A corrections officer in Pennsylvania testified that Luigi Mangione once told him he wanted to “make a statement” while the shooting suspect was held at a facility in Huntingdon following his arrest last December. Officer Thomas Rivers said he and Mangione had spoken about health care — discussing nationalized versus private systems — though he could not recall whether Mangione expressed specific views. Rivers said Mangione mentioned wanting to make a public statement but did not specify what that meant.
Mangione, 27, appeared in Manhattan Supreme Court on December 1 for a pre-trial hearing, dressed in a blazer and allowed to sit unshackled next to his attorneys. His legal team is seeking to have key evidence excluded before trial, including a 9mm handgun found in a backpack he was carrying when arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania — the same caliber weapon used in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. They are also attempting to suppress a notebook allegedly containing anti–health insurance writings and references to a plan to “wack” an insurance CEO. The defense argues that both the gun and the notebook were taken during an unlawful, warrantless search and that statements Mangione made to investigators came before he was properly read his Miranda rights.
During the hearing, prosecutors introduced surveillance footage from the McDonald’s showing Mangione’s arrest, along with audio from a 911 call in which the restaurant manager told dispatchers that customers had recognized Mangione as “the CEO shooter from New York,” identifying him by his distinctive eyebrows. Additional witnesses from both sides are expected to testify throughout the week.
Mangione is charged in New York with second-degree murder and is simultaneously facing a federal murder case, which could carry the death penalty if he is convicted.
