Dustin D. Manns, 44, has been charged with first-degree murder after allegedly killing his father, Robert Manns, 71, with a fishing spear in Ripley County, Missouri. Manns confessed to stabbing his father and asphyxiating him during a police interview. Authorities tracked him down in neighboring Butler County after he took his father's silver Dodge Ram.
Robert Manns was found dead in his bedroom on Monday by his sister, who had not heard from him since April 11. She told police the front door was unlocked and her brother's silver Dodge Ram was missing from the driveway. Dustin Manns, Robert's son, was also unreachable by phone, according to the probable cause statement from the Ripley County Sheriff's Office. Officers noted these details upon arriving at the scene in Doniphan, Missouri. Authorities from the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Division of Drug and Crime Control located the Dodge Ram hours later at a residence in neighboring Butler County. Dustin Manns was detained there and brought back for questioning. During the interview, Manns admitted to stabbing his father with a fish gig, or fishing spear, striking him across the chest with the handle, and asphyxiating him until he was dead, police said. The fishing spear was found at the scene where Robert's body was discovered. No motive was provided in the probable cause statement. Manns faces charges of first-degree murder, armed criminal action, abandonment of a corpse, stealing a motor vehicle, and tampering with a motor vehicle. He is being held without bond at the Ripley County Detention Center. His next court date was not immediately available.