The mother of Chelsea Manning, a former United States soldier and Wikileaks source, drowned in the bathtub after drinking alcohol, an inquest has heard.
First responders in January discovered Susan Manning submerged in bathwater inside her home in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire, in the southwest of Wales, according to BBC News. The 65-year-old was “heavily intoxicated,” with her blood-alcohol content well above the legal limit.
Her 32-year-old daughter, who was being held at a U.S. detention center at the time, was unable to attend the funeral.
Chelsea Manning, an ex-U.S. Army intelligence analyst, was held for contempt between March 2019 and March 2020 over her refusal to testify before a grand jury investigating Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.
She was previously jailed between 2010 and 2017 after being found guilty of charges including espionage for leaking secret military files to Wikileaks.
An inquest into Susan’s death also heard about the dissolving of her marriage to former American soldier Brian Manning prior to her move back to Wales in 2001. Upon her return, she faced numerous health issues, including a stroke in 2007.
The inquest was additionally told that Susan was generally well-liked by friends and family but “was drinking alcohol to an unknown excess.”
On the day of her death on Jan. 9, Susan’s sister tried to dissuade her from taking a bath given her level of intoxication. No one was able to get in touch with Manning the following morning, prompting her brother-in-law to stop by her home.
When he could not get inside, he alerted authorities, who forced entry and found Manning dead inside.
Coroner Paul Bennett said he could not find any evidence of suicidal intentions and concluded Manning’s death was accidental, having “drowned in the bath while heavily intoxicated.”
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I wouldn't be shocked to see Chelsea "drown in a bathtub intoxicated" too. What a mess of a family.
