New York (AFP) – The US judge overseeing Luigi Mangione’s New York state trial for the murder of a healthcare executive decided Monday to admit crucial items of evidence including a gun and a notebook. The defense had sought to get Mangione’s initial statements to the police thrown out on procedural grounds, along with physical evidence including a handgun matching shell casings found at the crime scene.
The New York state judge did exclude certain items from an initial search carried out at the time of the defendant’s arrest on December 9, 2024, including a handgun magazine, a phone, and a wallet. But other items subsequently recovered from the defendant’s backpack at a police station can be used by prosecutors, Judge Gregory Carro said. They include a 9mm pistol, a silencer, and a notebook in which Mangione denounces the US health insurance system.
Not all of Mangione’s statements to police in the McDonald’s restaurant where they arrested him in Pennsylvania were ruled inadmissible. But others made spontaneously to prison guards were deemed admissible. Mangione, 28, is accused of gunning down Brian Thompson, 50, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, on a Manhattan street in retaliation for private insurance failings. He will be tried twice — in New York state court and in federal court.
At hearings last December, defense attorneys attempted to suggest police in Altoona, central Pennsylvania, had botched the arrest. Despite believing Mangione was the prime suspect in a murder that shook the country, officers initially failed to inform him of his rights, including his right to remain silent. The backpack he was carrying was searched without a warrant, justifying the exclusion of the evidence first recovered from it, Carro found.
Several Mangione supporters were at court Monday, many wearing T-shirts emblazoned with slogans calling for his release. Dressed in a blue suit jacket and speaking with his defense team, Mangione appeared relaxed. A first trial in state court is scheduled for September. Another, in federal court, is set for January 2027. In the state case, Mangione has been charged with murder and faces life imprisonment without parole if convicted. In federal court, he is charged with two counts of stalking related to tracking the victim and faces the same sentence. The next hearing in the state proceedings is scheduled for June 3.
© 2024 AFP
