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In the days and weeks following the horrific Green Pond Massacre on July 2, 2023, it wasn’t just the friends and family members of the seven victims trying to make sense of the unthinkable. An entire community was left searching for answers in the wake of the unspeakable mass murder.
The recently released jail calls of 35-year-old Ryan L. Manigo – the grocery store butcher accused by police of perpetrating the crime – provide an uncensored, behind-the-scenes snapshot of a suspect’s family sickened, confused and struggling to comprehend the vicious slayings.
And reconcile the criminal charges with the accused whom they know and love…
The calls are heartbreaking to say the least. Loved ones repeatedly ask for an explanation, a refutation of the public narrative or mention of an accomplice. They give him Manigo many opportunities to deny, blame or defend – but he does nothing of the sort. Instead, his blank responses are devoid of any information that might satisfy their pleas or answer their questions. Not because this responses have been redacted – but because Manigo declines to shift blame, declines to deny full responsibility for the atrocities and offers no explanation for why it happened.
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RELATED | GREEN POND MASSACRE: ‘UNDER CLOAK OF DARKNESS’
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THE MASSACRE
Family members gathered at the home of matriarch Maggie Magwood for a July 4 weekend celebration two years ago when Manigo – under cover of darkness – entered the home and undertook the slaughter of four adults and two children, including his own daughter, 11-year-old Sariya Manigo. The other victims included: Amose Magwood, 73, Jefferson Burnell, 49, Michele Marie Wright, 50, and Shamiah Rutledge, 7.
There was only one survivor — a young teen girl who provided critical information to responding deputies before she was life-flighted to a trauma center for the treatment of her injuries. The details are dark and disturbing. Maggie Magwood — the grandmother of Manigo’s wife — suffocated as her home went up in flames. The other six family members suffered slash and stab wounds. According to law enforcement, Manigo — a grocery store butcher and landscaper — attacked the adults one by one before terrorizing three minor girls by stabbing them and sexually assaulting them.
The lone survivor – who had just witnessed the murders of her great grandmother, uncle, aunt, cousin and friends — then endured a knife attack and sexual assault. She survived by playing dead as Manigo set the Magwood home on fire and fled the scene.
Manigo is facing 21 charges including six counts of murder, six counts of possessing a weapon during the commission of a violent crime, one count of attempted murder, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of criminal sexual conduct, two counts of criminal sexual conduct with a minor, one count of incest and arson.
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RELATED | GREEN POND MASSACRE: JAIL CALLS TO BE RELEASED
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A BATTLE OVER THE PUBLIC’S RIGHT TO KNOW
The release of Manigo’s jailhouse phone calls was nearly two years in the making — entangled in a protracted legal battle that pitted his defense team against journalists and transparency advocates. At the heart of the fight: whether jail recordings, held by the government, should be considered public records under South Carolina’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).
S.C. circuit court judge Robert Bonds ordered the calls released but the defense appealed — arguing that the calls were private, irrelevant and prejudicial.
On January 24, 2024, the S.C. Court of Appeals denied the defense’s appeal and sided with Bonds – ruling that jail communications are, in fact, public records. The court found no “irreparable harm” in the release and rejected the notion that publication would interfere with Manigo’s right to a fair trial.
The defense requested a rehearing — or another opportunity to make their case for sealing the phone call recordings. While the request served to hold up the process for several months, it was ultimately denied on June 5, 2025 — paving the way for redacted versions of the calls to be released to the news organizations that requested them. Even then, the versions made public were redacted by the defense before publication.
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The court’s decision aligned with similar rulings in other headline-making South Carolina cases — including that of Jamie Komoroski, the woman charged in the Folly Beach drunk driving crash that killed newlywed Samantha Hutchinson.
Under South Carolina law, records maintained by correctional facilities — including recorded phone calls — fall under FOIA unless they involve privileged communications, such as those between an inmate and their attorney. Courts have consistently upheld that inmates have no reasonable expectation of privacy when using jail phones — a warning that is announced at the beginning of each call.
The case now serves as another benchmark in the ongoing debate over government-held recordings, with implications far beyond Manigo’s prosecution.
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THE CALLS
FITSNews has reviewed dozens of calls, placed or received by Manigo, in the weeks following his arrest. Many are brief. Some are incomplete — or hangup calls. Most involve Manigo speaking in hushed tones with family members.
The earliest calls released are dated July 10, 2023 – more than a week after Manigo’s arrest. While they provide little insight as to possible motivation for the crimes, they provide an up close and personal look at the damage such violent crimes do to the family of an alleged perpetrator.
On July 23, 2023, in a phone call with a female relative, she explains to Manigo what the family is going through.
