A Manhattan judge on Monday reviewed key evidence in the murder case against Luigi Mangione, including a 911 call from the Altoona, Pennsylvania McDonald’s where he was arrested last year after a dayslong manhunt after he killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.Mangione has pleaded not guilty in both state and federal cases, with federal prosecutors seeking the death penalty.According to Gothamist, prosecutors played the 911 recording in which the McDonald’s manager told a dispatcher the man in the restaurant “looks like the CEO shooter,” adding that customers were “really upset.” Mangione was arrested there on December 9, 2024, five days after Thompson was killed outside the Midtown Hilton in Manhattan. At Monday’s hearing, prosecutors also showed widely circulated surveillance footage of a masked gunman firing at Thompson at close range. Mangione, appearing in court in a grey suit and checkered shirt, watched the footage without visible reaction and took notes, Gothamist reported.His defence team is seeking to toss evidence recovered during his arrest, including a handgun, a loaded magazine and a handwritten notebook found in his backpack. His attorneys argue police conducted an unlawful, warrantless search. Prosecutors say the arrest and search were lawful and that the backpack’s contents tie the 27-year-old to the killing. Much of the same evidence is also being challenged in the federal case.Testimony from a Pennsylvania corrections officer who said Mangione was placed on “constant watch” at SCI-Huntington before extradition because the prison “did not want an ‘Epstein-style’ situation.” The hearing drew unusually large crowds as Mangione’s supporters — some dressed as Nintendo’s Super Mario characters — gathered outside the court holding “Free Luigi” signs and calling for “no death penalty.” A new photo of Mangione from court went viral on social media, echoing the attention he has received since his arrest.The judge in the state case is expected to rule on the suppression issues and could set a trial date in the coming days.
