Luigi Mangione, 27, returned to Manhattan court on Friday for the fourth day of a pretrial evidence suppression hearing in the case accusing him of murdering United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a New York City sidewalk last year, reports Baltimore Chronicle with reference to Reuters.
The hearing is expected to include testimony from two Altoona, Pennsylvania, patrol officers who were among more than a dozen law enforcement personnel present at the McDonald’s where Mangione was arrested after the shooting. Body camera footage shows Officer Christy Wasser searching Mangione’s backpack and later saying, “there’s a weapon.”
The defense is seeking to exclude the backpack’s contents from the trial, arguing that the police did not have a warrant and lacked justification to search it. During Thursday’s proceedings, defense attorney Jacob Kaplan asked Patrolman Tyler Frye, “He never acted belligerent, did he?” to which Frye replied, “No.” Kaplan also inquired, “He never attempted to open his backpack at the McDonald’s, did he?” and Frye answered, “No.”
The backpack reportedly contained items prosecutors say demonstrate both the means and motive for the alleged crime. According to prosecutors, the bag included a 3D-printed pistol allegedly used to kill Thompson and a notebook in which Mangione is said to have written, “The target is insurance. It checks every box.”
The evidentiary hearing is expected to continue into next week. On Thursday, the judge cautioned both sides for presenting duplicative material, stating that it “is not helping your case.”
Earlier we wrote that Virginia Man Arrested in Connection with Jan. 6 Pipe Bombs Outside RNC and DNC.
