Bullets in Luigi Mangione’s bag convinced police that he was UnitedHealthcare CEO killing suspect
NEW YORK (AP) — Moments after Luigi Mangione was handcuffed at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania, a police officer searching his backpack found a loaded gun magazine wrapped in a pair of underwear.
The discovery, described in court Monday as Mangione fought to exclude evidence from his New York murder trial, convinced police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, that Mangione was wanted for the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan five days earlier.
“It’s him, man. 100% him,” an officer is heard saying in body-worn camera video. Mangione’s arrest on December 9, 2024Officer Christy Wasser, who was scanning the bag, punctuated her words with profanities as she held up the magazine.
Wasser, a 19-year Altoona police veteran, testified on the fourth day of a preliminary hearing in which Mangione tried to block prosecutors from using the magazine and other evidence against him. 9mm pistol and a notebook later found during the search of the bag.
Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges. He appeared to be in good health on Monday, watched the video carefully and occasionally took notes. hearing, which Started on December 1 The case, which was heard on Friday and postponed due to his apparent illness, is valid only for the state case. His lawyers are making a similar attempt to exclude evidence in the federal case where prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Prosecutors said the gun found in the backpack matched the gun used in the murder. writings in the notebook pointed out Mangione. belittling health insurers and ideas for killing a CEO at an investor conference.
Mangione’s attorneys argued that the items should have been excluded because police did not have a search warrant for the backpack. Prosecutors maintain that the search was legal and officers eventually obtained a warrant.
Wasser, who testified in full uniform, said he followed Altoona police protocols that call for an immediate search of a suspect’s property during an arrest, in part to check for potentially dangerous items. In the body camera footage taken in court, it was heard that he wanted to check if there was a bomb before taking the bag out of McDonald’s.
Wasser told another officer that he did not want to repeat the incident in which another Altoona officer accidentally brought a bomb to the station.
ThompsonThe 50-year-old man was killed on December 4, 2024, while walking to a hotel in Manhattan for his company’s investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked, armed man shooting him from behind. Police said the phrases “delay,” “deny” and “state” on the ammunition mimicked wording used to describe how insurance companies avoid paying for damages.
Mangione was arrested in Altoona, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of Manhattan, after police called 911 about a McDonald’s customer who resembled the suspect.
Before responding to McDonald’s, Wasser said he saw some coverage of Thompson’s killing on Fox News, including surveillance video of the shooting and footage of the suspected shooter.
Police said after Wasser admitted to issuing a fake driver’s license, officers began searching her purse while initially detaining her on forgery and fake ID charges. The same fake name was used by the gunman at a Manhattan boarding house days before the shooting.
Mangione, who was handcuffed at the time, was informed of his right to remain silent and exercised that right when asked if there was anything in the bag that officers should be concerned about.
According to body-worn camera footage, the first few items Wasser found were harmless: a hoagie, a loaf of bread and a smaller bag containing a passport, a cellphone and a computer chip.
She then took off her underwear and opened the gray package, revealing the magazine.
When he was sure there was no bomb, he suspended the search and put some items back in the bag. He continued his search at the police station and found the gun and silencer almost immediately. He later found the notebook while cataloging everything in the bag using what is known as an inventory search.
A prosecutor in Pennsylvania’s Blair County testified that a judge signed a search warrant for the bag a few hours after the searches were completed. The arrest warrant provides a legal mechanism for Altoona police to turn over evidence to New York City detectives investigating Thompson’s killing, the official said.
Throughout the case, Deputy District Attorney Joel Seidemann called Thompson’s killing an “execution” and referred to his notebook as a “manifesto”; Mangione’s lawyers said those terms were prejudicial and inappropriate.
Judge Gregory Carro said the statements “did not influence him in any way” but warned Seidemann that he “certainly will not do that at trial” when jurors are present.
