A Hitman Came for Susan Kuhnhausen. He Didn’t Survive. 

Updated September 30, 2024

February 4, 2021 ~ By Shari Rose                  

Susan Kuhnhausen fought for her life when a hitman tried to kill her in a murder-for-hire plot orchestrated by her husband

Today, Susan Walters is an outspoken advocate for victims of violent crime in the Portland, OR area. But in September 2006, she was a 51-year-old emergency room nurse named Susan Kuhnhausen who returned home after a shift to find herself fighting for her life against an unknown man attempting to kill her with a claw hammer. This was no random attack. Her husband, Michael Kuhnhasen, hired a hitman named Ed Haffey to kill Susan in a murder-for-hire plot. But through her own physical strength and sheer force of will, Kuhnhausen survived the attack – and her would-be killer did not.

Hitman Ed Haffey Attacks Susan Kuhnhausen in Her Home

After finishing up a shift at Providence Portland Medical Center as an emergency room nurse, Susan Kuhnhausen headed to her home in Southeast Portland. After entering the house, she read a note from her husband, Michael Kuhnhausen. He wrote: “Sue, haven’t been sleeping. Had to get away—Went to the beach.”

Her husband of 18 years also mentioned in his note that he had seen her on Friday or Saturday. The date was September 6, 2006.  

Kuhnhausen walked to their shared bedroom when a man hiding behind the door jumped out and attacked her with a claw hammer. The man was Edward Haffey, a 59-year-old with a long criminal record who was just recently paid $50,000 by Michael Kuhnhausen to kill Susan.

Wearing yellow rubber gloves, Haffey landed a swift blow to Kuhnhausen’s left temple with the hammer. However, Kuhnhausen was no typical 51-year-old woman. Working as an emergency room nurse for 30 years taught her a thing or two about self defense, and acting on instinct, she jumped into action.

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Kuhnhausen Survives the Murder-for-Hire Attempt

Alone at home against her assailant, Kuhnhausen tackled Haffey and pushed him against a wall. In this moment, Haffey spoke the only words she heard him say that night: “You’re strong.”

Susan Kuhnhausen says was the moment she realized Haffey had come to her home to kill her. In an interview with KGW, she recalled how she came to this realization.

“He didn’t ask any ‘burglar’ things – where’s your money, where’s your safe,” she said. “It became quickly clear that his intent was murder. And I fought.”

Kuhnhausen’s adrenaline went into overdrive. She wrestled the claw hammer away and hit Haffey’s head a few times. “Who sent you?!” she screamed at him.

The hitman didn’t respond, and wrested the hammer back. That’s when Kuhnhausen grabbed his throat and squeezed. Haffey’s face turned purple, then blue. The ER nurse then let go and tried to run out of her house to get help. But Haffey caught Kuhnhausen in the hallway and began savagely punching her face.

She pulled him down to the floor and repeatedly bit him in the arm and thigh, hoping that her teeth marks could at least link her killing to him. 

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But Susan Kuhnhausen didn’t die that night in 2006. She mustered all her strength to climb on top of Haffey and put him in a chokehold with her left arm. He tried to flip her, but her decades of self-defense training allowed her to stay in control.

Eventually, Ed Haffey stopped moving. Kuhnhausen grabbed the hammer and ran to her neighbor’s house to call 911. Her fight for survival had lasted at least 14 minutes.

Police Link Ed Haffey to Susan Kuhnhausen’s Husband 

That night, Portland police found the body of Edward Haffey in the Kuhnhausens’ home. They also discovered yellow rubber gloves, a bottle of Hershey’s chocolate syrup, and diabetes pills in his possession.

Haffey apparently kept a daily planner, and on September 4, he wrote, “Call Mike” with Michael Kuhnhausen’s phone number listed. It didn’t take long for police to discover that Haffey and Mike worked together at the same adult video store in the area. And as it turned out, Haffey was no stranger to murder-for-hire plots. In 1994, Ed Haffey was convicted of arranging the murder of his ex-girlfriend. He spent 9 years in prison and was released in 2003.

Susan Kuhnhausen learned the night of the hammer attack that she had killed Haffey. During an interview with “I Survived…” she recounted how she felt in those first moments after hearing that her would-be killer was dead:

“I immediately began to think about his family,” Kuhnhausen said. “Everybody has somebody who loves them. Children, a wife, a mother, a dad … the worst of this is not that somebody tried to kill me, but that I had to kill someone else to survive. But I have no shame because I did not choose this death for him. I chose my life. I chose life.”

Michael Kuhnhausen went into hiding after his wife’s attempted murder, but police found him one week later. He was spotted about 10 miles away from Providence Portland Medical Center, the hospital where Susan worked. The following day, Susan Kuhnhausen filed for divorce and changed her last name to Walters.

On August 30, 2007, Michael pleaded guilty to soliciting a murder-for-hire plot against his wife. In an hour-long statement she gave to Multnomah County Circuit Court, Susan held up pictures of her own bloodied face to her husband and said, “You told police that you found out I was okay. Do I look okay?”

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Michael Kuhnhausen was sentenced to just 10 years in prison, and later had 20% taken off his sentence for good behavior.

In the years after the attack, Susan Walters said she felt as though someone was always watching her. She decided to move to a new home in Portland, and spent much of her time practicing at the shooting range, believing she had to be prepared if Michael ever came back

But he never did. Michael Kuhnhausen died from cancer in prison, three months before his scheduled release. 

Susan Walters’ Crime Victim Advocacy in Portland

Today, Susan Walters is deeply involved with victim advocacy work after her survival from a hitman’s attack. The former ER nurse has worked closely with justice organizations in the Portland area, including WomenStrength and GirlStrength programs, and the Oregon Crime Victims Law Center.

In 2017, Susan Walters worked with the Multnomah County district attorney’s office to create Case Companion, a free website dedicated to supporting victims of crime in the area. It answers questions about the justice system, what to expect in proceedings, and provides online resources for victims. Furthermore, as soon as the office files charges, victims can track their offenders’ court dates, sentencing details, and information about offenders when they are released.

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