Hannah Pettey was a young mother of two when an unexplained illness began consuming her life.
For months, she suffered severe pain, nausea, weakness and weight loss. By January 2022, Hannah could barely walk. She was using an office chair to move around her home and had become too sick to attend her daughter’s second birthday party.
When her mother took her to the University of Alabama at Birmingham hospital, doctors discovered that Hannah was close to death. What they found inside her body transformed a medical mystery into a criminal investigation.
Hannah had been poisoned with lead.
Prosecutors would later argue that her husband, chiropractor Brian Thomas Mann, had spent months putting lead into capsules and giving them to her while presenting them as supplements. A jury accepted that case in 2025 and convicted Mann of attempted murder.
Hannah survived an attack that doctors feared would kill her. She later recovered, completed college, became a teacher, returned to raising her children and testified against the man prosecutors said had tried to end her life.
- “The Gaslighting of Hannah Pettey”: 48 Hours Reports September 5 2026
- Who Is Brian Thomas Mann & Where Is He Now? 2026 Update & Profile
Hannah Was 18 When She Met Brian Mann
Hannah had finished high school and moved into her own apartment when she met Brian Mann in 2017.
She was 18.
Mann was 29 and had established himself as a chiropractor with his own business.
Hannah later described him as charming and sweet when their relationship began. The attraction developed at a fast pace.
Mann told a friend within a short period that Hannah was the woman he wanted to marry.
Hannah became pregnant, and the relationship moved toward marriage.
Their Relationship Moved Fast
Mann proposed only months after the couple began dating.
They married in May 2018 after a short engagement.
Hannah was already having doubts.
She later told 48 Hours that she had noticed controlling behaviour during the relationship and experienced uncertainty before walking down the aisle.
Her mother, Nicole Pettey, told Hannah that she did not have to proceed with the wedding if her concerns went beyond ordinary nerves.
Hannah chose to marry Mann.
The couple began building a family.
Hannah Became a Mother of Two
Hannah and Mann had a son, Lincoln, and a daughter, Gracie.
Family life became the centre of Hannah’s world.
By the time her health collapsed in 2022, Lincoln was three and Gracie had turned two.
Hannah continued trying to care for them even as her physical condition deteriorated.
Her attachment to her children later became a major part of her recovery.
Nurses treating Hannah in hospital reminded her that her children were waiting for her.
Nicole recalled that those reminders gave Hannah something to fight for when her condition was at its worst.
Hannah Later Described Problems in the Marriage
Hannah did not describe every part of her marriage as unhappy.
She said Mann could be a good husband and that there were periods when their relationship worked.
There were also serious problems.
Hannah told 48 Hours that the couple had physical fights.
She acknowledged that she sometimes minimised or explained away behaviour that should have concerned her.
One incident occurred late in her pregnancy.
Hannah began bleeding and went to the hospital.
She said Mann became angry with her and blamed her for walking in hot weather.
A friend said nurses became concerned enough about Mann’s conduct to give Hannah a code word she could use if she wanted staff to intervene.
Hannah never used it.
Brian Mann Had a Hostile Relationship With Hannah’s Mother
Nicole and Mann did not get along.
Nicole said Mann avoided her throughout the marriage and that she could visit Hannah only while he was at work.
She would leave before he returned home.
Mann gave a different account.
He accused Nicole of being critical of Hannah and portrayed her as a disruptive influence in their marriage.
That hostility became important after Hannah was poisoned.
When investigators began asking who had access to Hannah, both her husband and mother initially came under scrutiny.
Mann would later argue that Nicole had helped direct suspicion toward him.
Hannah Began Becoming Sick in 2021
Hannah’s health began declining months before her hospitalization.
She experienced severe abdominal and back pain.
Nausea and vomiting followed.
Her weight fell.
She became weak.
Doctors could not identify the cause.
The illness progressed without an explanation.
For Hannah, there was no single moment when she knew she had been attacked.
Her body appeared to be failing from an unknown medical condition.
That was part of what made the poisoning so difficult to recognise.
Her Condition Became Severe by January 2022
By January, Hannah had become almost incapacitated.
She spent long periods in bed.
Walking became difficult.
She used an office chair to roll around her house because she lacked the strength to move normally.
She continued trying to care for Lincoln and Gracie.
Then she became too sick to attend Gracie’s second birthday party.
Hannah’s family could see that something was wrong, but no one yet understood the cause.
The person she believed was caring for her was her husband.
Hannah later said Mann became kinder toward her as she became sicker.
Hannah Called Her Mother for Help
On January 18, 2022, Nicole spoke with Hannah and became alarmed by the sound of her voice.
