The owner of Azana Salon & Spa, where a gunman killed three people and injured four others before taking his own life last month, said she remembers shooter Radcliffe Haughton as someone who "seemed like a nice guy."
In an interview with BrookfieldNOW, Tami Gemmell also said she saw no signs of problems between Haughton and his estranged wife, Zina, who was among those killed Oct. 21.
Gemmell told the newspaper that she recalled meeting Haughton just once.
"I was at one of Zina's birthday parties and he was there, many years ago, maybe six years ago, but I had never seen him in my salon," the newspaper quoted her as saying. "He seemed like a nice guy. There was no indication that he was unstable or irrational."
Gemmell also said that Zina Haughton, who had worked at the salon for eight years, "was always smiling, singing, happy. There was no indication" of problems.
See Patch's full coverage of the Azana spa shooting
The interview was Gemmell's first extended comments on the shootings since an Oct. 23 press conference, where she spoke in detail about the three employees who were shot and killed. At that press conference, Gemmell also said she hoped the tragedy would spur a "serious dialogue" on the problem of domestic violence.
The spa is expected to re-open on Dec. 1, but Gemmell told NOW that there is still a lot of work to be done as the building suffered extensive damage as a result of a fire that Haughton started.
Meanwhile, the father of one of the women killed in the shooting said his family was unaware of two major fundraisers being held on behalf of the victims, and is wondering whether the money will actually go to the families.
Keith Hanson, the father of Maelyn Lind, told Patch's media partners FOX6 News that bills are piling up for the family. Lind had four children and worked three jobs to make ends meet.
“Just because she’s gone doesn’t mean the bills stop, that’s for sure,” Hanson told FOX6.
8-Twelve MVP Bar & Grill in Brookfield held a benefit Monday night for the children of the women killed that raised more than $60,000. In addition, more than 100 salons in Wisconsin and far away as California, New York and Texas donated anywhere from 5 to 25 percent of their proceeds on Tuesday to the Azana Spa benefit fund set up at Associated Bank.
“There’s been no communication. We have not seen anything," Hanson told the TV station.
However, organizers with both of these fundraisers told FOX6 News they are still adding up money raised and said it may take time before victims’ families are contacted.
