New York — High-stakes hearing in New York murder case v Luigi Mangione It continues Thursday, one year to the day prosecutors say he shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to the state and federal charges. Before any trials are scheduled, his attorneys are trying to prevent final jurors from hearing his alleged statements to law enforcement officers and the items — including a gun and a notebook — allegedly taken from his backpack.
Evidence is key to prosecutors’ case. They said that 9mm pistol It matches the firearm used in the murder Writings in notebook Mangione placed Disdain for health insurance companies and thoughts about killing the CEO At an investor conference, he gave Pennsylvania police the same fake name the alleged gunman used at a New York motel days before the shooting.
Thompson50, was shot from behind as he walked to an investor conference on Dec. 4, 2024. He became CEO of UnitedHealthcare in 2021 and worked at parent company UnitedHealth Group Inc. For 20 years.
Hearing that It started on Monday It could extend to next week, and this only applies to the state. But it gives the public a wide-ranging preview of some of the testimony, 911 video and audio and other records relevant to both cases.
It is not immediately clear what witnesses or evidence are expected Thursday.
Court hearing on Tuesday Show police body camera video to officers They confront Mangione at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and conclude—to their surprise—that he was the highly publicized suspect in Thompson’s murder five days earlier.
They interacted with Mangione for about 20 minutes before telling him he had the right to remain silent. The officers asked him his name, whether he had recently visited New York, and other questions, including: “Why are you nervous?”
The officers tried to play it cool and buy time by suggesting they were simply responding to a complaint of him loitering and chatting about his meat sandwich. However, they patted Mangione and pushed his backpack away from him. After about 15 minutes, they warned him that he was under investigation and would be arrested if he repeated what they determined was a false name.
After he gave his real ID, he was read his rights, handcuffed, searched again, and was eventually arrested on a forgery charge related to his fake ID.
The video also provided glimpses of officers searching his backpack, something that will likely be explored further as the hearing continues.
Mangione’s lawyers say his statements should not be allowed as evidence at trial because officers began questioning him before reading him his rights. The defense contends that the items in the backpack should be excluded because police did not obtain a warrant before searching his backpack.
Manhattan prosecutors have not yet detailed their arguments to allow the disputed evidence. Federal prosecutors asserted that police were justified in searching the backpack to ensure nothing dangerous was inside and that Mangione’s statements to officers were voluntary and made before his arrest.
Many criminal cases are contested over evidence and the complex legal standards governing police searches and interactions with potential suspects.