Hartselle man allegedly poisoned wife with lead in murder attempt
Sep. 4—A Hartselle man was arrested Friday after being indicted last week on a charge of attempted murder for allegedly poisoning his wife, according to the Morgan County District Attorney's Office.
Brian Thomas Mann, 33, of Coleman Street Northwest, is being held in Morgan County Jail in lieu of $500,000 bond. He is "accused of intentionally poisoning his wife," according to the DA's Office, after an investigation by the Hartselle Police Department.
Mann's wife on March 10 filed a complaint for divorce in which she alleged she was hospitalized at UAB Hospital on Jan. 18 with a diagnosis of lead poisoning and remained hospitalized through March 3. She said an active investigation by law enforcement led the Morgan County Department of Human Resources to require that Mann, who was separated from his wife, be supervised during his visitation of the couple's two minor children.
Mann and his wife were married in 2017.
In April, Mann responded in the divorce case that he had not been arrested or served with a search warrant, so "no probable cause currently exists in the criminal investigation."
Mann alleged his wife was "using a baseless criminal investigation to extort money and other financial considerations."
On May 19, the wife amended her divorce complaint to say that Mann "perpetrated acts of assault upon her person ... by intentionally causing her to unwittingly ingest particles of lead."
In written questions submitted July 14 to Mann by the wife's divorce lawyer, Jerry Knight of Decatur, Mann was asked to describe the contents of "the dietary supplement you provided to your wife during the late summer of 2021 through the winter of 2021-2022."
Also in the divorce case, the wife's lawyer requested that Mann, who works at a chiropractic office, admit certain alleged facts. Among them was that for several months prior to her hospitalization, he provided her with capsules that he claimed were vitamins that "would strengthen her immune system," and that she ingested the capsules.
Mann was also asked to admit that he held five life insurance policies payable upon his wife's death that collectively had death benefits of $1.3 million. He was additionally asked to admit that on Dec. 4 he applied for two different $750,000 life insurance policies payable upon his wife's death, both of which were denied. He was further asked to admit that the only life insurance payable to his wife upon his death was for $52,000.
In an Aug. 22 motion, Mann's attorney, Christopher Weston of Huntsville, questioned if there was coordination between Hartselle police and Knight, the wife's attorney. Knight is a former Morgan County assistant district attorney.
The motion said Mann had found out that "in March and July of 2022, the Hartselle Police Department issued two search warrants, one to a social media account of (Mann's) and one to (Mann's) cellular telephone provider. There was a third search warrant issued concerning (Mann's) Google account information ... ."
Mann's lawyer objected to the discovery requests because they "seem to directly track phone records of the Defendant, as well as the suspected open criminal investigation. Upon information and belief, Plaintiff's counsel has communication with the Hartselle Police Department, with the two working in tandem to obtain information concerning the Hartselle Police Department's open criminal investigation."
On Aug. 23, Morgan County Circuit Judge Charles Elliott halted the divorce proceedings "pending the completion of the criminal investigation."
— eric@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2435. Twitter @DD_Fleischauer.
