Man Held in Attack on Woman May Be Freed

The district attorney’s office said Friday it does not have enough evidence to file charges against a Westlake Village man suspected of trying to beat his ex-wife to death.

The decision meant Lee R. Mannheimer, 56, who was being held on $2-million bail on suspicion of attempted murder, was expected to be released from jail late Friday.

In a brief statement, Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury said the investigation into the assault continues, but so far there is insufficient evidence to determine who attacked the woman.

At the same time, authorities moved to restrict Mannheimer’s access to his 9-year-old son. Mannheimer and his ex-wife had been sharing custody of the boy.

But authorities Friday obtained a child protective order turning full custody of the child over to the woman’s relatives.

“We are concerned for his safety given the fact that his father is a flight risk,” said Eric Nishimoto, a Sheriff’s Department spokesman. The custody transfer was requested “in order to protect him from the possibility that his father could flee” with him. The boy is now staying with his mother’s adult daughter from a previous marriage.

Prosecutors said Mannheimer, a wealthy business executive for a lighting company in Chatsworth, has been considered a flight risk because of his financial resources and family ties in Germany. Authorities, however, seized Mannheimer’s passport during a search of his Westlake Village home on Oct. 4, Nishimoto said.

Mannheimer could not be reached for comment and calls to his attorney were not returned late Friday.

Sheriff’s officials said the biggest stumbling block in the criminal case is the inability of the victim, Linda Lou Morrisset, 48, to fully recall the attack.

“We’re concerned about the physical condition of the witness, about the physical limitations of the victim in terms of her complete recollection of the crime and her ability to appear in court,” Sheriff Bob Brooks said.

Authorities said Morrisset, who has since remarried, recently awoke from a coma and identified Mannheimer as her attacker. But Morrisset, who was near death when she was found bludgeoned about the head in the hallway of her Santa Rosa Valley home on Sept. 12, has been drifting in and out of consciousness and hasn’t been able to give a full account of what happened.

And because of her condition, the certified public accountant--who will need long-term rehabilitative care before she can fully recover--is unable to testify in court, Brooks said. She is now being protected with a guard at her hospital door, he said.

Sheriff’s officials say they have other evidence that may implicate Mannheimer, including DNA evidence. But it could take several weeks to get the results of such tests, Brooks said.

“[Prosecutors] would just feel more secure if we had the results of physical evidence, including the DNA evidence, before appearing in court,” Brooks said. “They do have samples that we believe would implicate him, we just need time to process that evidence.”

But a male au pair working for Mannheimer said in an interview Tuesday his employer was home watching television with his son the night before Morrisset was found bludgeoned. And Mannheimer also was home the next morning, waiting for his ex-wife to pick up the boy, when he learned of the attack, the au pair said.

The investigation marks the second time in five years Mannheimer has been investigated on suspicion of trying to kill Morrisset. In 1993, Sacramento County sheriff’s deputies investigated Mannheimer on suspicion of trying to hire two men to kill his spouse, then Linda Lou Mannheimer, after she filed for divorce.

Two other men were arrested in connection with the plot, but ultimately the case was dropped because of insufficient evidence. Mannheimer was never charged in that case.

The couple later went through a bitter divorce, fighting over assets, spousal and child support, and custody of their then 3-year-old son. The divorce became final in June 1994, with a judge ordering the couple to share custody of the boy.

But authorities said custody issues have continued to be a source of tension between the two.

Investigators have not released any information on what they believe prompted the bludgeoning of Morrisset, but have said they considered Mannheimer the main suspect in the case from the beginning.