Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Man arrested in parents’ deaths says argument led to shootings

Updated Monday, April 1, 2013 | 4:40 p.m.

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Joseph McManus, 43, was arrested earlier this week in connection with the shooting deaths of his parents.

A Las Vegas man accused of shooting his parents to death last week told police an argument and subsequent struggle over a gun led to the killings, according to a report released Monday.

Joseph McManus, 43, initially told police he wasn’t home Friday evening when his parents were killed at their home in the 4300 block of Cottontail Lane, near Pecos and Flamingo roads.

McManus called 911 around 9 p.m. to report his parents’ deaths and told police that he had been out at a nearby gas station at the time of the shooting, according to the arrest report.

But McManus’ version of events didn’t fit with evidence at the crime scene and after further questioning, he told police that he was arguing with his parents when his father, James McManus, 70, threatened him with a gun, according to the arrest report.

Joseph McManus told police that during a struggle, the gun went off, striking and killing his father.

A further struggle over the gun with his mother, Alma McManus, 67, resulted in her being shot, too, according to statements Joseph McManus gave to police.

After the shooting, McManus changed his clothes and went for a walk before calling 911, according to the arrest report.

James McManus was pronounced dead on the scene, and his wife was taken to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center, where she later died.

At first, police believed James McManus had shot his wife and then turned the gun on himself, but as the investigation unfolded, police said, they came to suspect the son.

Police arrested Joseph McManus and booked him at the Clark County Detention Center on two counts of murder with a deadly weapon.

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