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Background: The Ripley County Detention Center in Doniphan, Mo. (Google Maps). Inset: Dustin D. Manns (Ripley County Detention Center).
Dustin D. Manns, 44, is now charged with first-degree murder following the death of his 71-year-old father, Robert Manns. The elder Manns was discovered lifeless in his home on Monday. According to information reviewed by Law&Crime, police were alerted after Robert’s sister found his body in the bedroom. She had expressed concern after not hearing from him since April 11.
Upon arrival at the scene, Robert Manns’ sister informed officers that the front door was unlocked. The Ripley County Sheriff’s Office learned from her that both her brother’s silver Dodge Ram and his son, Dustin, were missing, with Dustin unreachable by phone.
The Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Division of Drug and Crime Control quickly located the missing Dodge Ram in Butler County. Dustin Manns was found at the same location and was subsequently apprehended and returned to the Ripley County Sheriff’s Office for further questioning.
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.