice. His trial was a high-profile case that drew national media attention to the shocking violence that had occurred in rural Michigan.
The trial concluded with Haggart's conviction on six counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Robert Lee Haggart died of natural causes in prison on November 24, 2003, at the Kinross Correctional Facility in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The sole survivor of the massacre, Helen Gaffney's infant daughter, was left to grow up without her mother and siblings, a living testament to the devastating impact of the Rock Road massacre on the Farwell community.
