English man sentenced to life in prison after wife’s murder in 2023

WARNER ROBINS – Brian McManus, 57, was sentenced to life in prison with no parole on Wednesday, July 16 for murdering his wife in 2023. He was convicted by a Houston County jury on Saturday, July 12.

The murder investigation began on Nov. 24, 2023, the day after Thanksgiving. According to a media release, McManus called 911 to report he had found his wife, Lucille Ann McManus, 63, dead from suicide. When law enforcement responded, they made contact with the Defendant, who was calm and showed no emotion. 

McManus told officers he had gone for a walk and when he came home, he found his wife dead.

Officers entered the residence and found the victim lying across the bed naked and with a massive head laceration. At the time, no gun or shell casings were found near the victim’s body. 

The defendant gave multiple statements to police, where he appeared to show no concern for his wife and showed emotion only when he spoke about being the prime suspect.

The media release said McManus is originally from England, where he spent 17 years as a London police officer. He was let go from the police force after multiple women stated they felt sexually threatened by him. He left the United Kingdom for the United States on a Visa. 

McManus married another woman in the western United States who was sponsoring his green card, but because of domestic violence between the two, he was arrested for family violence and divorced. The defendant then sought another woman to marry.

He met Lucille on Tinder, and after three months, the two married in 2022. According to the media release, multiple witnesses testified at trial that the two were married so McManus could obtain his green card and stay in the country. 

The two lived together at the victim’s house on Wake Forest Drive in Warner Robins. The victim’s granddaughter and two great-grandchildren also lived with the couple. 

Throughout their brief marriage, McManus would often take fake business trips to Florida, where he would meet his mistress. This affair came to light after the defendant sent the victim a text meant for his mistress. 

The media release said McManus was unable to marry the mistress and apply for his green card with her support because she was also married at the time of the affair. His wife, upset about the affair, confronted McManus and told him she would tell authorities the marriage was a sham. 

Facing potential deportation, he concocted a plan to murder his wife and cover it up. He lied in wait as she exited the shower the morning after Thanksgiving and struck her in the head with an unknown object. Evidence showed the defendant also strangled the victim. McManus then washed himself off and cleaned the murder weapon. 

With his dead wife lying naked in their bed, the defendant proceeded to take his dog for a walk, attempting to hide the suspected murder weapon and his cell phone in a ditch. Law enforcement recovered the rubber mallet and cell phone when they searched the ditch. 

When he returned home, he immediately undressed and washed his clothes and shoes. The defendant then called 911 to report that his wife had committed suicide.

According to the media release, an autopsy was later performed on the victim by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, revealing the victim died from blunt force trauma with manual strangulation. The injuries were severe and included lacerations to the top and back of her head, causing a skull fracture and brain bleeding. 

The medical examiner also discovered injuries to the victim’s spine that had been caused by the force the defendant used to strangle the victim. When speaking to the police, they discovered fresh scratch marks on McManus’s arms. GBI compared blood found under the victim’s fingernails to the defendant’s DNA and determined the blood came from McManus. 

From the beginning, McManus attempted to frame other people for the murder, according to the media release. He blamed the victim’s adult granddaughter and her boyfriend. 

Detective Karmen Thompson obtained cell phone location data for the phones of multiple persons of interest and sent it to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for cellular device location analysis. Their analysis determined that of the people of interest, the only cell phones that were at the house at the time of the murder belonged to the victim and McManus. The victim’s granddaughter and boyfriend were placed miles away from the house. 

McManus also told law enforcement the murder may have been the result of a break-in. Despite the claim, there was no evidence of a break-in. Law enforcement did not find any broken doors or windows, and everything in the house was cleaned and organized. Multiple high-value items in the house were not disturbed. 

Security video footage from behind the victim’s house was also obtained and did not show anyone entering the house through the back door during the morning of the murder. 

The case was prosecuted by Houston County Assistant District Attorneys Justin Duane and Lauren Fletcher. The case was investigated by Thompson and other members of WRPD with the assistance of the GBI and FBI. 

Duane provided comments about the case:

“Miss Ann was a lonely woman, and the defendant used that to his advantage. He used her to abuse our immigration system and then, when he got caught, brutally killed her. No one deserves to die like that. McManus is a serial killer and con man who attempted to hide the fact that he murdered his wife by tampering with evidence and blaming others. He is a textbook narcissist who thinks he is the smartest man in the room. I am glad that the jury saw him for what he was – a monster – and grateful the victim’s family finally has some answers.” 

District Attorney Eric Edwards also provided comments:

“This was a brutal and calculated murder carried out by an evil sociopath who views the women in his life as disposable. Brian McManus was not only willing to exploit our immigration system and manipulate a vulnerable woman into a sham marriage – he was willing to kill her when she became inconvenient. And then he tried to cover it up, pin it on her family, and walk away without consequence. He failed. Because of the work of the Warner Robins Police Department, forensic experts, and ADAs Justin Duane and Lauren Fletcher, the truth won out. Miss Ann’s voice was stolen, but her story was told – and her killer will never have the opportunity to silence anyone again. As our community launches a renewed initiative to prevent domestic violence homicides, this case serves as a gut-wrenching reminder of what’s at stake. This officer will never hesitate to bring the full weight of the law down on abusers who mistake silence for weakness.”