Luigi Mangione tries to toss gun, manifesto evidence from US healthcare executive murder case

NEW YORK - Luigi Mangione, the subject of a furious five-day manhunt, calmly wiped down a table at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and ate breakfast just before he was detained by local police.

Police left the side entrance to the restaurant open, allowing customers to walk by as the murder suspect was being questioned.

A video of Mangione’s time at the McDonald’s a year ago was shown in a New York court Dec 1 as his lawyers sought to have evidence seized from his backpack at the fast food chain tossed, including a handgun and a diary that prosecutors say showed he planned to kill a healthcare executive.

In the hearing, which is scheduled to last several days, Mangione’s lawyers argued that the police violated his legal rights by searching the backpack without a warrant and questioned him for 20 minutes before reading him his constitutional rights. 

The 27-year-old is

accused of shooting and killing UnitedHealth Group executive Brian Thompson

outside a Manhattan hotel one year ago this week. The result of the hearing could impact the strength of the murder case and shape what evidence prosecutors will be allowed to introduce at trial.

New York prosecutors showed the video from the McDonald’s as well as footage from outside the Hilton Hotel where Mr Thompson was shot to push back on attempts to throw out any of the evidence they’ve compiled.

Attempts to throw out evidence in criminal cases are common, but rarely succeed in substantially limiting the scope of a case. If successful, Mangione could have a stronger hand in potential plea negotiations with prosecutors, who have charged him with second-degree murder, and other crimes. 

The judge weighing the request earlier this year tossed out first-degree murder charges against Mangione. He also faces federal murder charges

that could result in a death penalty

if he is convicted. 

Prosecutors say they have compiled an unassailable trove of evidence against Mangione, including videos of him at the crime scene outside the Hilton on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan.

The material from the Altoona search contains a so-called manifesto, a key document in which the former Ivy League graduate expressed his desire to kill an insurance executive and lauded “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski.

His lawyers argue his backpack was illegally searched, and the anything in it shouldn’t be used as evidence.

The case has drawn intense national interest as Mangione has been cheered by fans who say he expressed their rage at the health-care system, while government officials, including President Donald Trump, have linked him to “left-wing” extremism. 

Prosecutors also played audio recordings when the McDonald’s manager places a 911 call around 9.14am local time on Dec 9, 2024, from the fast food chain as she reports that some customers think the shooting suspect was at the restaurant.

‘Really upset’

“I have a customer here that other customers were saying supposedly that he looks like the CEO shooter in New York,” the female manager said on the call. “They’re really upset” she tells a police dispatcher. 

The McDonald’s manager was frequently interrupted by orders as she tried to provide a description of the man she believes was the Thompson shooter.

“He has a beanie pulled down but the only thing you can see are his eyebrows,” the employee said. “I don’t know what to do now guys.” 

Two Altoona officers arrive at the restaurant at about 9.28am and begin questioning Mangione as he sat in a back corner of the restaurant eating breakfast. Eventually more than eight officers arrive and surround Mangione, question him and eventually handcuff him.

Ahead of the hearing, Mangione’s lawyers, Karen Friedman Agnifilo and her husband Marc Agnifilo, laid out in court documents their own detailed timeline of his arrest and the conduct of officers last December.

Officer Joseph Detwiler arrived at the McDonald’s that morning and told Mr Mangione that someone had called the police because they thought he was suspicious. 

“Even though Patrolman Detwiler had already decided that Mr Mangione was the New York shooter, he told Mr Mangione, as a pretext for the police interaction, that they were there because Mr Mangione had been at the McDonald’s for 40 minutes,” Mr Friedman Agnifilo said. 

Mr Detwiler asked Mr Mangione what he was doing in New York, but before he could respond the patrolman asked Mangione to stand up and put his hands on top of his head, with Mr Detwiler “grabbing and lifting” Mangione’s right wrist and then frisking him.

Another officer, Christy Wasser, then searched Mangione’s backpack, without a warrant, where they found the 9mm handgun and the manifesto. Mr Friedman Agnifilo said the police didn’t obtain a search warrant for another seven hours.

“Realising she had made a potentially devastating mistake by thoroughly searching the backpack of a murder suspect in a significant New York press case without a warrant, Wasser suddenly stated that she was searching through the backpack at McDonald’s to make sure there ‘wasn’t a bomb or anything in here,”’ Mr Friedman Agnifilo wrote. 

Mangione has already scored a surprise victory from New York judge Gregory Carro in the state murder case.

In September, Mr Carro tossed first-degree murder charges that classified the crime as an act of terrorism, ruling Mangione didn’t intend to terrorise or intimidate UnitedHealth employees. BLOOMBERG