Douglas Manley Obituary – The identity of the victim in the recent homicide in Harrison County has been confirmed. The victim has been identified as Douglas Manley, a 53-year-old resident of Missouri Valley. The Iowa Office of the State Medical Examiner has determined that Manley’s death was a result of blunt force trauma, ruling it as a homicide.
The suspect in this case is Sebastin O’Brien, a 22-year-old individual from Little Sioux. O’Brien is currently in custody and is scheduled to have a preliminary hearing on May 1. He has been charged with first-degree murder. O’Brien’s arrest is connected to a rollover crash near Modale that occurred on Sunday.
According to court documents, O’Brien crashed Manley’s vehicle on Austin Avenue outside of Modale. After the crash, a third party picked up O’Brien from the scene and brought him to Modale, where a fight ensued between O’Brien and the third party. The Harrison County Sheriff’s Office was alerted to the fight, leading them to speak with O’Brien. During the conversation, O’Brien made statements that raised suspicions of his involvement in assaulting Manley.
Authorities then went to Manley’s residence, where they discovered tire tracks indicating a hasty departure from the home and blood smeared on the front door window. Further investigation inside the house led to the discovery of more blood and ultimately, Manley’s body on the upper floor.
According to the documents, Manley and O’Brien were living together and were in the process of moving furniture when a fight broke out, resulting in O’Brien fatally injuring Manley. O’Brien also claimed that Manley had committed multiple crimes and expressed the belief that he deserved to die.
The case is still under investigation, and officials have not ruled out the possibility of additional charges. The Iowa DCI and Iowa State Patrol are conducting the investigation.
