|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
The grocery store butcher accused of slaughtering six people in rural Colleton County, South Carolina last month – an incident known as the Green Pond Massacre – is asking the court to shield his jail house calls from the public.
A public defender representing 34-year-old Ryan Lenard Manigo of Walterboro, S.C. filed a motion on Wednesday (August 9, 2023) demanding a court hearing prior to the publication of any of Manigo’s calls from the Colleton County detention center.
“Recently, a number of media agencies inside and outside of South Carolina have been requesting various detention centers to release recorded telephone calls of inmates in unrelated cases under the South Carolina Freedom of Information Act,” attorney Matthew Walker stated. “These requests appear to be generally complied with. The defendant objects to the release of any of his recorded communications being held by the Colleton County detention center without a hearing where the defense, as agent of the Colleton County detention center and the requestor can be present so that the court can determine whether the release of any communication through FOIA is appropriate.”
FITSNews is one of the media outlets which has requested these calls.
***
Inmates are entitled to privileged communication with their attorneys. However, all other exchanges are monitored. Our audience will recall Alex Murdaugh was so incensed by the release of his jail house phone call audio recordings he filed a lawsuit in federal court against the Alvin S. Glenn detention center and Richland County, S.C. officials. That case collapsed with his murder conviction – but an appeal continues with a replacement plaintiff.
Murdaugh’s records from the S.C. Department of Corrections (SCDC) have also been obtained – and published – by this news outlet.
Manigo is facing five counts of murder in connection with the stabbing deaths of 49-year-old Jefferson Burnell, 73-year-old Amose Magwood, 7-year-old Shamiah Rutledge, 50-year-old Michelle Wright and 11-year-old Sariyah Manigo – his own daughter – prior to 11:00 a.m. EDT at 779 Folly Creek Lane in Green Pond on July 2, 2023.
He was also charged with first degree arson for setting a fire in the aftermath of his stabbing spree – a blaze that killed 101-year-old Maggie Magwood, the homeowner and matriarch of the family.
(Click to View)
Manigo has been further charged with one count of burglary and six counts of using a deadly weapon during the commission of a violent crime. Arguably the most disturbing charges brought against the repeat offender, though, were two counts of kidnapping, two counts of criminal sexual conduct, two counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor and one count of incest.
Finally, Manigo is facing one count of attempted murder after a brave, 13-year-old girl managed to escape this “house of horror” with multiple cut and stab wounds. This young woman has been praised for helping authorities identify and apprehend Manigo – describing the inhumanity she witnessed as she was being airlifted from the scene to a hospital for treatment of the severe injuries sustained in the attack. Her continued assistance to law enforcement has resulted in additional charges being filed against Manigo.
The 13-year-old heroine pretended to be dead in order to live – her only option for escaping the butcher.
Local sources have indicated the suspect, who was employed by a local IGA grocery story, made some strange comments in their presence on July 1, 2023 about sharpening knives – leading them to think he may have used butcher knives from his job to commit the murders.
Manigo’s first court appearance is scheduled September, 15, 2023.
***
THE MOTION …
(Via: S.C. Fourteenth Circuit)
***
ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
Callie Lyons is a journalist, researcher, and author whose investigative work can be found in media outlets, publications, and documentaries all over the world – most recently in the Parisian newspaper Le Monde and a German documentary for ProSieben. Lyons also appears in Citizen Sleuth – a 2023 documentary exploring the genre of true crime.
***
WANNA SOUND OFF?
Got something you’d like to say in response to one of our articles? Or an issue you’d like to proactively address? We have an open microphone policy here at FITSNews! Submit your letter to the editor (or guest column) via email HERE. Got a tip for a story? CLICK HERE. Got a technical question or a glitch to report? CLICK HERE.
2 comments
I have to concur with Mr Manigo and his attorney. Private phone calls from a jailhouse or prison, unless involving something particularly outrageous like an escape plan or a hit on someone, should not be fodder for news media. I can understand institutions monitoring of such calls for security purposes but see no legitimate right of the public or the media to know the content of such calls, especially in the cases of someone who has not been convicted.
As much real news happens in and around SC, one would hope that like the proverbial tick on a dead deer, Fits News would at long last dislodge itself from everything Murdaugh and fall off, hopefully finding a new host from which to suck blood for news.
Observer – Pretty harsh judgements.
Besides, WHOINTHEWORLD is interested inn anything that scum-bag has to say??? It only affords him a platform -why give him one? His VICTIMS surely don’t have that advantage.