Ex-carnival worker says murdered St. Charles man threw first punch

A former carnival worker accused of murdering a 28-year-old St. Charles man in fall 2008 told police he stabbed Naromi Mannery after being punched first and called a racial slur.

In a videotaped interview played in Kane County court Tuesday, Arthur Manning initially told detectives neither he nor three other men at a house in the 900 block of Main Street of St. Charles touched Mannery.

But as detectives pressed Manning, he admitted he “lost it” and “all hell broke loose.”

“I stabbed him because I was angry. The only thing he had to do was get up and walk away,” Manning said. “It was uncalled for. All had to do was get off those steps and walk away. He hit me and I'm supposed to walk away from him?”

Prosecutors argue that Mannery was beaten on Sept. 21, 2008, with a chair, stabbed in the back, chest and right arm after he drunkenly refused to leave the house, which was owned by Windy City Amusements and housed several of its employees.

Manning, now 62, was convicted of first-degree murder in 2009 and sentenced to 29 years in prison. An appellate panel overturned the conviction, saying jurors were given improper instructions and not allowed to consider self-defense in their deliberations.

Closing arguments in Manning's second trial are expected Wednesday morning.

If convicted in the death of Mannery, a painter who lived in the 2000 block of Oak Street, Manning faces between 20 and 60 years in prison.

Mannery had been drinking beer that night with one of Manning's co-workers, but was told he could not enter the home because he didn't work for the carnival.

After the fight. Mannery staggered to a nearby block where he collapsed and was spotted by a passer-by, who called police.

He died a couple hours later; police followed a trail of blood from the scene back to the house.

Manning, who is listed in court records as being 5-feet 9-inches tall and 140 pounds, said on the police tape that Mannery came after him.

Mannery was stabbed with a small, folding pocket knife that Manning initially told police he threw out a bus window in Batavia but later was found in the house.

“I don't like to stop until somebody goes to the hospital or somebody goes to the grave,” Manning added during the interview. “When he hit me, that's when it all started. He initiated it all.” Three other men, including Manning's brother, went to jail or prison for their roles in Mannery's death.

Guy L. Manning, 56, and Willie Wimberly, 61, both pleaded guilty to reduced charges of aggravated battery and were each given eight years in prison. They were initially charged with murder.

Their terms have been served because under Illinois law, they were eligible to have their sentences cut in half for good behavior.

Darren A. Barnett, 48, was sentenced to 180 days in jail after pleading guilty to obstructing justice for cleaning up the crime scene.