“Everybody’s in shock,” she said to Manigo. “Everybody has questions — I know you gather that much. We don’t know who this person is. It’s been questioned whether you’ve been used — whether there was somebody else. Was somebody there that you’re not saying nothing? Like it’s just – don’t nobody wants to believe that this is something that you were capable of doing. It’s got everybody sick, hurt, confused, mad, embarrassed, disgusted, sad — every emotion that you can probably imagine. The number one is confusion.”
Manigo offers little in terms of a response. He said he doesn’t know what happened.
“I just know you can’t say much,” she said before ending the call. “I just want you to know that I still love you. I hate what you are implicated in and involved in. And I just know you have to deal with your own demons on your own, and there is nothing nobody can say to you that you shouldn’t already feel for yourself.”
In an earlier call on July 22, 2023, Manigo and a male relative discussed the welfare of family members – all of whom are devastated by the allegations against him.
“Your pops and ma – they are not doing good,” the relative said. “This shit nearly killed him. He’s not good at all.”
Manigo offered no response.
On July 27, 2023, Manigo reached out to his “auntie.” Like the other family members who accept his calls, she tells him she loves him no matter what. But, in the moment, she cannot believe the charges against him.
“I hope and pray it’s not for real,” she said. “I don’t believe it yet.”
In a series of calls on July 31, 2023, a male relative of Manigo struggled to find the words to ask the questions on his mind.
“I don’t understand this,” the caller explained. “And I just, I don’t know what to say. . . it’s just unbelievable for everybody. These were some of the best people in this world. I’ll never understand this. . . The way everything looked, and all the stuff that’s coming out — it’s more than unbelievable.”
Continuing the conversation in a subsequent call, the relative admonished Manigo to speak up if he did not commit the crimes alone.
Again, Manigo acknowledged the concern but said little in response.
“You did all of that?” the caller asked in disbelief — but no clarification was provided by Manigo.
Manigo’s tone and bewilderment are jarring when paired with the reality of the alleged crimes — a house of horrors where all but one of the victims were stabbed, three minor girls were sexually assaulted, and the 101-year-old homeowner was left to die in her burning house.
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THE MURDAUGH JAIL CALLS THAT OPENED THE DOOR
The fight to release Manigo’s phone calls didn’t begin with Manigo — it began with convicted killer Alex Murdaugh.
In the weeks after Murdaugh was arrested for financial crimes and later double murder, FITSNews filed FOIA requests for access to his jail calls. When the calls were finally released, they revealed an embattled Murdaugh working the phones to coordinate legal strategy, financial transfers, and media spin. Not only did the content shed light on his mindset — it showed how high-profile defendants may try to manipulate narratives from behind bars.
The Murdaugh release marked a turning point: media outlets began regularly pursuing jail communications in criminal cases of public interest. Defense attorneys scrambled to limit access, citing privacy and prejudice. But South Carolina courts — citing the Murdaugh case — repeatedly affirmed that transparency outweighs discomfort.
From Komoroski to Manigo, this standard has been upheld: if it’s recorded by the jail, it belongs to the people.
The release of these calls comes amid growing scrutiny of how law enforcement agencies, prosecutors, and courts handle pretrial transparency. And with Colleton County still reeling from the Murdaugh murders – and the looming possibility of a retrial – the Manigo case threatens to eclipse even that spectacle in terms of brutality and psychological trauma.
Manigo remains behind bars awaiting trial. A date has not been set.
FITSNews will continue to provide coverage as this case develops.
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THE ORDER DENYING REHEARING…
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
Callie Lyons is a relentless investigative journalist, researcher, and author known for exposing hard truths with heart and precision. As a journalist for FITSNews, she dives into high-profile and murky cases—like that of Mica Francis Miller— with fearless resolve and a sharp eye for detail, whether it’s tracking white-collar crime, uncovering religious abuse, or examining the often-bizarre behavior of those who believe they’re above the law.
Callie made waves with her groundbreaking 2007 book Stain-Resistant, Nonstick, Waterproof and Lethal, the first to reveal the dangers of forever chemicals, a story that helped inspire the film Dark Waters and influenced global scientific dialogue. Her work has appeared in numerous documentaries, including Toxic Soup, National Geographic’s Parched: Toxic Waters, and more recently Citizen Sleuth, which examines the complexities of true crime podcasting.
Whether she’s navigating environmental disasters or the darker corners of society, Lyons operates with one guiding belief: “Truth never damages a cause that is just.”
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1 comment
As I have said before many times, personal phone calls from unconvicted jail inmates should not be fodder for public or media consumption. This is a particularly vile form of yellow journalism that not only invades the privacy of the as yet unconvicted inmate (you know, “innocent until proven guilty”), but innocent friends, family, and associates, as well.
It will be interesting to see, if one day, a member of media that delights in making the contents of these calls or perhaps one of their family wind up with their private calls from a jailhouse being made public. Karma.