Nicole kept calling and texting.
When Hannah returned the call, she could barely speak.
She asked her mother to take her to the hospital.
Nicole drove to Hannah’s home and took her to UAB Hospital.
Doctors recognised that Hannah was sick, but her stable vital signs initially complicated the decision about whether to admit her.
Then Hannah suffered a seizure.
Everything changed.
Doctors Said Hannah Was Close to Death
The seizure was severe.
Hannah lost consciousness.
During the emergency, Nicole saw how much weight her daughter had lost.
She later recalled that Hannah looked like skin and bones.
Doctors told Nicole that Hannah was starving to death.
They feared she had only hours to live.
The medical team was now dealing with a young woman whose physical condition had deteriorated far beyond what her family understood.
Hannah remained unconscious for close to two days.
At one point, Nicole kissed her daughter and told her that she loved her.
Hannah opened her eyes and responded.
It was only the beginning of her fight.
Hannah Was Placed Into a Medical Coma
Hannah’s condition continued to worsen after she regained consciousness.
Excess fluid developed around her brain.
Doctors placed her into a medically induced coma.
Nicole said Hannah also had to be paralysed because movement could have made the pressure inside her skull more dangerous.
Doctors were trying to prevent catastrophic brain injury or death.
At that stage, they still did not know what had caused the illness.
The answer came eight days after Hannah entered the hospital.
Doctors Found an Extraordinary Amount of Lead
Hannah’s neurologist told Nicole that her daughter had an enormous amount of lead inside her body.
The findings were visible on medical imaging.
Hannah’s digestive system was filled with the toxic metal.
Nicole recalled doctors describing her colon as almost packed with lead.
Lead had also entered other parts of her body, including her bones.
The diagnosis explained the abdominal pain, neurological symptoms, weight loss and collapse.
It also created another question.
How could a young woman have ingested that much lead?
Doctors Believed Hannah Had Been Poisoned
Medical staff did not believe Hannah’s exposure was accidental.
The amount of lead suggested repeated ingestion.
Doctors told Nicole that they were dealing with a suspected attempted murder.
The hospital reported the matter to Alabama’s Department of Human Resources.
Hannah was moved to a protected area.
Visitors were restricted.
Nicole and Mann were both told to leave while investigators considered who could have been responsible.
Hannah was now the victim in a criminal investigation while still fighting for her life.
Investigators Began Looking at What Hannah Had Been Taking
Doctors asked about everything Hannah had eaten, drunk or swallowed during the months before her hospitalization.
Nicole remembered that Hannah had talked about supplements.
Mann had been putting capsules on Hannah’s nightstand for her to take.
Because he was a chiropractor, the supplements had not seemed unusual.
Now investigators wondered whether they had been used to deliver poison.
A capsule could be opened, emptied and filled with another substance.
Prosecutors would later argue that this was how the lead entered Hannah’s body.
Police Did Not Immediately Have Proof Against Brian Mann
Hartselle police searched the Mann home.
Mann initially cooperated.
He showed investigators medications, supplements and other substances Hannah might have consumed.
Police tested items from the house.
They found no contaminated capsules.
They found no lead-filled supplements.
They found no evidence of someone preparing lead in the home.
Those results created a major gap in the case.
Investigators knew Hannah had been poisoned.
They did not yet know how.
They also had no direct evidence showing Mann had administered the lead.
Hannah’s Mother Was Also Considered
Mann accused Nicole of causing the investigation and suggested she could have been responsible.
Police therefore had to examine her access to Hannah.
Nicole was initially treated as a possible suspect along with Mann.
Investigators later cleared her.
Lt. Alan McDearmond said Nicole’s conduct was consistent with someone concerned about Hannah’s survival.
He also acknowledged that behaviour itself was not evidence.
Nicole regained access to Hannah’s hospital room.
The investigation continued to focus on how someone could have exposed Hannah to lead for months.
Doctors Feared Hannah Might Never Fully Recover
The poisoning had affected Hannah’s brain.
When investigators first tried to speak with her, she could be coherent at one moment and confused at another.
She experienced hallucinations.
At one point, she described seeing people coming through the walls.
Doctors warned investigators that Hannah might survive without recovering enough cognitive function to become a reliable witness.
Police were told not to build a case that depended on her testimony.
Hannah defied those expectations.
Her strength and awareness began returning.
The children provided motivation.
Hannah Learned That Her Husband Was a Suspect
As Hannah recovered, a neurologist explained why investigators believed Mann might have poisoned her.
The revelation was devastating.
Hannah had viewed Mann as the husband helping care for her while she was sick.
