1 year after his arrest, testimony continues in Luigi Mangione's evidence hearing
One year after his arrest on Dec. 9, 2024, the pretrial hearing in the case of accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione continued into its fifth day Tuesday in a lower Manhattan courtroom.
Attorneys for Mangione, who is accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan sidewalk last December, are seeking to exclude from trial critical evidence that they say was illegally seized from his backpack without a warrant after officers apprehended him in a Pennsylvania McDonald's five days after the shooting.
Tuesday's only witness, Altoona police officer Stephen Fox, participated in the backpack search and is heard on body camera footage saying it was a "search incident to arrest" -- the term that authorizes the search of an individual upon arrest in Pennsylvania.
After officers formally placed Mangione in custody, Fox is heard asking Mangione, "Anything in that bag we need to know about?"
Fox testified that he suspected the backpack contained a weapon.
"We were dealing possibly with the New York shooter," he said on the witness stand.
Fox said he and his colleagues commenced the search of Mangione, consistent with "every arrest I make." When asked by the prosecutor, Joel Seidemann, if he ever asked for a search warrant, Fox replied, "No."
Fox confirmed that two supervisory officers nearby did not tell him to get a warrant.
When his colleague, patrolman Christy Wasser, pulls out a loaded magazine wrapped in gray underwear, Fox is heard in the body camera video uttering, "It's f------ him, dude."
Fox expressed familiarity with the fatal shooting of Thompson.
"It appeared to be a clear, targeted assassination of an individual in the hierarchy of healthcare," Fox testified. "I knew it was a violent act of cowardice that targeted a defenseless human being."
Fox is seen in the footage patting down Mangione, whose back is to the officer with his hands against the wall.
"I felt uneasy based on the way he was sitting there. He wasn’t making eye contact," Fox testified. "This was most likely the New York shooter we were dealing with. I wanted to make sure he was clear of any weapons."
Fox testified that Mangione told him he had a jar of peanut butter in his coat and a knife in his pants pocket.
Fox read Mangione his Miranda rights and handcuffed him at the restaurant.
Fox had driven to the McDonald's after he heard Blair County dispatch.
"There were patrons at the McDonald's on Plank Road who thought they observed the New York City shooter at the establishment," Fox recalled the radio transmission as saying.
On cross-examination, defense attorney Karen Agnifilo again suggested overeagerness on the part of Altoona police officers to help crack a big case, pointing out that nobody actually sent Fox to McDonald's.
"You wanted to help catch the New York City shooter," Agnifilo said.
"It was a big case but that's not why I responded,” Fox said.
Agnifilo also questioned why Fox spoke so quickly when giving Mangione his Miranda rights.
"Would it surprise you that you said 98 words in 15 seconds?" she asked.
Agnifilo also pointed out that Fox handcuffed Mangione 10 seconds after Mangione signaled he preferred to remain silent. Fox said that decision was made because Mangione said he was carrying a knife.
Fox insisted on cross-examination that officers "did not need a search warrant" for Mangione's backpack and justified the search due to his concern that it might contain weapons.
"I was considering those items were in the bag," Fox testified. "We suspected and believed he was the New York City shooter."
After prosecutors argued that the Altoona officers reasonably believed Mangione could be dangerous, the defense stressed his cooperation.
"He didn't fight, correct?" Agnifilo asked. "He didn't resist, correct?"
Fox conceded he did not.
When Fox and a sergeant transported Mangione to the Blair County Courthouse for his initial appearance, the officer testified that Mangione expressed concern for the McDonald's employee who called 911 to report him.
"He was asking us if we were going to release her name to the press," Fox said, adding that Mangione seemed genuinely concerned for the caller's safety.
Nearly a dozen witnesses have testified in the hearing's five days so far. Their testimony will help Judge Gregory Carro determine what evidence is allowed at trial and what, if any, evidence should be omitted.
The McDonald's manager who called 911 said her customers recognized the young man seated in the back corner eating a Steak McMuffin and hash brown because of the distinctive eyebrows, which were visible even as a surgical mask and hood concealed much of his face.
On a slip of paper police said they pulled from his backpack, Mangione had reminded himself on Dec. 5, 2024, to "pluck eyebrows."
On the reverse side of the paper is a crudely drawn map and a reminder to "check Pittsburgh red eyes, ideally to Columbus or Cincin (get off early)." Another reminder said, "keep momentum, FBI slower overnight."
The piece of paper had not been seen publicly until it was shown during the ongoing hearing at which Mangione's attorneys are trying to exclude everything taken from the backpack, including the alleged murder weapon, two loaded magazines, a silencer and a cell phone in a Faraday bag designed to conceal its signal.
The hearing is scheduled to resume Thursday with testimony from other officers, including supervisors, who were at the McDonald's.
