Luigi Mangione Trial Set To Resume This Week
Luigi Mangione Trial Set To Resume This Week After Illness Postponement
The high-stakes hearing in the murder case against Luigi Mangione will resume Monday after being abruptly postponed late last week when Mangione failed to appear in New York State Supreme Court on Friday due to an undisclosed illness.
The 27-year-old accused of the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has pleaded not guilty, and Judge Gregory Carro ordered proceedings to continue once the defendant is medically cleared, signaling that the crucial pretrial battle over evidence admissibility remains far from over.
The state-level hearing, which began on the one-year anniversary of Thompson’s killing, kicked off with a win for Mangione in September after Judge Carro dropped two terrorism charges but kept the second-degree murder charge. Last week, the trial previewed the extensive video, audio, and forensic evidence expected to anchor both the New York state prosecution and a parallel federal case that could carry the death penalty. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
At the center of this week’s proceedings is a sweeping defense effort to block key evidence that prosecutors say directly ties Mangione to the meticulously executed shooting that stunned the corporate world and triggered a nationwide manhunt.
Defense attorneys are challenging two main categories of evidence, arguing that the evidence was unlawfully seized.
First, the physical evidence seized from Mangione’s backpack during his Dec. 9, 2024, arrest in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Prosecutors say the items, including a 9mm handgun that forensic analysts allege matches the murder weapon, a silencer, a laptop, and a handwritten notebook outlining anti–health insurance industry sentiments and ideas about killing a CEO, are central to proving motive and premeditation.
But the defense argues that the search was unconstitutional because the police never obtained a warrant, insisting that the firearm and all accompanying items be excluded.
Second, the defense is attempting to suppress statements Mangione made to police before being read his Miranda rights. Body camera footage played in court this week showed Altoona officers questioning Mangione for approximately 20 minutes, asking for his name, travel history, and whether he had been in New York, before officers on the scene finally read him his rights following Mangione’s decision to confirm his real identity.
Officer Detwiler testified that Mangione’s use of a mask heightened their suspicion, bluntly noting, “We don’t wear masks” in Altoona. When officers approached, Mangione first presented a fake New Jersey driver’s license under the name “Sam Dawson”—the same alias used at a New York hotel days before the assassination. Prosecutors underscored that a Greyhound ticket bearing the same fake name was also found on him.
As reported by ABC News, Mangione initially gave the officers a fake New Jersey ID with the name Mark Rosario. Officers subsequently informed Mangione he was under “official police investigation” and asked him for his real name. An officer on the video is seen writing the name “Luigi Mangione” in a small notebook and providing his date of birth. At that point, Mangione was read his Miranda rights.
“I wanted to identify who he was first,” Altoona Police Officer Joseph Detwiler said. “He was not free to leave until I identified who he was.”
A pivotal moment came from the testimony of rookie officer Tyler Frye, who said Mangione told officers in a quiet voice that he “didn’t want to talk” and claimed he was only inside the McDonald’s to use its Wi-Fi. The defense maintains that anything said before that point is inadmissible.
The hearing also laid out new details of the five-day manhunt that spanned multiple states and ended with a 911 call placed by a McDonald’s manager in Altoona. Prosecutors played the audio in court, in which the manager said a customer resembled “the CEO shooter from New York” and was wearing a black jacket, khaki beanie, and medical mask—leaving only his eyebrows visible.
AP reports that after about 15 minutes of questioning, Detwiler warned Mangione that he was being investigated, was believed to have given a false name, and would be arrested if he repeated it. Mangione then disclosed his true identity. Officers asked why he had lied.
“I clearly shouldn’t have,” he responded, explaining that “that was the ID I had in my wallet.”
Minutes later, an officer read Mangione his rights and added that he was “not in custody at this point.” Mangione was then frisked again before being handcuffed.
Additional evidence revealed in court included over $7,000 in cash, a laptop, and a silver chain containing a USB flash drive. Officers warned Mangione that he faced a forgery charge if he continued lying about his identity. When he finally provided his real name, he was read his rights, handcuffed, and arrested.
Video footage reportedly played in court shows Mangione standing with his hands cuffed behind his back and about nine officers near him in the restaurant. Three officers begin to search Mangione about two minutes later.
When prosecutors asked Frye if Mangione was under arrest at that point, Frye testified, “Yes.”
Another Altoona officer is seen on video asking Mangione, “Anything in the bag we need to know about?” before officers begin searching Mangione’s backpack. Frye testified he does not recall how Mangione responded.
Officer Frye added that Mangione spoke briefly to him and Officer Joseph Detwiler during the 10-minute drive from the McDonald’s to the police station.
“The defendant asked us for our names, I believe he also apologized for the inconvenience that was caused in the McDonald’s,” Frye said. “I said that the fake ID was a bit ridiculous.”
After an initial search at the station, the officers on the video tell Mangione he can wear only one layer of clothing and must remove the long johns he had under his jeans.
Video evidence played in court showed Mangione stripping down before the officers’ body cameras were turned off for the search.
The reported blurry video shows officers continuing to search Mangione’s clothing after he was placed in a cell, finding the bus ticket from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh with the passenger name “Sam Dawson” dated Dec. 4, 2024, in one of his jacket pockets along with a slip of crumpled white paper from another pocket that appeared to be a to-do list. Items listed under the date Dec. 8 included “Best Buy,” “USB 256,” “digital cam,” “hot meal and water bottles,” and “trash bags.” Among the items reportedly listed under 12/9 was “survival kit,” with the right side of the page filled with a cursory street map.
The hearing is expected to continue for several days once the court reconvenes on Monday, setting the stage for one of the most closely watched corporate crime prosecutions in recent memory. With both state and federal charges looming and the defense aggressively challenging nearly every foundational element of the case, the upcoming testimony may determine what evidence the jury ultimately sees.
SEE ALSO:
Luigi Mangione: 1st-Degree Murder, State Terrorism Charges Dismissed