Now doctors were telling her that he might have caused the illness.
Nicole described watching Hannah struggle with the possibility.
After nearly two months in hospital, Hannah was discharged on March 3, 2022.
She moved in with Nicole.
She reunited with Lincoln and Gracie.
She filed for divorce.
Then she began doubting the case against Mann.
Hannah Returned to See Mann After Leaving Hospital
About one week after her discharge, Hannah met Mann at their former home.
She wanted to make sense of what had happened.
Hannah later said she wanted Mann to convince her that the accusations were impossible.
She was emotional and spent much of the encounter crying.
Soon afterward, she contacted her divorce lawyer.
She said she wanted to stop the divorce.
Hannah began telling herself that Mann could not have poisoned her and that another explanation had to exist.
She also asked police to stop investigating him.
Hannah Almost Ended the Criminal Investigation
McDearmond understood that Hannah’s refusal to cooperate could make the case difficult to prosecute.
He agreed to close it if that was what she wanted.
He presented her with a form.
He explained that the document would show that Hannah had asked police to stop investigating.
If Mann later killed her and her family blamed law enforcement, the department would have proof that Hannah had asked them to close the case.
That explanation changed her mind.
Hannah refused to sign.
She told police to continue.
She also resumed the divorce process.
Hannah Told Police About the Life Insurance
As Hannah began cooperating, she told investigators that Mann had taken out life insurance policies on her.
Some coverage had been arranged while they were still dating.
Investigators discovered multiple policies.
They also learned that Mann had sought additional insurance while Hannah was fighting for her life in hospital.
According to the 48 Hours investigation, the combined potential payout could have exceeded $5 million if the additional policies had been approved.
Prosecutors viewed the money as motive.
Hannah also alleged that Mann had made her wear ankle weights during medical check-ups so her weight loss would not draw attention that could affect insurance matters.
A Contractor Gave Police a Breakthrough
Police still needed to connect Mann to a source of lead.
That break came from contractor Danny Hill.
Hill had worked on an X-ray room at Mann’s chiropractic office.
The walls contained sheets of soft lead used for radiation shielding.
Hill demonstrated that the material could be scraped into small pieces.
Those shavings could fit inside a capsule.
Hill also remembered leaving excess lead at the office after the work was finished.
He said Mann told him that he would deal with the leftover material.
Investigators obtained a warrant and recovered lead sheeting from the office.
For prosecutors, it provided evidence that Mann had access to the substance they believed had been used against Hannah.
Hannah Remembered Mann Insisting She Take Her Vitamins
As Hannah recovered, she began remembering moments from the months when she had been sick.
One became important at trial.
Hannah recalled being in bed in severe pain and feeling too nauseated to take anything.
Mann told her he had left vitamins on the nightstand.
Hannah said she told him she could not take them.
According to her testimony, Mann became upset and insisted that she swallow them.
Prosecutors argued that these capsules were the delivery system for the lead.
No contaminated capsule survived.
Hannah’s memory became part of the circumstantial case.
The Poisoning Caused Permanent Damage
Hannah survived, but the poisoning altered her life.
She suffered neurological and physical consequences.
One of the most painful effects concerned her ability to have more children.
Doctors told Hannah she could no longer have children.
She was only 22.
Hannah kept that information private until Mann’s trial.
When she testified, she described the permanent damage caused by what had happened to her.
The crime had not ended when she left hospital.
Its effects continued into her future.
Brian Mann Was Arrested in 2022
A Morgan County grand jury eventually indicted Mann for attempted murder.
He was arrested in September 2022.
Mann pleaded not guilty.
He was released on a $500,000 bond and placed under strict conditions while awaiting trial.
Hannah continued rebuilding her life while the criminal case moved through the courts.
Almost three years passed between Mann’s arrest and his trial.
For Hannah, that meant living with the unresolved question of whether a jury would believe the case against her husband.
Hannah Testified Against Mann in 2025
Mann went on trial in Morgan County in June 2025.
Hannah was the prosecution’s first witness.
Her appearance carried significance beyond the evidence she provided.
Doctors once thought she might never recover enough brain function to speak coherently.
Now she walked into court and described what happened.
Hannah testified about her marriage, her illness, Mann’s supplements and the night he insisted that she take the capsules despite her nausea.
She also spoke about the permanent consequences of the poisoning.
The Defense Suggested Hannah’s Mother Could Be Responsible
Mann’s defense argued that the state had not proved who placed the lead into Hannah’s body.
Attorney Chad Morgan stressed that police never found a poisoned capsule.
He also suggested Nicole could have poisoned Hannah.
