The Susan Kuhnhausen Case: The Night a Hitman Walked Into the Wrong House

Strange Case Files
Feb 7
4 min read

Updated: Feb 11

A man hid inside a quiet Portland home, waiting for the woman who lived there to walk through the door. He had been paid to kill her. Minutes later, he was dead, and the person who hired him would soon be exposed.

Alt text: Illustration of Susan Kuhnhausen showing facial injuries sustained during the 2006 attack in her Portland home. — Illustration based on documented photographs showing injuries Susan Kuhnhausen sustained during the 2006 attack in her Portland home.

A Night That Began Like Any Other

On the evening of September 6, 2006, Susan Kuhnhausen, a 51-year-old emergency room nurse, returned to her home in Southeast Portland, Oregon, after finishing a long shift.

Nothing appeared unusual when she arrived. The house was quiet. The lights were off. She stepped inside, expecting an ordinary night.

Someone was already inside.

The Attack

Shortly after entering, Susan was confronted by a man armed with a claw hammer.

A violent struggle began almost immediately. The fight moved through the house, leaving signs of a prolonged confrontation. Furniture shifted, and the two fought at close range.

Susan later explained that during the struggle she realized the attacker was not skilled in fighting. Drawing on instinct, physical strength, and composure developed through years of working in emergency medicine, she fought back.

She managed to overpower him and placed him in a chokehold, holding it until he stopped moving.

The man who had entered her home intending to kill her died on the floor of her living room.

Alt text: Illustration of a claw hammer similar to the type used in the 2006 attack in the Susan Kuhnhausen case. — Illustration representing a claw hammer similar to the type used in the attack, included for visual context.

Alt text: Illustration of Susan Kuhnhausen holding a photograph documenting injuries she received during the attack. — Illustration based on a documented image of Susan Kuhnhausen displaying a photograph of her injuries following the attack.

Running for Help

After the struggle ended, Susan left the house and went to a neighbor’s home. She asked them to call 911.

Police and emergency responders arrived and began securing the scene. At first, investigators considered whether the incident might have been a burglary or random attack.

Evidence inside the home quickly suggested otherwise.

The Backpack

Detectives located a backpack belonging to the attacker inside the house.

Inside were personal items and identification that allowed police to quickly identify him as Edward Dalton Haffey, a man with a criminal history and financial difficulties.

This discovery changed the direction of the investigation. Haffey had no known personal connection to Susan, which raised an immediate question for detectives.

Why had he been inside her home?

Alt text: Illustration of Edward Dalton Haffey, the man hired to carry out the attack on Susan Kuhnhausen. — Illustration based on a documented photograph of Edward Dalton Haffey, the man hired to carry out the attack.

Following the Evidence

Investigators began examining Haffey’s contacts, finances, and recent activities. That process led them to Michael Kuhnhausen, Susan’s estranged husband.

The couple had been separating, and their relationship had become strained. Financial and personal tensions had been ongoing.

As detectives looked more closely at Michael’s actions, several details drew attention. One of them was that he had left home and indicated he was going for a drive, placing himself away from the house around the time of the attack. Investigators later viewed this as consistent with an attempt to establish an alibi.

Phone records, witness statements, and financial evidence began to form a clearer picture. Prosecutors later stated that Michael Kuhnhausen had offered payment to have Susan killed, intending for the crime to appear as a robbery or home invasion.

The Arrest and Sentence

Michael Kuhnhausen was arrested and charged with solicitation of aggravated murder.

Evidence presented in court included communication linking him to the attacker, financial arrangements connected to the plan, and circumstances indicating premeditation.

He later pleaded guilty.

In 2008, he was sentenced to more than ten years in prison. He eventually served his sentence and was later released, while Susan rebuilt her life in the years that followed.

Alt text: Illustration of Michael Kuhnhausen, who pleaded guilty to arranging the 2006 murder-for-hire plot against his estranged wife. — Illustration based on a documented photograph of Michael Kuhnhausen, who later pleaded guilty to arranging the murder-for-hire plot.

Life After the Attack

Susan finalized her divorce and later changed her name to Susan Walters. Over time, she became involved in advocacy work supporting victims of violence and speaking publicly about survival and recovery.

Her story drew national attention, not only because of the murder-for-hire plot, but because of the outcome. Cases like this rarely end with the intended victim surviving.

Alt text: Illustration of Susan Kuhnhausen in a later interview after surviving the 2006 attack and rebuilding her life. — Illustration based on a later photograph of Susan Kuhnhausen after surviving the attack and rebuilding her life.

Questions That Still Echo

How many planned crimes are disguised to look like something else?

How often do investigators uncover the truth only because a single piece of evidence is left behind?

And how different would this case have been if the attacker had been more prepared, or if Susan had reacted even slightly differently that night?

A Quiet Ending

The plan had been simple.

Enter the house. Commit the crime. Leave without a trace.

Instead, the attacker never left, and the truth was uncovered piece by piece, beginning with a backpack on the floor and ending with a confession in court.

Sometimes the outcome of a case turns on a single moment.

In this one, it was the moment the intended victim decided to fight back.

Case Facts

Location: Portland, Oregon, United States

Year: 2006

Victim: Susan Kuhnhausen (survived the attack)

Responsible Person: Edward Haffey (hired attacker) and Michael Kuhnhausen (her husband, who hired him)

Outcome: On September 6, 2006, Susan Kuhnhausen returned home from work and was attacked by a man hired to kill her. She fought back and subdued him until police arrived. Edward Haffey later pleaded guilty to attempted murder and was sentenced to prison. Michael Kuhnhausen pleaded guilty to solicitation of murder and was also sentenced to prison.