An Alabama mom was near death from lead poisoning. Who was trying to kill her, and why? In January 2022, the pain coursing through Hannah Pettey's body for six months was hitting her harder than ever. Hannah Pettey: It was unbearable … I was in the bed at this point for probably like a week straight. Anne Marie Green: Were you even able to care for your kids? Hannah Pettey: I did as much as I could. Hannah's son Lincoln was 3, and her daughter Gracie had just turned 2. But Hannah was too sick to attend Gracie's birthday party. Hannah Pettey: I was so weak that I couldn't hardly walk. I had a little office chair that I would roll around in our house because I really didn't get out of the house … Hannah says her husband Brian Mann was there when she needed him the most. Hannah Pettey: When I really started getting sick is when he was the sweetest to me … Brian was a chiropractor, but he says he could not diagnose what was wrong with Hannah. Brian Mann: I had no idea … that's out of my forte. Um, that's someone that I would refer out, refer to a specialist, which is what I wanted to do. On Jan. 18, 2022, Hannah checked in with her mother Nicole Pettey. After they hung up, Nicole says she was haunted by something she heard in her daughter's voice. Nicole Pettey: Just know that feeling, I knew something was wrong. Nicole Pettey: I called and called and called and texted … Hannah called me finally … but she wasn't able to speak. … So she just kind of gasped … and then she'd asked me, she said, "Mom, can you take me to the hospital?" What was making Hannah Pettey sick? Brian was at work, so Nicole rushed over and drove Hannah to UAB, the hospital at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. While there, Nicole took several photos and videos. Nicole Pettey: The doctor … said, obviously she is very sick … I wanna keep her, but there's … no way that they're gonna let me keep her. Her, um, vitals are stable … I said … "if you send her home, she's gonna die …" It was right then that Hannah suffered a terrifying seizure, and, in the frenzy, she ripped off her hospital gown. For Nicole, that moment is frozen in time. Nicole Pettey: … she was skin and bones … they told me that she was actually starving to death when we got there, they said she was, had hours to live … One doctor directed her anger at Nicole. Nicole Pettey: She's like, does she live with you? Like obviously someone should have seen that this person was dying, you know. This person was starving to death. … She said, "who is responsible for her?" Anne-Marie Green: What'd you say? Nicole Pettey: And I said, she's married and they said, "she's married?" The seizure was so severe Hannah lost consciousness. Doctors wanted to talk with Hannah's husband, so Nicole says she texted Brian: "Hey Brian, Hannah had a seizure about 2 hours ago. She still has not come to yet…they said she could be out all day long, so I wanted to let you know if she's not texting you that is why…" Nicole Pettey: And I, of course, didn't get a response from him … Anne-Marie Green: So you don't get … a text back — from Brian … Nicole Pettey: No, never. It had been that way for years, she said; all through his marriage to Hannah, Brian ignored Nicole. Nicole Pettey: … never seen him the whole time they were married … never … any interaction with him whatsoever. Anne-Marie Green: Never for any family gatherings, any holidays, he just never came? Nicole Pettey: Never. Anne-Marie Green: Brian didn't like you. Nicole Pettey: No. That night, Brian never got back to Nicole, but he had learned about Hannah's condition from his mother, who was in touch with Nicole. He arranged for childcare and began driving. Nicole Pettey: He got to the hospital around 9:30 that night … Under COVID restrictions, the hospital was allowing only one visitor at a time and with Nicole inside, Brian was kept out. Brian Mann: I was very irritated that Nicole was not switching out with me, um, letting me in, because I stood outside of that hospital for a long time, trying to get in that room with Hannah. But eventually, Nicole did come out and Brian was allowed in. Anne-Marie Green: It must have been shocking to see her in that hospital bed like that? Brian Mann: Yes … but I was glad that she was there … and — and people were trying to figure something out. When Mann left to go to work, Nicole went in. Hannah was still unconscious and had been that way for nearly 48 hours. Nurses had just finished checking on her when Nicole bent over her daughter. Nicole Pettey: I kissed her head, and I said, "I love you" … Her eyes just popped open. And then she said, "I love you too." Nicole says nurses were amazed and rushed to her side. Nicole Pettey: I just started crying and Hannah said, "have I not been talking?" But Hannah's ordeal was far from over. Days after Hannah was admitted, Nicole says doctors put her in a medical coma while they drained the excess fluid from within her brain. Nicole Pettey: … and then they had to paralyze her because even being in a coma, um, there was just so much fluid in her brain that any type of movement … she would've died… Anne Marie Green: But, Nicole, it's like things are going from bad to worse. Nicole Pettey: Yeah, yeah. Anne Marie Green: Did you ever give up hope? Nicole Pettey: No. Oh no. No. Never. Not one time … Brian says he was wondering why Hannah's health had gone downhill so quickly the day Nicole had picked her up and drove to the hospital. Brian Mann: … that is curious how bad she got from getting in the car with her mother to being admitted to the hospital. His dislike and distrust of Nicole boiled over. Brian Mann: … she is a cruel person … she was not happy with the fact that Hannah seemed happy being with me … Hannah Pettey's