By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

Marcella Jane Manns

WARSAW — A Claypool woman was sentenced to three years in prison after stabbing her former husband in the head.

Marcella Jane Manns, 60, 3019 W. Hill Lake Road, Claypool, was charged with domestic battery resulting in serious bodily injury, a level 5 felony. An aggravated battery charge was dismissed as part of a plea agreement.

Manns was sentenced in Kosciusko Superior Court 1 on Monday, Nov. 16.

On Nov. 7, 2018, a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s officer responded to a domestic disturbance in Claypool. A couple reported being in a verbal argument; the officer told Manns to go into her residence and for her husband to stay in his barn until officers arrived.

According to court documents, approximately 17 minutes after the initial call, the husband called 911 and said he had been stabbed by Manns. The officer saw Manns walking from the barn back to her residence.

Officers then entered the barn and saw the husband bleeding from the left side of his head. He told officers that Manns stabbed him with a knife while he was sleeping. The husband also said Manns stabbed him in the face in 2016 in Wabash County.

Lutheran Hospital Fort Wayne employees said the knife had penetrated the husband’s skull and entered his brain, causing brain bleeding.

Following the incident, Manns and her husband divorced.

Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Brad Voelz noted that Manns has a criminal history involving violence.

Defense Attorney David Kolbe said a large part of the incident was Manns being in a “toxic, alcohol-fueled relationship.” He requested Manns be allowed to participate in a rehabilitative program and given the ability to serve her sentence through Kosciusko County Community Corrections.

“I wish I would have got out of that relationship,” said Manns. “I loved him and I tried to make it work. But it was like water and oil with me and him. I want to put this behind me and move on with my life.”

For domestic battery resulting in serious bodily injury, Kosciusko Superior Court 1 Judge David Cates sentenced Manns to three years in the Indiana Department of Corrections. Cates said he had no objection to Manns serving the sentence through community corrections as long as she is qualified for the program.

Manns is to also have no contact with her ex-husband.