  We discuss the three-body decay mechanisms of many-body resonances.
Sequential decays proceed via two-body configurations after emission of the
third particle. In direct decay all three particles leave simultaneously their
interaction regions. The intermediate paths within the interaction regions are
not observables and only accessible through models. The momentum distributions
carry, apart from polarization, all possible information about decay modes and
resonance structure. In this context we discuss detailed results for the decay
of the $^{9}$Be($5/2^-$) resonance.
