KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A Morgan County man was given a life sentence after he was convicted of killing his girlfriend in July 2022, before stealing her car and driving across the country to Utah.
Russell Johnson, the District Attorney General, said Thursday that Christopher Falls checked himself into a Veterans Administration medical facility after arriving in Utah and killing Julia Manning.
"Julia Manning had not been seen or heard from by friends and family for over two weeks after Falls took off from Morgan County. On July 7th a close friend went by Manning’s Lancing residence, made entry, and discovered Manning’s badly decomposed body along with her four dogs," Johnson said in a release posted to social media.
Investigators learned neither Falls nor Manning had been seen since neighbors saw him leave in Manning's car.
"This was significant because her neighbors informed the investigators that Manning was adamant about not letting anyone, including Falls, ever drive her car," Johnson said.
An autopsy revealed that Manning's mandible was fractured in two spots, and she had several fractures along her spine. A forensic anthropologist said her neck "had to have been physically and violently twisted," according to Johnson.
He said the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and the Morgan County Sheriff's Office used cell phone data and license plate reader cameras to track Falls after he drove away from the county. He was also put on TBI's Most Wanted list.
Johnson said after Falls was discharged, he started heading back to the eastern U.S. and was found at a homeless shelter in Illinois. He said on July 21, the Galesburg Police Department encountered Falls after getting a call that he was staying at a shelter and causing a disturbance. Police there learned that he had a warrant out for murder, and brought him into custody.
Authorities also found the car that belonged to Manning, and while analyzing it found a backpack belonging to Falls that had a box prosecutors said contained Manning's personal documents. Witnesses said the documents were usually kept in a wallet in her purse.
"[Prosecutors] testified how Julia Manning would have given anyone the shirt off her back (if not her Subaru). Instead, Christopher Falls had taken the shirt off of Manning," Johnson said in the release.
