Thurston County woman says she strangled boyfriend because he wanted to die
A road trip began in Olympia but ended with a murder charge in Montana after a Thurston County woman allegedly strangled her boyfriend at his request.
Lindsay April Haugen, 32, was charged this week with deliberate homicide in Yellowstone County.
Haugen was arrested Tuesday after the Billings Police Department responded to a complaint about a drunken driver. An officer found Haugen in a parked vehicle with a dead man in the passenger seat. According to court documents, Haugen told police she strangled the man because “that is what he wanted.”
The victim was identified as Robert Glenn Mast, 25. Autopsy results are pending.
Yellowstone deputy coroner Clifford Mahoney said Mast was a transient with ties to Florida, Georgia and Kentucky. A Facebook profile with Haugen’s list of friends shows a Robert Mast from Tenino.
Thurston County court records for an unrelated matter last June show that Haugen was living in Yelm and had been stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord with the Washington Army National Guard.
Haugen told Billings police she had been dating Mast since August, and that they were traveling from Olympia to North Dakota. A witness who made the initial complaint to Billings police said Haugen and Mast had been arguing in a parking lot about 5 p.m. Tuesday.
According to court documents, Haugen said they had been drinking wine and eating pizza in her vehicle when Mast told her he wanted to die. Haugen agreed to “make it happen,” then climbed behind the front passenger seat and placed him in a chokehold. After he lost consciousness, she allegedly plugged his nose and kept his jaw closed for about 20 minutes until he was no longer breathing.
Haugen told police she was thinking about how to dump his body, but ended up driving to another parking lot where she attempted CPR for 20-30 minutes. She later told a detective that she killed Mast because she wanted to kill someone with her bare hands, and saw her opportunity when Mast asked to die, according to documents.
Haugen has been charged with one count of deliberate homicide, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. The Yellowstone County Justice Court set bail for $400,000.
The Billings Gazette reported that Haugen’s attorney, Penelope Strong, argued for a $200,000 bond and will pursue “an assisted suicide defense.” In the report, Strong said Haugen is originally from Portland, Oregon, where her 14-year-old son and mother live.
The Olympian confirmed that Haugen served 10 years in the Washington Army National Guard, but went inactive in July. Sgt. Haugen was a nondrilling member assigned to the 66th Theater Aviation Command as an aviation operations specialist, said Capt. Joseph Siemandel, state public affairs officer.
This story was originally published September 18, 2015 at 7:39 AM with the headline "Thurston County woman says she strangled boyfriend because he wanted to die."