New Jersey retiree ‘plotted several scenarios’ to hide wife’s murder: docs

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A 71-year-old New Jersey retiree allegedly killed his wife in the home they shared for nearly three decades and then staged a violent home invasion as a cover-up.

Michael Manis allegedly admitted to suffocating his wife, Judith, with a pillow and “plotted several scenarios” to hide her murder, according to court documents obtained by Fox News Digital.

Manis ripped his own home apart, hid his wife’s jewelry in a basement ceiling and dumped other valuables in a dumpster behind a nearby 7-Eleven, court documents allege.

At 5:01 p.m. Saturday, Manis told police he returned to his Hasbrouck Heights home, found it ransacked and that his wife was “possibly beaten” and dead, the probable cause affidavit said.

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This is 110 Hamilton Ave. in Hasbrouck Heights, New Jersey, where Michael Manis allegedly killed his wife. (Google Street View)

All of it was apparently a lie, prosecutors said.

During police questioning, he admitted to killing his wife, according to the affidavit, which does not provide a motive.

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The actual murder is believed to have taken place Friday, a day before the bogus robbery report, the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office alleged in a press release.

Manis is facing four charges: first-degree murder, second-degree disturbing/desecrating human remains, third-degree hindering the apprehension of oneself and fourth-degree false report to law enforcement. 

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It was not immediately known if Manis has a lawyer representing him. 

The couple shared their New Jersey home since at least 1996, according to land records.

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Hasbrouck Heights is a small, middle-class borough located about a 15-mile drive from Manhattan.

Manis owned Manis Lighting LLC, a contracting company in New Jersey, which was disciplined in 2014 for falsifying documents to a state clean energy incentive program.

Chris Eberhart is a crime and US news reporter for Fox News Digital. Email tips to chris.eberhart@fox.com or on Twitter @ChrisEberhart48.