body was "packed with lead" Eight days after Hannah was admitted to the hospital, her neurologist told Nicole that doctors had figured out what was causing Hannah's symptoms. Nicole Pettey: Her exact words were, "she has an astronomical amount of lead inside of her." Lead. It was an unusual finding, and Nicole says doctors told her they had never seen a patient like Hannah. Nicole Pettey: They said her colon was so packed, full of lead … it was almost 100% lead. … there was no room in her stomach to hold anything. It was just complete lead plus there was lead just in her bones, just everywhere … Doctors told Nicole there was no way Hannah could have ingested all that lead by accident — it had to be deliberate, and they told her exactly what they thought. Nicole Pettey: They let me know that this is an attempted murder … The hospital reported Hannah's case to the Department of Human Resources, the state agency that protects vulnerable adults. Hospital administrators immediately put Hannah in a secluded room with someone at the door to keep all visitors out. Nicole says she and Brian were told to leave and were no longer allowed to see Hannah because they were considered possible suspects. Nicole Pettey: I was beside myself … because I had to leave her … they had to send me away from the hospital. Brian Mann: I immediately started thinking this is Nicole. … This has to be Nicole pointing fingers … I didn't really think it would get anywhere because I thought it was, again, just Nicole making waves to make waves. Brian Mann: Hannah's mom just caused so many problems and not so much directly at me, but she was just awful to Hannah … Brian says Hannah told him that Nicole could be critical of her. Brian Mann: Why don't you put makeup on, um, are you sure you should eat that? Just stuff like that all the time. Brian Mann: I would say … why do you want this woman in your life? And it always all she could come back to, "she's my mom." … "She's my mom." And that's really the only defense she had for her, "she's my mom." Hannah denies Brian's allegations. She did move away from Nicole and got her own apartment in June 2017, the month she turned 18 years old. She had just graduated from high school. That's when she met Brian, a 29-year-old chiropractor with his own business. Hannah Pettey: He was very, very sweet in the beginning and you know … he's very charming, good looking. (Laughs) And yeah, I really liked him. Anne-Marie Green: Sounds like it was almost sort of instant attraction. Brian Mann: Yes … it was head over heels. … umm everything was just working right. Within weeks of Brian's first date with Hannah, his friend Walker Snyder says Brian told him Hannah was "the one." Walker Snyder: And I'm like, man, you just met her like a week ago or she's 18. (laughs) she doesn't know what she wants. … She doesn't even know what she doesn't want. And he was like, "No, we both know what we want" … It wasn't long before Hannah told friends she was pregnant. Anne-Marie Green: How long were you guys dating … before you proposed? Brian Mann: We started dating in November. I believe I proposed after Valentine's Day … so not — not too long. Anne-Marie Green: Were you nervous? Brian Mann: I was … I take marriage very seriously. And, so, yeah … I was, I was definitely nervous about it. Hannah was nervous, too. She says she had noticed that Brian could be controlling but she plunged ahead — at least until her wedding day in May 2018. Hannah's friend, Alyson Holmes. Alyson Holmes: Right before we were all about to walk down the aisle … Hannah expressed to us that she was, you know … very nervous. She had cold feet … Nicole Pettey: We told her a hundred times over. You don't have to do it. … if this is cold feet, you know, it is what it is. But if this is un — uncertainty, walk away, it's not too late to walk away. In the end, Hannah smiled through her ceremony, and married Brian. Anne-Marie Green: When you walked up to the altar and you looked at him, you had no questions? Hannah Pettey: I mean, I did. … I mean, deep down I did. I was like, I don't really know if I'm making the right decision and everything … The couple moved into Brian's home and started their lives together. Anne-Marie Green: How was he as a husband? Hannah Pettey: For the most part, he was really good as a husband … I mean, it was good and bad. Hannah Pettey: We got in a lot of physical fights … so that's a bad thing, but it wasn't … all the time though, so … Anne-Marie Green: You know, like, as I'm listening to you talk, you know, it sounds almost a little bit like — Hannah Pettey: Mm. Anne-Marie Green: — you're explaining away – Hannah Pettey: Mm-hmm. Anne-Marie Green: — the bad stuff. Do you think you did that in the marriage a bit? Hannah Pettey: Uh, yeah, I definitely did, I think … Yeah. Yeah, my mom tells me that, too. Even their son's birth was a minefield of emotion. Hannah Pettey: You know, I was nine months pregnant, and I had started, um, bleeding. And so, I went to the hospital, and he came in and he got so angry at me … and he was yelling at me … and "you shouldn't have been out walking like in this heat" … like, "that was so stupid and irresponsible" Alyson Holmes: … he was acting so just outrageous that the nurses … even told her … if you need us to do something, then you say this specific word and we'll know … that we need to step in and intervene in what's going on … Hannah never used that "safe word" but as time went on, Brian says the couple came to an understanding. Brian Mann: I would say, Hannah, talk to me. I am on your side…. I'm your biggest fan, your biggest supporter … one day she said … I'm going to trust you. And I want to do this with you. And I want to build this with you. … from then