A house in Hasbrouck Heights, N.J. where a woman was allegedly murdered by her husband over the weekend. (Google Maps)
A retired New Jersey man found a fatal way out of his marriage and quickly found his way into jail, Garden State law enforcement say.
Michael J. Manis, 71, stands accused of four felonies including murder – purposely in the first degree, disturbing or desecrating human remains in the second degree, hindering one’s own apprehension or prosecution – by hiding or suppressing information or evidence in the third degree, and making a false report to law enforcement in the fourth degree, according to Bergen County jail records.
A redacted criminal complaint and warrant filed by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and obtained by Law&Crime details the cruel death and the haphazard cover-up by the septuagenarian defendant.
The defendant from Hasbrouck Heights, a small borough that forms part of the New York City suburbs, allegedly killed his wife, Judith Manis, in the residence the two had shared ownership of since 1996, according to property records obtained by local radio station 101.5.
Just after 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 12, Michael Manis himself called 911 and said he had just gotten home to find his wife dead “and possibly beaten,” according to the complaint. He added that there “might have been a robbery” at their house, the document says.
More Law&Crime coverage: Cold Case: Cops Say Maryland Man Staged 1985 Murder of His Wife as Burglary
The BCPO identified the defendant as “retired” in a press release. Investigators believe the woman was killed the day before her allegedly self-widowed husband made that feigned 911 call.
An affidavit of probable cause attached to the complaint says the defendant would later, after the story about the faux robbery, and being read his Miranda rights, tell investigators he used “a pillow to suffocate his wife” until “she became limp and unresponsive.”
“Following the incident the defendant plotted several scenarios in an attempt to cover up the crime, ultimately deciding to stage a home invasion during which he ransacked the room,” the affidavit reads.
As part of the admitted ruse, Michael Manis hid some of his wife’s jewelry – in the ceiling of the house’s basement, the complaint says. Other items belonging to Judith Manis were thrown into a dumpster at a nearby apartment complex in the tiny borough of Wood-Ridge.
The hidden items were recovered during a warrant-authorized search of the house on Hamilton Avenue, the complaint says.
Michael Manis was arrested on Sunday.
Law enforcement have not offered a motive for the slaying.
According to New Jersey State regulatory records, the company formerly run by the defendant out of his home was suspended from participating in all New Jersey Clean Energy Programs in 2014. That suspension came after the company was cited for “intentional misconduct” because the same improperly altered tax clearance forms were submitted to officials a dozen times over.
The defendant was slated to appear in court on Monday afternoon, a spokesperson for the BCPO told Law&Crime in an email. He is currently detained in the Bergen County Jail without bond.
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