  |
This article's content is marked as Mature The page contains mature content that may include coarse language, sexual references, and/or graphic violent images which may be disturbing to some. Mature pages are recommended for those who are 18 years of age and older. If you are 18 years or older or are comfortable with graphic material, you are free to view this page. Otherwise, you should close this page and view another page. |
| “ | You know exactly why I did what I had to do. | „ |
| ~ Manning making excuses for mutilating his wife. |
Dr. Richard Manning is the main antagonist of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit episode "Monogamy". He is a psychiatrist who cuts out his pregnant wife's womb when he finds out she is cheating on him, incorrectly believing the baby was fathered by her lover.
He was portrayed by the late John Ritter, who also portrayed Ted Buchanan in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Warren Kincaid in Bride of Chucky, and David Wheeler in Batman Beyond.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Manning is an insecure control freak who is obsessed with order and power, which eventually ruins his marriage to his wife Nicole. When she starts cheating on him with a construction worker named Kyle Novachek, Manning has her followed and finds out about the affair; he is therefore not surprised when he confesses to her infidelity and asks for a divorce. Soon afterward, he learns that she is pregnant, and assumes the child is Novachek's. He asks Nicole to go to dinner with him so they can talk about salvaging their marriage, but in fact begins planning to get rid of the child.
He arranges to meet with Nicole at a restaurant, but as she gets into her car, he attacks her from behind and strikes her over the head. He carves open her womb and takes out the baby, a boy who cries for a short time before Manning crushes his skull in. He takes the baby and Nicole's womb and umbilical cord with him and throws them into a dumpster. He then goes home to shower and change his clothes before going to the restaurant, calling Nicole's phone a few times to make it look like he is trying to locate her.
"Monogamy"[]
After Nicole is found, Manning plays the part of a concerned husband, but when Nicole regains consciousness and confesses the affair, the NYPD's Special Victims Unit consider him their prime suspect. They arrest him after searching his apartment and finding bloodstained keys. Forensic psychiatrist George Huang interviews Manning, who matter-of-factly admits to mutilating his wife, saying that he had no choice because the baby would have destroyed their marriage.
Manning goes on trial for murdering the baby, with his lawyer arguing that the infant died before it could be considered a live birth. Detective Elliot Stabler visits Manning in jail and accuses him of destroying his own family. Manning claims he did not destroy anything, however, and taunts Stabler, a married father of four, by saying that he would have done the same thing in his shoes.
Manning testifies in his own defense that he had been completely detached from reality when he mutilated Nicole, and that he does not even remember doing it. During his testimony, Detectives John Munch and Fin Tutuola bring Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cabot, who is prosecuting Manning, a report from the medical examiner. Manning's lawyer Trevor Langan tried to have the evidence dismissed after reading the content but Cabot persuades the judge to permit it. Cabot confronts Manning with his sex life with his wife and ability to have children, after confirming that he was sleeping with her and that he can have children, she takes out the report, which proves that the baby was in fact his child, not Novachek's. This left Nicole and Novachek shocked while Manning tried to deny the idea but was faced with the facts. Cabot states that Manning held his own son in his arms, while asking if he cried. Manning recoils in horror and shame at his acts, as Cabot repeats her question if his son cried before he killed him; sobbing, Manning replies, "He only cried a little."
He is then found guilty of murdering his son and imprisoned.
External links[]
- Richard Manning on the Law & Order Wiki
