New York — As the one-year anniversary of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s murder approaches this week, the man charged in his death will appear in court to prevent prosecutors from using evidence they say links him to the crime.
Luigi Mangione, 27, is scheduled to begin hearings starting Monday on his attempt to block the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office from showing or telling jurors about items seized during his arrest in a state murder trial that has not yet been scheduled.
These items include 9mm pistol Which prosecutors say match those used in the Dec. 4, 2024, murder and a notebook in which they say he described his intention to “bother” a health insurance executive.
After getting Accusations of state terrorism After being fired in September, Mangione’s lawyers are now focusing on what they say is unconstitutional conduct that botched his arrest and threatened his right to a fair trial.
They assert that the gun and other items should be excluded because police did not have a search warrant to search the backpack in which they were found. They also want to suppress some of his statements to police, such as giving a false name, because officers began asking questions before telling him he had the right to remain silent.
Getting rid of the gun and notebook would be a decisive victory for Mangione’s defense and a major setback for prosecutors, depriving them of the potential murder weapon and evidence they say points to a motive.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has quoted extensively from Mangione’s handwritten notes in court filings including his praise of Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.
Prosecutors say Mangione hoped to rebel against the “murderous and greedy health insurance cartel” and said killing an industry executive “smacks of a greedy scoundrel who has come and gone.”
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to federal and state murder charges. The state charges carry the possibility of life imprisonment, while federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Mangione’s lawyers want to suppress evidence from both cases, but this week’s hearings relate only to the state’s case. The next hearing in the federal case is scheduled for January 9.
Court officials say the hearings that begin Monday could take more than a week. If that happens, Mangione will almost certainly appear in court on the anniversary of Thompson’s death on Thursday.
Defense attorney Mark Agnifilo told the judge in an unrelated matter last week that Manhattan prosecutors could call more than two dozen witnesses.
Thompson was killed while on his way to a Manhattan hotel to attend his company’s annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say the words “delay,” “denial” and “deposit” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurance companies avoid paying claims.
Mangione, the scion of a wealthy Maryland family, was educated at an Ivy League university. He was arrested five days later At a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of Manhattan.
Prosecutors in the state case did not respond to the defense’s written arguments.
An officer who was searching through a backpack found with Mangione was heard on a body camera recording saying she was checking to make sure there was not a “bomb” in the bag. His lawyers say it was a pretext “designed to cover up an illegal warrantless search of his backpack.”
Federal prosecutors, who are disputing similar claims in their case, said in court filings that police were justified in searching the backpack to make sure no dangerous items were present. Federal prosecutors said his statements to officers were voluntary and before he was taken into police custody.