Serial killer accused in 2005 slaying of Michigan woman pleads guilty to two Pennsylvania murders

Publish date: 2024-07-07

A serial killer, who was charged in the 2005 slaying of a pregnant Michigan woman, pleaded guilty Wednesday to murdering two Pennsylvania women. 

Harold David Haulman III admitted in Luzerne County court to murdering Tianna Phillip, 25, in 2018, and Erica Shultz, 26, in 2020, to avoid the death penalty. 

Instead, he was sentenced to life in prison without parole. 

Haulman was already a convicted killer and spent time in a German prison for murdering an American military doctor in 1999 but was later released and returned to the U.S. 

The details about why he was released and when he returned to the United States are unknown. He's been homeless for years before his arrest. 

'I usually tell people when they are sentenced good luck, but I will not do that with you,' Luzerne County Judge Michael Vough said during Wednesday's court appearance.  

'I've been doing this for 30 years and you think you see everything then you come along. You are evil. You took the lives of these women for no reason whatsoever. 

'Do you realize what you did? You, sir, bringing them into the woods for no reason, just to kill them,' Vough told Haulman.  

Haulman, who was convicted of murder in Germany in 1999, pleaded guilty to two Pennsylvania murders and is charged in a Michigan woman's murder Luzerne County Judge Michael Vough (pictured) told Haulman he was 'evil'

Harold David Haulman (left), who was convicted of murder in Germany in 1999, pleaded guilty to two Pennsylvania murders and is charged in a Michigan woman's murder. Luzerne County Judge Michael Vough (right) said to Haulman, 'You are evil. You took the lives of these women for no reason whatsoever'

David Haulman confessed to murdering his then girlfriend Tianna Phillips (pictured) in 2018 in a letter to his estranged wife Haulman admitted to killing Erica Shultz, 26, in December 2020 in Pennsylvania

David Haulman pleaded guilty to murdering Tianna Phillips (left), 25, in 2018 and Eric Shultz (right), 26, in 2020 on Wednesday in a Pennsylvania court

Haulman was charged in the 2005 death of Ashley M. Parlier, a pregnant 21-year-old who went missing from Battle Creek, Michigan in 2005

Haulman was charged in the 2005 death of Ashley M. Parlier, a pregnant 21-year-old who went missing from Battle Creek, Michigan in 2005

Before Vough handed down Haulman's sentence, Phillips's sister Toshia Feaster issued a victim impact statement. 

'You are the perfect definition of a serial killer and scumbag. They were beautiful loving souls who weren't able to see you for the animal you are,' she said. 

Haulman replied to the judge and Feaster: 'There's nothing I can say.' 

Haulman had been romantically involved with Phillips when she disappeared in 2018. It's unclear if what his relationship was with Shutlz before he killed her in December 2020. 

He preyed on women by using online dating apps to meet his victims and then lured them to an isolated part of the woods to kill them. 

Much of the evidence that led to Haulman's arrest for the Pennsylvania murders and subsequent Michigan murder stems from a confession letter he sent his estranged wife, Anne Haulman, while attempting to reconcile their marriage.

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'On June 13th 2018 I drove to Berwick Pa and picked up Tiana Ann Phillips and took her for a drive.  

'We ended up somewhere in the woods east of Berwick Pa. After walking into the woods I pulled a knive (sic) from my pocket and attacked her from behind cutting her throat,' Haulman wrote to Anne.  

'As she gasped for her last breath of air I stabbed her repeatedly in the side of the neck, back and arms.

'I then returned to the crime scene months later and retrieved any and all evidence and disposed of it in a dumpster, not sure exactly where. 

'I Harold David Haulman III committed this crime on my own and of my own free will, David Haulman.'

Anne promptly provided the letter to law enforcement. 

Harold David Haulman, III, is escorted into court for a preliminary hearing

Harold David Haulman, III, is escorted into court for a preliminary hearing

Police told the Daily Item that Haulman told his wife in 2018 that he killed Phillips and showed her pictures of a dead woman, but Anne told prosecutors that she didn't believe him.

Then he forced her to go to the murder scene with him three months later, and he removed Phillips's skull, clothing and ribcage from the area, she told prosecutors.

The couple separated during summer 2020, but Haulman tried to fix their marriage a few months later by sending greeting cards and the above confession letter. 

Haulman was arrested in July for both Pennsylvania murders and then confessed to killing Parlier in Battle Creek, Michigan in 2005 during a police integrations, according to court documents. Those charges are still outstanding.  

Members of Parlier's family joined the families of Phillips and Shultz in the Pennsylvania courtroom on Wednesday.   

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