Luigi Mangione fights to exclude gun, notes as anniversary of
UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing nears
[December 01, 2025]
By MICHAEL R. SISAK
NEW YORK (AP) — As the first anniversary of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian
Thompson’s killing looms this week, the man charged in his death will be
in court fighting to prevent prosecutors from using evidence they say
links him to the crime.
Luigi Mangione, 27, is set for hearings starting Monday on his bid to
block the Manhattan District Attorney's Office from showing or telling
jurors about items seized during his arrest at a yet-unscheduled state
murder trial .
Those items include a 9 mm handgun that prosecutors say matches the one
used in the Dec. 4, 2024, killing and a notebook in which they say he
described his intent to “wack” a health insurance executive.
After getting state terrorism charges thrown out in September,
Mangione's lawyers are now zeroing in on what they say was
unconstitutional conduct that tainted his arrest and threatens his right
to a fair trial.
They contend that the gun and other items should be excluded because
police lacked a warrant to search the backpack in which they were found.
They also want to suppress some of his statements to police, such as
allegedly giving a false name, because officers started asking questions
before telling him he had a right to remain silent.
Eliminating the gun and notebook would be critical wins for Mangione’s
defense and a major setback for prosecutors, depriving them a possible
murder weapon and evidence they say points to motive.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has quoted extensively from
Mangione’s handwritten diary in court filings including his praise for
Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.
In it, prosecutors say, Mangione mused about rebelling against “the
deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel” and said killing an
industry executive “conveys a greedy bastard that had it coming.”
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges. The
state charges carry the possibility of life in prison, while federal
prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
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Mangione’s lawyers want to bar evidence from both cases, but this week’s
hearings pertain only to the state case. The next hearing in the federal
case is scheduled for Jan. 9.
Court officials say the hearings beginning Monday could take more than a
week. If that holds, Mangione is almost certain to be in court on the
anniversary of Thompson’s death on Thursday.
Defense lawyer Marc Agnifilo told a judge in an unrelated matter last
week that Manhattan prosecutors could call more than two dozen
witnesses.
Thompson was killed as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for his company’s
annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman
shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were
written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how
insurers avoid paying claims.
Mangione, the Ivy League-educated scion of a wealthy Maryland family,
was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania,
about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of Manhattan.
Prosecutors in the state case have not responded to the defense’s
written arguments.
An officer searching a backpack found with Mangione was heard on a body
camera recording saying she was checking to make sure there “wasn’t a
bomb” in the bag. His lawyers argue that was an excuse “designed to
cover up an illegal warrantless search of the backpack.”
Federal prosecutors, fighting similar claims in their case, have said in
court filings that police were justified in searching the backpack to
make sure there were no dangerous items. His statements to officers,
federal prosecutors said, were made voluntarily and before he was taken
into police custody.
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