The former San Marcos resident accused of killing six members of his estranged wife’s family has a chilling history of violence and threats, according to San Diego County court records.
Ronald Lee Haskell was arrested on capital murder charges in Spring, Texas Wednesday, suspected of fatally shooting four children, two adults and wounding a teenage girl there.
Just seven days before that, San Diego County Sheriff’s deputies were called to his mother Karla Haskell’s house in San Marcos – where Ronald also lived – to investigate reports of domestic violence.
According to a restraining order filed against her son, Ronald became angry with Karla for speaking to his estranged wife.
He ordered his mother into the garage, where he grabbed a roll of duct tape, Karla says.
She screamed for help, but Ronald covered her mouth and pushed her inside, duct taping her wrists together and tying her arm to a computer chair, the restraining order says.
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“While taped to the chair he yelled at me and twice placed his hands around my neck trying to choke me and caused me to pass out,” Karla wrote on the court document.
“He told me he was going to kill me, my family and any officer who stops him,” she added.
Ronald hid Karla’s phone, so she was not discovered for at least four hours, when her daughter returned home, according to the sheriff’s department.
Deputies responding to the scene took a description of the suspect and searched for him in areas he’s known to visit over the next few days, but their hunt came up empty.
They did not hear his name again until July 9, when it was tied to the shooting deaths of his former sister-in-law Katie Stay, her husband Stephen, two boys ages 4 and 14 and two girls ages 7 and 9.
In a separate restraining order filed last year, Ronald’s sister Chandra requested that the suspect be removed from the home owned by her parents due to his violent behavior.
Chandra alleged that Ronald grabbed her by the throat and threw her to the ground, knocking her back down several times as she tried to get up. During the Nov. 2013 attack, Chandra says Ronald elbowed her in the throat and punched her in the arm.
When her mother tried to intervene, her son threw her to the ground as well, the temporary restraining order says.
Ronald’s estranged wife says she also had a history of domestic violence with her husband, culminating in a protective order against him and filing for divorce last year, NBC News reported.
