A video excerpt of the police's first encounter with Luigi Mangione, then the main suspect in the New York shooting of a UnitedHealth Group Inc executive Brian Thompson, has been released by New York state prosecutors during a pretrial hearing on Tuesday.
The video shows Joseph Detwiler, an officer in Altoona, Pennsylvania, questioning Luigi.
According to a Bloomberg report, the McDonald’s restaurant manager had called the police to say he resembled the suspect wanted for the killing of the health-care executive on 4 December 2024.
What does the video show?
Taken from a body camera worn by another officer, the 2:14-minute video excerpt shows officer Detwiler walking up to Luigi as he sat in the rear of the McDonald’s, wearing a mask, a cap and a jacket.
“Do you mind lowering your mask?” Detwiler can be heard saying. “What’s your name?”
Luigi Mangione said his name was “Mark Rosario”. Detwiler then asked him for identification. Luigi handed the officer a fake New Jersey driver’s license, which is visible in the video.
His lawyers had said that releasing the video would prejudice Luigi’s right to a fair trial.
What did the police find on Luigi Mangione on day of arrest?
Police said they discovered the notes in Luigi Mangione’s backpack, along with a 9 mm handgun that prosecutors said matches the one used to kill Thompson five days earlier; a loaded gun magazine and silencer; and a notebook in similar handwriting which he purportedly described his intent to “wack” a health insurance executive.
According to an AP report, the police also found a to-do list and travel plans during Luigi’s arrest, which they said shed new light on the steps he may have taken — or planned to take — to avoid capture Thompson’s killing.
Pluck eyebrows. Buy less conspicuous shoes. Take a bus or a train west toward Cincinnati and St. Louis. Move around late at night. Stay away from surveillance cameras.
“Keep momentum, FBI slower overnight,” said one note. “Change hat, shoes, pluck eyebrows,” said another.
The notes, including a hand-drawn map and tactics for surviving on the lam.
Luigi Mangione was charged in Pennsylvania with forgery, giving a false ID to police, and possessing a gun without a license. State and federal prosecutors in New York later charged him with murder. He pleaded not guilty.
What did Luigi Mangione’s lawyers say?
Luigi Mangione’s lawyers haven't disputed the authenticity of the notes or the provenance of the gun, pocket knife, fake ID, driver's license, passport, credit cards, AirPods, protein bar, travel toothpaste, flash drives and other items seized from him and his backpack.
But they argue that anything found in the bag should be barred because police didn’t have a search warrant and lacked the grounds to justify a warrantless search. Prosecutors contend the search was legal — officers said they were checking for a bomb — and that police eventually obtained a warrant.
