Luigi Mangione fights to exclude gun, notes as anniversary of UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing nears
NEW YORK– As the one-year anniversary of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s murder approaches this week, the man charged in his death will be in court fighting to stop prosecutors from using evidence they say links him to the crime.
Luigi Mangione, 27, is scheduled to go on trial starting Monday in an attempt to stop the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office from showing or revealing to jurors items seized during his arrest in a yet-to-be-scheduled murder trial.
Those items include a 9mm handgun that prosecutors say matches the one used in the Dec. 4, 2024, killing and a notebook in which they say he described his intention to “wax” a health insurance executive.
After getting state terrorism charges dropped in September, Mangione’s lawyers are now focusing on what they say was unconstitutional conduct that tainted his arrest and threatened his right to a fair trial.
They argue the gun and other items should be excluded because police did not have a warrant to search the backpack in which they were found. They also want to suppress some of his statements to police, such as that he gave a false name, because the officers began asking him questions before telling him he had the right to remain silent.
Disposing of the gun and notebook would be a crucial victory for Mangione’s defense and a major setback for prosecutors, depriving them of a possible murder weapon and evidence they say points to motive.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has cited Mangione’s handwritten diary extensively in court filings, including his praise for Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.
In it, prosecutors say, Mangione reflected on rebellion against “the deadly, greed-fueled health insurance cartel” and claimed that killing an industry executive “makes it look like a greedy bastard planned it.”
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges. The state charges carry the possibility of a life prison sentence, while federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Mangione’s lawyers want to exclude evidence in both cases, but this week’s hearings only concern the state’s case. The next hearing in the federal case is scheduled for January 9.
Court officials say hearings that begin Monday could last more than a week. If so, Mangione will almost certainly be in court Thursday, the anniversary of Thompson’s death.
Defense attorney Marc Agnifilo told a judge last week in an unrelated case that Manhattan prosecutors could call more than two dozen witnesses.
Thompson was killed while heading to a Manhattan hotel for his company’s annual investor conference. Surveillance video shows a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police said “delay,” “refuse” and “drop” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
Mangione, the Ivy League-educated scion of a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa., about 230 miles west of Manhattan.
Prosecutors in the state case did not respond to the defense’s written arguments.
A police officer searching a backpack found with Mangione was heard on a body camera recording saying she was checking to make sure there was “no bomb” in the bag. His lawyers say it was an excuse “intended to cover up an illegal, warrantless search of the backpack.”
Federal prosecutors, fighting similar allegations in their case, said in court filings that police were justified in searching the backpack to ensure it did not contain any dangerous objects. According to federal prosecutors, his statements to police were made voluntarily and before he was taken into custody.
