Judge Allows Gun, Notebook Evidence in Mangione CEO Murder Trial

Luigi Mangione on Monday failed to persuade a New York judge to exclude a possible murder weapon from evidence in his upcoming trial over the killing of a UnitedHealthcare CEO, although prosecutors were barred from introducing some other items found in his backpack.

Mangione, 28, is accused of fatally shooting health insurance executive Brian Thompson on a Manhattan pavement in December 2024.

The killing was widely condemned by public officials but also became symbolic of growing public anger in the United States over health insurance industry practices and rising healthcare costs.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to murder, weapons and forgery charges. His trial is scheduled to begin on September 8 and is expected to last six weeks.

The ruling by Justice Gregory Carro allows prosecutors to introduce evidence including a possible murder weapon and a notebook containing potentially incriminating writings, while also handing Mangione a partial legal victory by excluding certain other evidence.

A spokesman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said prosecutors looked forward to presenting their case. A representative for Mangione declined to comment.

Carro suppressed some evidence recovered from Mangione’s backpack during his arrest in Pennsylvania, ruling that police had unlawfully searched the bag without a warrant. The excluded items included a loaded handgun magazine, a mobile phone and a computer chip.

However, the judge approved a second search of the backpack conducted later at a police station and ruled that items recovered during that search were admissible. Those items included a gun that prosecutors say matches the murder weapon, along with a notebook containing writings about wanting to “whack” an insurance executive.

Carro also rejected Mangione’s request to suppress statements he made to law enforcement officers, dismissing claims that he had been illegally interrogated.

The judge delivered his ruling during a brief hearing at a Manhattan state court, attended by Mangione.

Mangione’s lawyers argued that the contents of his backpack and statements made during his arrest in Pennsylvania should be ruled inadmissible because he had been unlawfully searched and was not informed of his legal rights.

Prosecutors denied those claims.

Court filings from prosecutors describe a broad body of evidence allegedly linking Mangione to the killing, including DNA, fingerprints, hundreds of hours of video footage, mobile phone data and another backpack he allegedly discarded while fleeing New York.

Thompson, who headed the health insurance division of UnitedHealth Group, was shot dead on December 4, 2024, outside the Hilton hotel where the company was holding an investors’ meeting.

Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania following a five-day manhunt and has remained in custody since then.

State prosecutors had initially charged him with terrorism, but Carro later dismissed that charge after finding insufficient evidence that the alleged actions were intended to influence public policy.

Federal prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York separately filed murder, weapons and stalking charges against Mangione.

The judge presiding over the federal case dismissed the murder and weapons charges on a legal technicality in January, removing the possibility of the death penalty.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to the remaining stalking charges and could face life imprisonment if convicted.

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