Moments after Luigi Mangione was apprehended at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania, a police officer searching his backpack uncovered a loaded gun magazine concealed in a pair of underpants. The revelation, detailed during a court session on Monday as Mangione contests the admissibility of evidence in his New York murder trial, led Altoona police to believe he was the prime suspect in the recent killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan.
During the arrest on December 9, 2024, a police officer examining the bag, Christy Wasser, exclaimed on body-worn camera footage, “It’s him, dude. It’s him, 100 percent,” while displaying the magazine. Wasser, a veteran of 19 years with Altoona police, testified during the pretrial hearing as Mangione endeavors to prevent prosecutors from utilizing the magazine and other discovered items against him, including a 9 mm handgun and a notebook found in a subsequent bag search.
Mangione’s defense team argues that the items should be invalidated due to the absence of a search warrant and insufficient justification for a warrantless search by the police. On the other hand, prosecutors assert that the search was lawful and that a warrant was eventually obtained by the police. Wasser stated, while in full uniform, that Altoona police guidelines mandate prompt searching of a suspect’s belongings at the time of arrest, especially for hazardous items.
Despite expressing concerns about potential explosives in the bag, Wasser admitted during her testimony that the restaurant was not evacuated of customers or employees before examining the bag. Mangione, aged 27, has pleaded not guilty to both state and federal murder charges and appeared healthy during the proceedings, interacting with his attorneys and photographers.
The ongoing hearing, specific to the state case, was delayed briefly due to Mangione’s reported illness. His legal team is concurrently seeking to suppress evidence in his federal case, where prosecutors are pursuing the death penalty. Prosecutors argue that the handgun discovered in the bag matches the weapon used in the crime and that entries in the notebook reveal Mangione’s animosity towards health insurers and his contemplation of assassinating a CEO during an investor conference.
Brian Thompson, aged 50, was shot and killed while en route to a Manhattan hotel for his company’s investor conference on December 4, 2024. Surveillance footage depicted a masked gunman shooting him from behind. The ammunition found had words like “delay,” “deny,” and “depose,” which mirrored phrases associated with insurance claims processes.
Mangione was arrested in Altoona, approximately 370 kilometers west of Manhattan, following a tip-off to the police about a McDonald’s customer resembling the suspect. Wasser mentioned that before responding to the McDonald’s incident, she had seen news coverage of Thompson’s murder on Fox News, including images of the suspect.
The bag search was initiated as Mangione was being detained on initial charges of forgery and false identification, after providing a fake driver’s license. Despite being informed of his right to remain silent, Mangione declined to disclose any concerning items in the bag. Wasser expressed a desire to inspect the bag for explosives to avoid a past incident involving a bomb at the police station.
The bag’s contents, revealed during the search, included personal items such as a hoagie, bread, a passport, cellphone, and computer chip before the discovery of the gun and silencer. Subsequently, during an inventory search, the notebook was also found. A prosecutor from Blair County, Pennsylvania, confirmed that a judge sanctioned a search warrant for the bag post the searches, enabling the transfer of evidence to New York City detectives investigating Thompson’s murder.
Throughout the proceedings, assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann characterized Thompson’s killing as an “execution” and described the notebook as a “manifesto,” terms that Mangione’s legal team deemed prejudicial. The judge underscored that such language would not be permissible during the trial in front of jurors.
