(File Photo: Source for Photo: FILE – Luigi Mangione appears in Manhattan Criminal court, Dec. 23, 2024, in New York. (Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP, file)
NEW YORK (AP) — A gun and notebook that prosecutors say link Luigi Mangione to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson can be used as evidence at his murder trial, a judge ruled Monday, rejecting a defense argument that they were seized illegally, before a search warrant was obtained.
Judge Gregory Carro’s decision, five months after he held a hearing to examine how police came upon the items, is a major win for prosecutors, enabling them to show the jury a possible murder weapon and evidence they say points to motive. That mirrors an earlier ruling in Mangione’s federal case.
The judge allowed evidence obtained during a subsequent inventory of his backpack at the police station, but said evidence found during an initial search of Mangione’s backpack during his arrest at a McDonald’s restaurant must be suppressed, including a gun ammunition magazine, cellphone, passport, wallet and computer chip. “I find that the search of backpack at the McDonald’s was an improper warrantless search,” the judge said.
Mangione’s state murder trial is set to begin on Sept. 8. Jury selection for his federal trial, which involves stalking charges, is scheduled to start on Oct. 13, with opening statements and testimony beginning on Nov. 4. The state trial is expected to take four to six weeks.
Mangione, 28, has pleaded not guilty in both cases. He faces the possibility of life in prison if he is convicted in either one.
Both sides win something in this ruling
Police found the gun, notebook and other items in Mangione’s backpack after he was spotted eating breakfast at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 9, 2024, five days after Thompson was killed outside a Manhattan hotel. Altoona is about 230 miles (370 kilometers) west of Manhattan.
The gun, a 3D-printed pistol, matches the one used to kill Thompson, prosecutors said. The notebook, which prosecutors have termed as a “manifesto,” describes wanting to “wack” a health insurance executive and rebelling against “the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel.”
Mangione’s lawyers argued that the search was illegal and that the items should be excluded from his trial because police officers looked through the backpack before obtaining a warrant.
Prosecutors maintain the search was legal because it was conducted in conjunction with an arrest and officers were following Altoona police protocols that require them to check for dangerous items that could be harmful to them or the public. Police eventually obtained a warrant, prosecutors said.
Mangione’s statements to police prior to his arrest matter mainly because, as shown on body-worn camera video, he initially gave officers a fake name, Mark Rosario. He eventually acknowledged the ruse and gave his real name after police checked his phony New Jersey driver’s license against a computer database.
The fake name promptly gave Altoona police a reason to arrest him and hold him for New York City police.
“If he had provided us with his actual name, he would not have committed a crime,” Officer Stephen Fox testified. An NYPD lieutenant testified that the Rosario name matched one the suspected shooter used to purchase a bus ticket to New York and gave at a Manhattan hostel.
Mangione told police early on he didn’t want to talk, but officers engaged him for almost 20 minutes before getting him to admit to lying about his name. After that, a supervisor urged Fox to inform Mangione of his right to remain silent.
What must police tell suspects during arrests?
An important factor in whether suspects have to be read those rights — known as a Miranda warning — is whether they are in police custody.
Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson from behind on Dec. 4, 2024, as he walked his company’s annual investor conference at the New York Hilton Midtown. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
At a three-week hearing in December, Altoona police officers described how they conducted Mangione’s arrest and searched his backpack. Prosecutors also played body-worn camera video of Mangione‘s arrest in court for the first time, and some clips were made public.
Carro had said he planned to study the body-camera video before issuing a decision.
According to the testimony and video, officers began searching the bag at the McDonald’s but stopped after finding a loaded gun magazine wrapped in a pair of underwear. That discovery appeared to confirm their suspicions that Mangione was the man wanted for Thompson’s killing.
“It’s him, dude. It’s him, 100%,” Fox said on video, punctuating the remark with expletives as the officer searching the bag, Christy Wasser, held up the magazine.
Officers continued searching the bag at a police station and found the gun and silencer.
They performed what’s known as an inventory search and found the notebook and other notes, including what appeared to be to-do lists and possible getaway plans, according to testimony.
That search, which involves cataloging every piece of a suspect’s seized property, is also required under Altoona police policy, prosecutors said. The judicial warrant was obtained hours later. Laws concerning how police obtain search warrants are complex and often disputed in criminal cases.
Prosecutors have quoted extensively from Mangione’s handwritten diary in court filings including his praise for Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.
