In the quiet farming community of Farwell, Michigan, a horrific tragedy unfolded on February 16, 1982, forever scarring the town and a local family. Vaudrey Post, a 42-year-old woman, was brutally murdered in her own home, the victim of a calculated and vengeful rampage. The perpetrator was her son-in-law, Robert Lee Haggart, who was embroiled in a bitter divorce with Vaudrey's daughter, Garnetta.
The day before their final divorce hearing, Haggart drove from Tennessee to the Post family's farmhouse with a sinister plan.
The events of that cold February evening were nothing short of a massacre. Haggart's first victim was Vaudrey's husband, George Post, a 53-year-old mail carrier and respected community member. He was shot with his own shotgun and his body was later discovered in the basement of their home. Haggart then turned his fury on Vaudrey's stepdaughter, Helen Gaffney, and her children. As Helen and her children attempted to flee in a pickup truck, Haggart opened fire, killing Helen, who was 29, and three of her children: 10-year-old Angela, 8-year-old Tom, and 7-year-old Amy. In a final, heartbreaking act of maternal protection, Helen shielded her youngest child, 15-month-old Amanda, with her own body, saving the infant's life.
After slaughtering most of the family outside, Haggart lay in wait inside the darkened farmhouse. When Vaudrey and her 23-year-old daughter, Garnetta, returned home, he shot and killed them both in the kitchen. Another of Vaudrey's daughters, Alice, arrived at the home later that evening with her husband to a horrific scene, discovering the bodies of her mother and sister and immediately fleeing to a neighbor's house to call the police. Haggart fled the scene in Vaudrey's car, returning to Tennessee.
The investigation quickly led to Robert Lee Haggart as the prime suspect. He was apprehended in Tennessee two days after the murders when his roommate, having seen news reports about the killings and recognizing Vaudrey's car, alerted the authorities. Haggart was extradited to Michigan to face justice. His trial was a high-profile event, moved to a neighboring county due to the extensive publicity. The prosecution laid out a chilling timeline of the murders, painting a picture of a man driven by rage to eliminate his estranged wife and her family. In October 1982, a jury found Haggart guilty of six counts of first-degree murder and one count of second-degree murder. He was sentenced to seven life sentences plus an additional 32 years, ensuring he would never again be a free man. Robert Lee Haggart died of natural causes in prison on November 24, 2003, taking the full motive for his heinous acts to his grave. The brutal slaying, which became known as the Rock Road massacre, remains one of the largest mass murders in Michigan's history, a somber reminder of a family senselessly destroyed.