One theory involved milkshakes that Nicole was alleged to have brought her daughter.
Hannah rejected that account.
She said she did not remember her mother bringing her milkshakes and said she did not like milkshakes.
Prosecutors argued that Nicole did not have the sustained access required to expose Hannah repeatedly over the months reflected in the medical evidence.
The defense called no witnesses.
A Jury Convicted Brian Mann of Attempted Murder
On June 12, 2025, jurors found Mann guilty of attempted murder.
The verdict meant the jury accepted the prosecution’s argument that Mann had used lead to try to kill his wife.
Hannah said it took several seconds for the verdict to register.
Then she began to cry.
The decision provided a legal conclusion to the question that had followed her since doctors discovered the lead.
The person convicted of trying to kill her was the man she had married.
Mann Received a Life Sentence
Mann returned to court in August 2025.
Judge Charles Elliott sentenced him to life in prison.
For Hannah, the sentence marked the end of the criminal trial but not the end of the consequences.
She had survived.
She had testified.
The jury had believed the prosecution.
Her former husband was now facing the prospect of spending decades in prison.
Mann later challenged his conviction, but the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals upheld it in 2026.
Hannah Completed College and Became a Teacher
One of the most striking parts of Hannah’s story is what happened after doctors feared she would die or suffer permanent cognitive incapacity.
She returned to college.
She completed a teaching degree.
She became a teacher.
Hannah told 48 Hours that she wanted to focus on being the best teacher and mother she could be.
The achievement represented more than a career milestone.
It showed how far she had travelled from the hospital bed where doctors once questioned whether she would regain normal cognitive function.
Hannah Returned to Her Former Home With Her Children
Hannah and her children later moved back into the house she had shared with Mann.
The home carried memories of the period when she was becoming sicker without knowing why.
Hannah chose to transform it.
She repainted.
She redecorated.
She cleaned the property and filled it with photographs of herself, Lincoln and Gracie.
She said the changes made it feel like their home rather than the place she had shared with Mann.
The act became part of reclaiming a life that had once centred around him.
Hannah Said She Forgave Mann
Hannah has spoken about forgiving Mann despite what a jury found he had done.
That did not mean disputing the conviction.
She has said she hopes he can change for the sake of his family and children.
Her response reflects the complexity of their shared history.
Mann was not a stranger who attacked her.
He was the father of her children and the person she once believed she would build her life with.
Hannah has also said that she no longer believes the love she thought existed between them was real.
What Happened to Hannah Pettey?
Hannah Pettey survived.
That answer once seemed uncertain.
Doctors believed she was close to death when she entered UAB Hospital in January 2022.
She suffered severe lead poisoning, seizures, neurological problems, massive weight loss and a medical crisis that required a medically induced coma.
She endured permanent health consequences, including the loss of her ability to have more children.
She then faced another ordeal: learning that investigators believed her husband was responsible.
Hannah recovered enough to help police, testify in court and watch a jury convict Mann of attempting to murder her.
Hannah’s Life After the Poisoning
By 2026, Hannah’s life looked different from the one she had before the poisoning.
She was raising her two children.
She had graduated from college.
She was working as a teacher.
She had moved back into her home and reshaped it around herself and the children.
Mann was serving a life sentence after his attempted-murder conviction was upheld on appeal.
Hannah continued to deal with the physical and emotional effects of what happened.
She has described thinking about the poisoning at night and confronting the knowledge that it took place over an extended period.
Her life is not a return to what existed before 2021.
It is a life built after surviving it.
Hannah Pettey’s Story Became the Centre of 48 Hours
48 Hours: The Gaslighting of Hannah Pettey tells a story that began as a medical mystery.
A young mother was losing weight, suffering constant pain and becoming too weak to care for herself.
The person responsible was not obvious.
The poison was hidden.
There was no violent crime scene.
Hannah’s body became the evidence.
Doctors found the lead.
Investigators found the suspected source.
Prosecutors presented the motive and opportunity.
Hannah provided the voice doctors once feared she would never recover.
Her story ultimately became one of survival.
Brian Mann’s attempted-murder conviction answered who the jury believed had poisoned her.
What happened after that belongs to Hannah.
She survived the lead.
She survived the hospital.
She survived the marriage.
And she rebuilt a life with the two children who had helped give her a reason to survive.
More “The Gaslighting of Hannah Pettey”
- “The Gaslighting of Hannah Pettey”: 48 Hours Reports September 5 2026
- Who Is Hannah Pettey & Where Is She Now? 2026 Update & Profile
- Who Is Brian Thomas Mann & Where Is He Now? 2026 Update & Profile
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