The man accused of killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson a year ago this week comes to court on Monday for hearings on defense motions to bar certain evidence from trial — including the gun allegedly used in the murder.
Luigi Mangione’s defense team has moved to bar the 9mm handgun and other items found in the suspect’s backback when he was captured five days after the shooting, arguing that police found the items in an illegal search, according to The Associated Press. They’ve also moved to suppress statements he made to officers, who allegedly began questioning him before reading his Miranda rights.
Monday’s hearing comes in the New York state case against 27-year-old Mangione. As CrimeOnline previously reported, a state judge dismissed a terrorism charge against him in September, leaving in place charges of murder and criminal possession of a weapon. He as pleaded not guilty to those charges, along with firearms charges in Pennsylvania, where he was captured, and federal murder, stalking, and firearms charges.
Federal prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty.
Mangioni is accused of lying in wait for Thompson, who was attending his company’s investors meeting, on December 4, 2024, and gunning him down on a Manhattan sidewalk, sparking the week-long manhunt that ended at a fast food restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
The AP reports that the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has quoted extensively from a notebook found in Mangioni’s backpack in its court filings, using those quotes to establish motive in the shooting. Prosecutors said that Mangione wrote about “the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel” and said that an executive from such a company was “a greedy bastard that had it coming.”
Mangione’s notebook reportedly noted the United States “has the #1 most expensive healthcare system in the world, yet we rank roughly #42 in life expectancy,” while specifically mentioning UnitedHealthcare as one of the largest corporations in the United States. It is the largest insurance company in the country.
Prosecutors have not responded in writing to the defense’s written motions, which argue that an officer was heard on a body camera recording saying she was checking Mangione’s backpack for a bomb, which the defense said was “designed to cover up an illegal warrantless search of the backpack.”
Federal prosecutors have responded to similar motions in their car, arguing that the search was justified to ensure there were no dangerous items. Mangione’s statements before he was read his rights — which included giving a false name — were made voluntarily before he was arrested.
The state court hearings may last more than a week.
Mangione is being held without bond.
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[Featured image: FILE – Luigi Mangione appears in Manhattan state court in New York, September 16. (Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP, file)]
