Victim's relatives mystified by shooting

By CHERY SABOL

The Daily Inter Lake

The niece of a man shot to death in his home in the North Fork earlier this month is trying to make sense of what happened.

The niece of a man shot to death in his home in the North Fork earlier this month is trying to make sense of what happened.

Sue Calberg of San Antonio said her uncle, Von Stanley Haag, 60, was "a clever fellow who made a lifelong career of fixing things." A maintenance supervisor for the San Antonio Parks Department, his work was about "making public spaces better."

His wife, Rebecca Braunig-Haag, 51, is accused of shooting him in the chest on Nov. 7. She has reportedly said he insisted she return to Texas with him for his father's funeral and threatened to burn down their home if she didn't go.

Calberg said her family is mystified by that explanation.

"It just doesn't make any sense. It doesn't seem like a really good reason to shoot somebody," she said. "The logic of it escapes us all."

If the couple's relationship was troubled, it would make more sense for Braunig-Haag to go back to Texas where she had a support system, Calberg said.

There was never any indication that the marriage was abusive, she said.

"We haven't seen that at all. He was always the kind of person who would walk away" from a disagreement, Calberg said.

She said Braunig-Haag doesn't fit the stereotype of a meek, battered woman.

"She was in charge of men and machines" in her job as a horticulture supervisor for San Antonio parks, Calberg said. "She was a supervisor in a rough-and-tumble industry … It's not like she was a shrinking-violet kind of person."

Calberg said she had talked on the phone with her uncle, whom the family calls Corky, "moments before this happened." There was no indication that there was any problem at the North Fork home, she said.

He had been coming to Montana for 10 years or more, attracted by the peace and beauty of the area.

"He had always been a nature person … He really loved his time there."

After he retired, he was able to spend more time in Montana, although the couple maintains a home in San Antonio, Calberg said.

Von Stanley Haag is survived by three adult children and some grandchildren.

Reporter Chery Sabol may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at csabol@dailyinterlake.com