Background: The Ripley County Detention Center in Doniphan, Mo. (Google Maps). Inset: Dustin D. Manns (Ripley County Detention Center).
A Missouri man was tracked down in a neighboring county after he allegedly murdered his father with a fishing spear.
Dustin D. Manns, 44, was charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of his father, 71-year-old Robert Manns, who was found dead in his home on Monday. According to a probable cause statement reviewed by Law&Crime, police responded to the home after the sister of Robert Manns found his body in the bedroom. Police said she told them she had not heard from her brother since April 11 and became worried.
According to the probable cause affidavit, Robert Manns’ sister told police the front door of his home was unlocked when she arrived. After officers from the Ripley County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the scene, she told them that her brother’s silver Dodge Ram was not in the driveway. Also missing was Robert Manns’ son, Dustin Manns, who was not reachable by phone.
Authorities with the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control located the Ram at a residence in neighboring Butler County a few hours later. Dustin Manns was also at the residence, where he was detained and brought back to the Ripley County Sheriff’s Office.
During an interview with police, Dustin Manns allegedly admitted to “stabbing his father [with] a fish gig,” or a fishing spear, then “striking him across the chest with the handle” and “asphyxiating him until he was dead.” The fishing spear was located at the scene where Robert Manns’ body was found.
A motive for the alleged killing was not shared in the probable cause statement.
Manns was booked into the Ripley County Detention Center where he is being held without bond. He was charged with first-degree murder, armed criminal action, abandonment of a corpse, stealing a motor vehicle, and tampering with a motor vehicle. His next court date was not available.
