MORGAN COUNTY, Ala. (WHNT) — Brian Mann, the Decatur chiropractor accused of poisoning his wife in 2022, was originally set to go to trial before the end of this year.
Court records show that Mann, who’s facing an attempted murder charge for the incident, will now go to trial on May 13, 2024.
On July 28, the trial was continued by Morgan County Circuit Judge Jennifer Howell to October 23. Just over a month later, the case was continued again until next spring.
Mann was arrested in September 2022 when after the Morgan County District Attorney’s Office said a grand jury indicted him following the Hartselle Police Department’s (HPD) investigation.
According to court documents, Mann and his wife were in the middle of a divorce when he “intentionally caus[ed] her to unwittingly ingest particles of lead.” Court records show Mann’s wife spent nearly two months in the hospital because of it.
HPD said they were contacted by the Morgan County Department of Human Resources, who notified them that Mann’s wife was at UAB Hospital and was unresponsive. Officials also asked the department to find any substance at the home the couple shared that contained lead.
Investigators “had no idea what the substance would look like,” the affidavit says, but despite Brian Mann leading them throughout the house and helping them search, showing them what vitamins and prescriptions his wife took, the search left them empty-handed.
HPD provided the court with enough probable cause in May 2023 to be granted a search warrant for Brian Mann’s business and former home. Through HPD’s investigation, they attempted to find the source of the lead allegedly used to poison Mann’s wife. That’s when, according to the affidavit, a gentleman reached out to the department to provide a tip.
The man told police that he had installed lead in the walls of the X-ray room in 2021, but explained that there was some lead left over once the project was finished, which was left in the hands of Mann. After thinking about the possibility of that lead being used to poison his wife, the man said he “wanted to report it to police.”
HPD was granted a search warrant for the building that used to house Mann’s chiropractic business, where they collected a sample of lead from a wall in the X-ray room. That sample, court records say, will be compared to the lead found in Mann’s wife’s body. News 19 reached out to HPD at that time and officials said those samples have not yet been compared.
Mann was released from jail on January 11, after Morgan County Circuit Judge Charles Elliott reluctantly granted the motion for him to be freed from custody on a $500,000 bond – with strict conditions. “So much as a speeding ticket,” Judge Elliott said at the time, would result in a rearrest.
Those conditions include not being allowed to leave his house after 6 p.m. or before 8 a.m., and spending every weekend in jail from 4 p.m. Friday until 8 a.m. Monday. He’s also required to wear a GPS ankle monitor.
Mann also has a hearing set for January 11, 2024
