The murder of Bonnie Haim
Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida · 1993
Overview
Bonnie Haim, 23, disappeared from her family's home on the west side of Jacksonville, Florida, in January 1993. Her husband, Michael Haim, said she left late one night after an argument; her friends said she was planning to leave him and take their three-year-old son. The morning after she was last seen, her purse was found in a dumpster at a hotel near Jacksonville International Airport, and her car was later found in an airport parking lot. A child protection worker interviewed the boy the next day, and detectives said he told her that his father hurt his mother. Investigators searched the property several times but, with no body, nobody was prosecuted. On December 14, 2014, the couple's son, by then a man in his twenties who had been awarded the house in a wrongful death suit against his father, found a skull while doing work in the backyard. DNA confirmed the remains were Bonnie's, a medical examiner ruled her death a homicide by unspecified means, and a .22-caliber shell casing lay near the remains. Michael Haim, who owned a .22-caliber rifle, was arrested in Waynesville, North Carolina, on August 24, 2015. At trial in April 2019 two jailhouse informants testified that he confessed. A Duval County jury convicted him of second-degree murder on April 12, 2019, and on May 21, 2019 he was sentenced to life in prison. A state appeals court affirmed on April 30, 2021.
How it was solved
The case was reopened by physical evidence, not by a new suspect. Michael Haim had been the obvious suspect since 1993: her friends said Bonnie planned to leave him, he admitted they argued the night before she disappeared, and detectives said her son told a child welfare worker that his father hurt his mother. But with no body, he was never prosecuted. On December 14, 2014, the couple's son, who had been given the family home after winning a wrongful death lawsuit against his father, found a skull while working in the backyard. Police recovered the rest of the remains; DNA tests confirmed they were Bonnie's, and the medical examiner ruled the death a homicide by unspecified means. A spent .22-caliber shell casing was found near the remains, and Haim owned a .22-caliber rifle. The arrest affidavit said he was the last known person to have had contact with her. Jacksonville's sheriff said the remains were the piece of the puzzle investigators had been missing. Haim was arrested in North Carolina on August 24, 2015. State Attorney Angela Corey acknowledged that much of the evidence was indirect. At trial in April 2019, prosecutors told jurors Haim shot his wife and buried her in the yard. The son's childhood statement that his father hurt his mother was admitted; two jailhouse informants testified Haim confessed to them, which he denied; and Haim testified that he loved his wife. The medical examiner could not say how she died. The jury deliberated about 90 minutes before convicting him of second-degree murder. The First District Court of Appeal later affirmed the conviction and sentence.
Sources
- Wife killer sentenced to life in prison in 1993 cold case (May 21, 2019)
“Circuit Judge Steven Whittington sentenced Michael Haim to life in prison”
- Bonnie Haim case: Husband found guilty of killing her in 1993, burying body in backyard (April 2019)
“The jury of three men and three women deliberated about 90 minutes before their verdict”
- He found a body at his childhood home's backyard during renovations. It was his mom's (April 2019)
“Investigators had searched the property several times in the years after her disappearance,”
- Man sentenced for wife's cold case murder that son helped solve (May 21, 2019)
“For 26 years, we wanted justice. And now we have it.”
- Florida man goes on trial for murder of wife 26 years ago (April 8, 2019)
“Michael Haim was the last known individual to have contact with victim.”
- Son of Florida woman who disappeared in 1993 testifies in father's murder trial (April 10, 2019)
“I picked up the coconut object and it ended up being the top part of her skull.”
- Man arrested in cold case murder investigation (August 25, 2015)
“We're at a point where we can seek justice.”
- Man pleads not guilty to killing wife in cold case (October 6, 2015)
“U.S. marshals arrested Michael Haim Aug. 24 in Waynesville, North Carolina, where he had been living with family.”
- Haim v. State, No. 1D19-2094 (Fla. 1st DCA, April 30, 2021)
“The victim's friends reported that she was planning to leave Haim and take their son with her.”
- Jacksonville man who killed wife in 1993 again appeals conviction, now claiming ineffective counsel (May 2, 2023)
“Haim was never prosecuted, in part, because the victim could not be found.”
- The Bonnie Haim case: A story Mary Baer will never forget (June 22, 2019)
“I think I just interviewed a killer.”
- Michael Haim's attorney files motion for new trial (April 24, 2019)
“The 1993 sentencing guidelines for second-degree murder call for a range of seven to 22 years in prison.”