Naman Shrestha
The episode titled ‘Husband, Father, Killer’ of Investigation Discovery’s ‘Evil Lives Here: The Killer Speaks’ delves deep into the chilling double homicide of Frances and Philip Mann in their Warren, Ohio, residence in late September 2011. Their deaths sent shockwaves across the entire community and left their grieving loved ones with many questions, which were soon answered by the detectives’ swift investigation. Featuring insightful interviews with members of the Mann family, the documentary provides a detailed account of the entire case and the investigation that ensued.
Tonya Mann Alerted Her Relatives About Frances and Philip Mann
Born on July 25, 1952, in Windber, Pennsylvania, to Albert L. and Kathleen Cruse Mann, Philip J. Mann was raised alongside his three brothers, Charles, Brett, and Keith, and two sisters, Joyce and Karen. Later on in life, he found love when he met Frances M. Mann AKA Fran, who was born on August 13, 1958, in Warren, Ohio. Daughter of Frank S. and Edith Pierce Guzan, she was close to her siblings, including two sisters named Linda and Vickie and two brothers, Frank and Joseph Guzan. As the romantic connection between Frances and Philip intensified, they tied the knot on October 7, 1980, and began a new phase of their lives.
Over the course of their marriage, the couple gave birth to three sons — Philip Jr., Shawn, and Louis. While Fran was a homemaker and took care of the entire family, Philip provided financial stability by working as a truck driver after retiring from the US Navy. Apart from being doting parents and later grandparents, they were also devoted to one another as they spent quality time together. Both of them enjoyed the outdoors and ensured to indulge in camping, gardening, fishing, and traveling on a regular basis. After spending decades living in a house on Parkman Road Northwest, the couple moved to Logan Avenue Northeast for two years or so.
Then, in April 2011, Fran and Philip relocated to a property on Jefferson Street in Warren, Ohio. It was inside this house where they met their brutal demise on the fateful day of September 30, 2011. When Tonya Mann, wife of their son Louis, suspected that something terrible had happened to her in-laws, she asked a couple of her family members to go and check on them. Upon reaching the property on Jefferson Street, her relatives found the remains of the couple and immediately called 911. The authorities concluded that Philip died from blunt cranial trauma and multiple gunshot wounds to the head, while Fran died of ligature strangulation. Philip’s debit card and car were also missing from the property.
The Killer Had a Heated Argument With Frances on the Fateful Evening
When the detectives began investigating the double homicide, they learned that Frances and Philip Mann’s son, Louis Mann, used to live with them. Upon digging deeper into the son’s life, they found out that his rap sheet included charges related to trespassing and drugs. A few days prior to the murders, he was released from the Trumbull County Jail and went to stay with his parents on September 27, 2011. As he couldn’t be located anywhere in the property, he became a person of interest in the eyes of the law. Just a day after the murders, Louis and his parents’ car were located at a motel in Howland. He was taken into custody and brought in for questioning.
During the interrogation, he broke down and confessed to killing his parents. He claimed that on the fateful evening, he had a heated argument with his mother, Fran, regarding the custody of his daughter, Elizabeth “Lizzy” Mann. It led to him losing his temper and strangling her with a clothesline. According to him, he was then confronted by his father, Philip, with a rifle. Louis alleged that he managed to hit him with a big, heavy-duty flashlight in the head, before taking the gun from him and shooting him to death. He also told the detectives that his parents, especially his father, put him through physical and sexual abuse during his childhood.
However, in the show, Louis gave a different version of what happened on the fateful evening. He alleged that after killing his mother, he knocked on the bedroom door and told his father that Fran needed him. As per his account, as Philip saw his wife on the floor, Louis beat him to death with the flashlight. Following his confession, the police arrested and charged him with the murders of his parents. On October 3, 2011, 31-year-old Louis Mann was officially arraigned on aggravated murder charges, while also being indicted on aggravated robbery for stealing his father’s car after the crime.
Louis Mann is Currently Incarcerated at an Ohio Prison Facility
After multiple delays, Louis Mann finally stood trial for his crimes on October 11, 2013. During the trial, the prosecution focused on presenting all the evidence they had found against the defendant. Meanwhile, the defense argued that Louis was sexually abused by his father, which ultimately led him to commit the murders inside their Jefferson Street Southwest house in Warren, Ohio. After several days of intense back-and-forth between the defense and prosecution, on October 17, the jury found Louis Mann guilty on all counts. On November 26, 2013, during his sentencing hearing, Louis took the stand and apologized to the victims’ loved ones.
Expressing that he was thankful to be able to put forward his side of the story, he stated, “When the smoke clears, I’m still a twice-convicted murderer. However, it was important to me that my side of the incident be made public because I’m not a brutal, sick, vicious human being that deserves the death sentence.” The convict claimed that he was a man of faith and wanted to stay alive for the sake of his daughter and two stepchildren. One of Fran’s cousins, James F. Guzan, also took the stand and addressed the killer, saying, “I remember you said on the [witness] stand that you are a human being too. No, Louis Mann, you are not a human being. I can’t even call you an animal, because animals kill for food. So to me you are nothing. And I … want to say you truly deserve the death penalty.” However, Louis was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. As of today, he is serving his sentence at Lorain Correctional Institution in Grafton, Ohio.
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