Newly unsealed images, taken by law enforcement, show more of what Luigi Mangione, the defendant accused of gunning down the CEO of Unitedhealthcare Brian Thompson, carried in his backpack, when he was taken into custody exactly one year ago, on December 9, 2024 at an Altoona, Pennsylvania McDonald’s. 

“1. Check Pittsburgh – red eyes… ideally to Columbus or Cincin (get off early)… keep momentum, FBI slower overnight,” a handwritten note reads that was found inside Mr. Mangione’s black backpack. 

The note further states, “Break CAM continuity …  3+ hrs off cam, exit diff method (ex: megabus, rail) … check reports for current situation.”

On the bottom right corner, a pencil drawn map indicates a route from Pittsburgh to Columbus to Cincinnati, and possibly to St. Louis. 

Was this Mr. Mangione’s escape plan? And was the alleged fugitive planning to move after dark, since the FBI is “slower overnight” ? 

Another note, dated December 5, reads “bus to Penn station … change hat … either taxi … or cross river,” and “pluck his eyebrows.”  

The Maryland-native, who comes from an influential family who live outside of Baltimore and was his high school’s valedictorian, before graduating with bachelor and master degrees in computer science from the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania, has strikingly bushy eyebrows. 

A surveillance photo distributed by New York police after Thompson’s murder, depicts similarly bushy eyebrows in the face of the suspected shooter, which was largely covered by a surgical mask. After customers at the Altoona McDonald’s had told a manager that a man, eating his breakfast in a corner of the lobby, resembled the suspected CEO killer, the manager called 911 and described the suspicious man as someone with bushy eyebrows. 

In hindsight, one can’t help but wonder why Mr. Magione did not pluck or at least dye his distinctive eyebrows earlier, if he is in fact the person who fatally shot Thompson on a midtown Manhattan street on December 4, 2024, five days before his arrest.     

Mr. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to all charges related to Thompson’s murder, both in New York State court and in federal court, where federal prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. 

No dates have been set yet for either of the two trials. His defense team is currently arguing at Manhattan criminal court that the evidence obtained during his arrest should be precluded from the state trial because it was seized unlawfully by a bumbling passel of local law enforcement officers in the Pennsylvania Alleghenies. The backpack, defense attorneys say, was searched without the proper warrant. They filed a similar motion in federal court in October, which the presiding federal judge has not yet ruled on.   

Prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office have been calling arresting officers to testify at the suppression hearings, which began last week and will likely last several more days, to prove that the defendant’s rights were not violated and that police followed all legally required protocols.                

On Monday, patrolwoman Christy Wasser, who searched his backpack, took the stand. 

“There’s a weapon,” she is heard calling on the video from the bodycam footage that was played at court on Monday. Officers had arrested Mr. Mangione and after doing a quick search at the MacDonald’s, they brought him to the precinct, where the search continued. 

“Is that the first time you opened that zipper section on the side?” An assistant district attorney, Joel Seidemann asked Officer Wasser, referring to the pocket,where she found the gun. “Yes, sir,” she replied. 

Defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo questioned how she had not noticed the gun when she searched the backpack at the fast food restaurant, where she uncovered a loaded magazine, wrapped inside a pair of gray underwear, which was wet, as the Sun reported.     

In the evening, after the hearing had ended for the day, the court unsealed  more images of the items that were seized from the backpack, such as a phone he carried inside a Faraday signal blocking bag, a pack of batteries, SD cards, several USB sticks, a digital camera, safety pins, nailclippers, a comb, an electric razor, a protein bar, toothpaste and other items. 

Possibly one of the most incriminating items is the red notebook patrolwoman Wasser found, which contains handwritten notes about Mr. Mangione’s disdain for the American healthcare industry.

During the hearing, Mr. Mangione, who had been ill last Friday, was back in court, looking sharp in his gray suit, conversing with his attorneys, taking notes, going through papers, and attentively following the examination of the witnesses. 

Bodycam footage showed Officer Wasser and Deputy Chief Derek Swope take the backpack and the handgun to a hallway, where she is seen clearing the gun. She continued to look through the backpack and found a silencer. “Oh my God,” she can be heard saying and laughing. 

 “Holy s—,” Deputy Chief Swope comments off camera in the video. 

The defense questioned Officer Wasser about a statement she made a few moments later. “Isn’t this awesome?” She can be heard saying. 

Officer Wasser explained that she said it “because I’m very proud of our department.” Ms. Agnifilo interjected, “Because you caught the NYC shooter?” to which Officer Wasser replied, “Possibly.”

In the morning, prosecutors had called the first district attorney from Pennsylvania’s Blair County District Attorney’s Office, Nichole Smith, who testified that she received a call at 9:53 a.m. from a lieutenant with the Altoona Police Department informing her “that he had the individual responsible for the CEO shooting” at the McDonald’s. Ms. Smith said she was in the middle of a court proceeding and walked out so she could notify her supervisor, Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks.

According to Ms. Smith, she and Mr. Weeks instructed Altoona police to charge Mangione with forgery, carrying a firearm without a license, tampering with records for identification, possessing instruments of a crime and providing false identification to law enforcement, in reference to the fake ID he had first handed to the officers, a New Jersey driver’s license with the name Mark Rosario.  

The criminal complaint, Ms. Smith said, was approved at 5:15 pm. She said that Mr. Mangione was later arraigned at 6:30 pm in the largest courtroom of the county, which holds up to 100 people. She recalled “a lot of media attention that had accrued,” and that there were “multiple members of the media” present in the courtroom and “multiple law enforcement officers.” 

Ms. Smith further testified that a search warrant was issued to seize Mr. Mangione’s belongings, including items in his backpack, and transfer them to the New York Police Department. She did not, however, mention a search warrant for the actual search. 

The hearings resume on Tuesday. So far nine witnesses have testified. The prosecution is expected to call more than twenty.