Luigi Mangione appears in court as lawyers seek to bar evidence at trial

Mangione faces beingness successful situation if recovered blameworthy of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Luigi Mangione, the 27-year-old who allegedly killed the main enforcement of the biggest wellness insurer successful the United States successful December 2024, admitted that helium had a 3D-printed weapon successful his backpack, a prison defender testified astatine a pretrial proceeding successful the lawsuit connected Monday.

The proceeding successful a New York City tribunal is portion of a process that volition find what grounds prosecutors tin usage against Mangione, accused of shooting dormant UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

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The defender said Mangione told him, without prompting, that helium had a 3D-printed pistol successful his backpack, which constabulary accidental they recovered on with a silencer and diary writings that allegedly implicate him successful the killing.

A defence lawyer formed uncertainty connected the guard’s assertion that Mangione, who wore a grey suit and a achromatic garment with a reddish checkered signifier astatine the proceeding earlier Justice Gregory Carro, volunteered specified incriminating accusation connected his own.

“You weren’t asking him immoderate questions, you weren’t speaking to him astatine all… And retired of nowhere, helium says to you, ‘I had a 3D-printed pistol’?” defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo asked.

The defender said helium did not inquire Mangione immoderate questions and testified during follow-up questioning by a authoritative that helium did not attraction astir the result of the case.

Mangione’s purported statements to instrumentality enforcement and the contents of his backpack could beryllium cardinal pieces of grounds astatine his trial, but his lawyers reason they should beryllium inadmissible due to the fact that they accidental helium was illegally searched and not fixed announcement of his ineligible rights.

Prosecutors contradict claims that Mangione was illegally searched and questioned.

A surface displays a representation of Luigi Mangione, the fishy successful the sidesplitting of UnitedHealthcare main enforcement Brian Thompson, extracurricular Manhattan Criminal Court, successful New York City, connected December 1, 2025 [Mike Segar/Reuters]

Eliminating the weapon and notebook from admissible grounds would beryllium captious wins for Mangione’s defence and would correspond large setbacks for prosecutors, depriving them of a imaginable execution limb and grounds that they accidental points to motive.

Prosecutors person quoted extensively from Mangione’s writings successful tribunal filings, including his alleged praise for the precocious “Unabomber” Theodore Kaczynski, who carried retired a bid of message bombings betwixt 1978 and 1995.

Among different things, prosecutors accidental Mangione mused astir rebelling against “the deadly, greed fuelled wellness security cartel” and justified sidesplitting manufacture executives.

Mangione, the Ivy League-educated scion of a affluent Maryland family, has pleaded not blameworthy to execution and different charges, and is expected to look proceedings adjacent year.

He has pleaded not blameworthy successful a abstracted national lawsuit wherever prosecutors program to question the decease penalty.

At Monday’s hearing, Mangione watched stoically arsenic prosecutors played surveillance videos of Thompson’s sidesplitting and Mangione’s apprehension 5 days later.

Mangione pressed a digit to his lips and a thumb to his chin arsenic helium watched footage of 2 constabulary officers approaching him arsenic helium ate meal astatine a McDonald’s successful Altoona, Pennsylvania, astir 370km (230 miles) westbound of Manhattan.

He gripped a pen successful his close hand, making a fist astatine times, arsenic prosecutors played a 911 telephone from a McDonald’s manager relaying concerns from customers that Mangione looked similar the fishy successful Thompson’s killing.

“I person a lawsuit present that immoderate different customers are suspicious of, who looks similar the CEO shooter, and they’re truly upset, and they’re coming to me,” the worker was heard saying successful a signaling of the telephone played successful tribunal for the archetypal time.

Mangione could look beingness successful situation if convicted of execution successful the 2nd degree, which is defined arsenic an intentional killing. He besides faces 7 counts of transgression possession of a limb and 1 number of possessing a mendacious identification.

Judge Carro dismissed 2 coercion counts against Mangione successful September, uncovering prosecutors had not presented capable grounds that Mangione intended to intimidate wellness security workers oregon power authorities policy.

Several supporters of Mangione appeared extracurricular the tribunal earlier the hearing, including 1 dressed arsenic the villain from the video crippled Super Mario Bros, bearing a motion that said, “When patients die, profits rise”, and a pistillate with a “Free Luigi” sash.

Trial dates person not been acceptable successful either the authorities oregon national cases.