Luigi Mangione, who is charged with gunning down the CEO of UnitedHealthcare Brian Thompson on a Midtown Manhattan street, watched surveillance videos of the shooting and of his arrest, and even heard the 911 call that led to his arrest, during Monday’s pretrial “suppression hearing” at Manhattan criminal court, requested by the defense in an attempt to block key evidence from being used at the upcoming trial. 

“I have a customer here that looks like the CEO shooter from New York,” a manager at a McDonald’s outside Altoona, Pennsylvania, in the west of the state, told a 911 operator. 

“Is the individual still there?” the 911 operator asked. 

“Yes, he is still in the lobby by the bathroom,” the manager responded. 

Prosecutors from the Manhattan District Attorney’s office, who have charged Mr. Mangione with murder in the second-degree and nine other counts related to Thompson’s killing, played the 911 call that led to Mr. Mangione’s arrest in court on Monday. 

In the early morning hours of December 4, 2024, Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, an arm of UnitedHealth Group, one of the largest and most profitable health insurance companies in the country, was shot on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk as he was on his way to an annual investor conference at the Hilton Hotel at 6:45am. The Twin Cities-based father of two, 50, died at the hospital about half an hour later. The killer fled the scene immediately, triggering a nationwide manhunt. Five days after the shooting, Mr. Mangione was arrested at the Altoona McDonald’s.

During the 911 call, which was surprisingly chatty, the manager told the 911 operator that a customer had alerted her that he had recognized a man, whom he believed to be the suspect wanted for Thompson’s killing. After the shooting, the New York Police Department had released several images and video footage depicting a man that resembled Mr. Mangione.     

The 911 operator asked the manager to describe the man. “He is wearing a black sweater jacket,” The manager said. She described that man to be “mid height” and said he was wearing a beanie hat, which he had pulled down over his face, “the only thing you can see are his eyebrows.” 

“I don’t know what to do,” the manager said. In the background one could hear the noises from the fast food restaurant, at one point someone asked for bagels, “one of the no butter.”    

Mr. Mangione, 27, was sitting in the courtroom, listening to the recording. He wore a gray suit and a white and red plaid shirt with the two top buttons undone, after federal and state legal authorities had agreed he could dress professionally (Mr. Mangione is incarcerated at the notorious Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn, in the custody of the federal government). 

Mr. Mangione did not wear a tie, but his hair appeared to have been trimmed recently. His hands were cuffed behind his back when he entered through the side door, but removed once he reached the defense table. During the hearing he took notes and appeared serious, but also curious, with some smiles to his attorneys. Mr. Mangione often turned around and looked at the courtroom that was packed with members of the media. 

Defense attorneys had requested the pretrial suppression hearings, which began on Monday, and could last several days, because they argue that the evidence, which was obtained during Mr. Mangione’s arrest at the Altoona McDonald’s was seized unlawfully, and should thus be inadmissible at trial. 

Arresting offers, the defense argued in a motion filed on May 1, did not have a search warrant when they searched his backpack, where they found a 3-D printed handgun, which matched the casings at the crime scene, a notebook with handwritten notes, and electronic devices. They also did not read Mr. Mangione his Miranda rights before questioning him, for over 20 minutes, the defense argued. 

The hearing began with prosecutors calling witnesses. The first witness, a Sergeant at Deputy Commissioner of Public Information (DCPI) at the New York Police Department, Christopher McLaughlin, testified about the images he shared with the media after the shooting, when the manhunt for the suspect was underway. 

During his testimony, the prosecutor played the video caught on street surveillance cameras of Thompson’s shooting, which was later streamed by Fox News Digital and many other media platforms. The suspect, wearing a hood and a gray backpack, steps into the frame, as we see Thompson rushing down the sidewalk towards the hotel entrance. Mr. Mangione’s expression was calm, as he watched the suspect fire the fatal shots. He took notes. 

Mr. McLaughlin then told the veteran prosecutor, Joel Seidemann, who has been working as an assistant district attorney for New York County since May 1982, that detectives had provided DCPI with the images of the suspect, which include pictures of him inside a taxi cab, wearing a mask, and also speaking to a receptionist at a youth hostel, without a mask, flaunting a distinct smile.

The lead defense attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, tried to insinuate during cross-examination that the amount of images released to the media by DCPI was much higher than it would be for other crimes, hinting at the fact that the victim was the CEO of a prominent company as opposed to a regular citizen, but the prosecutor made an objection which the presiding judge, Gregory Carro, sustained. 

An installation supervisor, Bernard Pyles, who helped New York investigators access surveillance footage from cameras installed at the Altoona McDonald’s, where Mr. Mangione was arrested, also testified. 

During his testimony the court watched the arrest in detail, and saw that Mr. Mangione, who was first approached by two officers, before backup was called, continued to eat very calmly as the officers questioned him.

Around 20 of Mr. Mangione’s supporters attended the hearing, standing in the back of the courtroom. They were mostly young women. One of them wore a T-shirt that said, “Without a warrant, it’s not a search, it’s a violation.” 

In the morning, the crowd of supporters outside the courthouse had been much smaller than at the last hearings. A supporter, dressed in a dragon costume, held up a sign that said “When patients die, profits rise.”  Dragon, frog and other full body costumes have become popular among far left protesters, as they inject some mirth into the setting and mitigate the image of these protesters as violent. 

Two more witnesses were called on Monday. The hearings are expected to last several days. 

Mr. Mangione is also being prosecuted in federal court, where prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.