By Nicki Brown and Kara Scannell, CNN
Luigi Mangione (R) confers with his attorney Jacob Kaplan (L) at Manhattan Supreme Court during an evidentiary hearing in the murder case of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, in New York, on 1 December, 2025. Photo: Curtis Means/Pool/AFP/Getty Images via CNN Newsource
Luigi Mangione, the 27-year-old accused of killing a health insurance company executive in a brazen attack that sparked a national debate, appeared in court for the start of a multi-day hearing as his attorneys seek to have his diary entries and other key evidence tossed from his state murder case.
He entered the courtroom through a side door Monday morning (local time) with his hands shackled, wearing a dark gray suit jacket and a white checkered button-down shirt. A court officer unshackled his hands as he reached the defence table.
Mangione was arrested at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania following a days-long manhunt after United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, was fatally shot 4 December, 2024, on a busy sidewalk in midtown Manhattan.
During the arrest, law enforcement recovered several pieces of evidence from Mangione's backpack that authorities say tie him to the killing. Mangione's lawyers argue police illegally searched his bag without a warrant, so that evidence should be barred from the state's case. Prosecutors denied the defence's claims and agreed to a hearing on the matter.
Mangione's defence is battling prosecutors in two cases: Lawyers in his federal death penalty case also are trying to get much of the same evidence tossed. That case returns to court on January 9.
The hearing over the disputed evidence in the state case is expected to last several days, with both parties planning to call witnesses to testify, according to court documents.
In Monday's hearing, prosecutors showed the full surveillance video of Thompson being shot in front of a hotel, stumbling to the side before falling to the ground. They also played surveillance video from inside the McDonald's as two officers first approached Mangione, with at least six more members of law enforcement later joining them in the restaurant.
As the videos played, Mangione appeared to watch them from the defence table, one finger resting on his chin.
The prosecution also played a 911 call made by the manager of the McDonald's.
"I have a customer here that some other customers were suspicious of and he looks like the CEO shooter from New York," the manager is heard saying. "So they're really upset, and they've come to me."
The caller stated the man was wearing a black jacket, medical mask and a tan beanie.
"The only thing you can see is his eyebrows," she said.
Luigi Mangione listens to his attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo at a hearing in Manhattan Criminal Court on 21 February. Photo: Curtis Means/Pool/Getty Images via CNN Newsource
Mangione showed no visible signs of resistance in the surveillance video, which did not include audio. Next to him is a backpack where police say they found writings they have described as a "manifesto" for the shooting.
At one point, defence attorney Karen Friedman-Agnifilo asked an NYPD officer whether anyone received the $10,000 CrimeStoppers reward in the investigation, but Judge Gregory Carro sustained an objection from prosecutors.
In earlier court filings, Friedman-Agnifilo asked Carro to prevent the prosecution from showing the contents of Mangione's writings at the hearing, saying they could taint the jury pool. She objected to the prosecution's use of the term "manifesto," calling it a "prejudicial, invented law-enforcement label."
She also asked the judge to allow at least one of Mangione's hands to be unshackled during the hearing so he can take notes.
In September, Carro dismissed the top two charges against Mangione - murder in the first degree in furtherance of an act of terrorism and murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism - after he found the evidence had not established Mangione committed a terroristic act. Mangione still faces nine charges in the state case, and the separate federal death penalty prosecution. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Corrections officer details conversation with Mangione after arrest
An officer with the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections said that he was assigned to monitor Mangione at SCI Huntingdon, a state correctional facility, and place him on "constant watch."
"I was told that SCI Huntingdon did not want an Epstein-style situation," Tomas Rivers testified.
Rivers said the two spoke about the differences in private and nationalized health care and how the case was being covered in the mainstream media and on social media.
The officer said he told Mangione the mainstream traditional media was focused on the crime; on social media, he said, the discussion was about potential wrongdoers in the health care industry.
Mangione was "disappointed" that he was being compared to "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski in the media because he had reviewed one of his books online, the corrections officer testified.
Mangione also recommended the book "The Doors of Perception" by Aldous Huxley, but Rivers said he never looked into it.
Another corrections officer testified Mangione told him he had a backpack with foreign currency and a 3D-printed weapon in it. Mangione told the corrections officer that he was accused of being a foreign agent because of the foreign currency, Matthew Henry testified.
On cross-examination, defence attorney Marc Agnifilo seemed dubious about Henry's testimony, questioning why Mangione would allegedly tell him about a weapon unprompted.
Key pieces of evidence seized
During Mangione's arrest last December, authorities seized several items from his backpack, including a handgun, a loaded magazine and a notebook with handwritten entries - key pieces of evidence that prosecutors allege connect Mangione to the killing.
The recovered gun lines up with ballistic evidence from the Manhattan crime scene, prosecutors said in court documents. Authorities have called the writings in the notebook a "manifesto," pointing to sections that detail his frustration with the health care industry and his intent to carry out an attack. Prosecutors said the entries "establish his responsibility for this vicious crime."
In a court filing, Friedman-Agnifilo argued the writings and all the items recovered from the backpack should not be admissible since police illegally searched the bag without a warrant, and there was no immediate threat to justify a warrantless search.
"Police conducted this warrantless search even though there were no exigent circumstances as Mr. Mangione was already in handcuffs, the backpack was on a table over six feet away and Mr. Mangione was separated from this table by a wall of armed officers," she wrote.
Police did not seek a search warrant for the bag until later that evening, about seven hours after they first opened the backpack, the defense attorney wrote in her filing.
Prosecutors can overcome the challenge if they can prove the evidence would have inevitably been discovered legally during the course of the investigation.
Even if the judge rules in favour of Mangione, prosecutors still have evidence of his DNA or fingerprints on several items discarded by the shooter near the crime scene, according to court documents.
Friedman-Agnifilo also moved to suppress any statements Mangione made to law enforcement before his December 19 extradition to New York, claiming officers did not properly advise Mangione of his Miranda rights before they began questioning him in the McDonald's.
At the fast-food restaurant, Mangione allegedly gave police a fake ID bearing the name "Mark Rosario," but later told them that was not his real name. The same driver's license was used to book a room at the New York City hostel that was tied to the suspect, prosecutors said in court documents.
Mangione was read his Miranda warnings about 20 minutes after he was first approached by the officers, according to his attorney. After that, he exercised his right to remain silent.
- CNN