on, it just got better and better. Hannah Pettey: … that's when I started to really fall in love with him. The couple had another child, a daughter, and life was good, they say, until Hannah began to feel sick and went to the hospital emergency room in January 2022. She was left fighting for her life, and doctors were trying to help her, but they told Nicole they had to know more. Anne-Marie Green: They said the only way she gets this much lead in her system — Nicole Pettey: Is to ingest it. Is to ingest it. They said she had to have ingested it. Nicole Pettey: I remember them saying, we don't care if you give her crack … we just want to know about it. We have to know everything she's taken. And that's when Nicole remembered something that she'd completely overlooked: Hannah told her that Brian had given her special supplements – capsules — each and every night. In search of evidence Doctors kept asking Nicole what Hannah had been eating in the months leading up to her hospital stay. Nicole Pettey: From what they can see, it looks like someone has gave her lead every single day for, at least … three months. Was Hannah eating something that contained lead? Nicole says she had no idea because she hardly ever visited her daughter in the months before the seizure. And never if Brian was home. Nicole Pettey: I could only go when he was working … and I would have to leave before he got off work. … I never actually ran into him. Anne-Marie Green: Whoa. Nicole Pettey: Yeah, He didn't come home until I left. As doctors pressed her for information, Nicole remembered Hannah telling her about special supplement capsules that Brian placed on her nightstand every night. Nicole says it didn't strike her as unusual because Brian was a chiropractor, but she told doctors anyway. Nicole Pettey: I told 'em that I know that they were big on supplements. Nicole says doctors repeatedly asked Brian to bring in the capsules described by Hannah, but he never did. Instead, he gave them a photo of common over-the-counter supplements. DHR investigators, who were getting information from Hannah's doctors, contacted Lt. Alan McDearmond of the Hartselle Police Department. Lt. Alan McDearmond: They said that I needed to go arrest somebody for attempting to kill their wife. And I'm like, well, hold up. I mean, we can't just go arrest people. What are you talking about? Investigators told McDearmond that doctors suspected Brian had given Hannah some type of lead-filled capsules over and over again. Lt. Alan McDearmond: … you can take a capsule and open it up, empty the contents and then put the lead in … McDearmond told Brian about the hospital's allegations. Brian Mann: McDearmond … said … your wife's been lead poisoned. … And they think it was intentional. And they said, you're the number one suspect … So, I was kind of dumbfounded … I didn't know what to think about that. McDearmond asked Brian if the police could search his house, and he agreed. Brian Mann: So, I took him all through the house. I let him search my house … And we went through and tried to figure out what she was eating, pills, make-ups and — and things like that. McDearmond says Brian provided a bottle of supplements and a laxative that he said Hannah had taken. Anne-Marie Green: Hannah says you made her take supplements. Brian Mann: That is not true … Brian blamed all his problems on Nicole. Brian Mann: I immediately started thinking this is Nicole …This has to be Nicole pointing fingers. Investigators removed the children from Brian's home. They were placed with his parents. He had supervised visitation. Brian Mann: Nicole had just done so much over the years and Hannah had told me so much about her that I just had no doubt … Nicole was somehow stirring this all up. Brian said he remembered something Hannah had told him that now seemed to hold more significance. In second grade, in a story that Hannah confirms, she recalled being so sick for so long that she visited the school nurse dozens of times. Brian Mann: … and she eventually got really bad, and her mother took her to UAB. She says she remembers staying there about a week. Flash forward to 2022. Hannah was back at UAB Hospital. On January 29, McDearmond went to see Hannah for himself, but she was in a coma. Lt. Alan McDearmond: I had no idea the condition she was in until I went to the hospital and saw her for myself … Doctors showed him Hannah's X-rays. Anne Marie Green: What did you think? Lt. Alan McDearmond: Oh, gosh, I was just floored. I mean, her whole insides was lit up from the — the lead reacting to the X-ray … I mean It was crazy. McDearmond asked Brian to come in. Lt. Alan McDearmond: And at that point is when he refused to further cooperate with the investigation. On February 1, McDearmond cleared Nicole, and she was once again allowed to visit Hannah. Anne-Marie Green: How were you able to clear Nicole? Lt. Alan McDearmond: You know, just through conversations … whether you could tell that she was very concerned about Hannah … she was the person that was caring for Hannah … Anne-Marie Green: It sounds to me like you just like Nicole's behavior. She acted the way you expect a concerned mother to act. … And Brian didn't act the way you expected a concerned husband to act. Lt. Alan McDearmond: That's correct. Anne-Marie Green: Is that evidence? Lt. Alan McDearmond: That's not evidence. No … and the problem with this case was there was not a lot of evidence. Within days, McDearmond received the results of the tests done at Brian and Hannah's home. Lt. Alan McDearmond: Everything was negative. Anne-Marie Green: Did you ever find any capsules? Lt. Alan McDearmond: Um, no. Anne-Marie Green: Did you ever find any supplements that were tainted? Lt. Alan McDearmond:
