By Aziza Shuler
Updated on: December 1, 2025 / 9:44 PM EST / CBS New York
Luigi Mangione, charged with murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, appeared Monday in Manhattan for pretrial suppression hearings to decide which evidence will be admitted at his upcoming trial.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to nine state charges, including murder, and faces federal charges that carry the possibility of the death penalty. In September, two other state terrorism charges against him were dropped. His defense says certain evidence should be excluded because of how it was obtained; prosecutors deny the allegations. The judge scheduled a series of suppression hearings to address the disputes. The hearings are expected to run several days, possibly all week. No trial date has been set.
A look inside the courtroom
Mangione entered the courtroom in a gray suit and patterned shirt. He acknowledged court officers and his attorneys with a raised eyebrow but did not look toward the gallery. At his attorneys’ request, restraints were removed so he could take notes. The judge granted his request to wear civilian clothing while being transported from the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, allowing two suits, three shirts, three sweaters, three pairs of pants, five pairs of socks and one pair of shoes without laces.
Inside the courtroom there were roughly eight rows of journalists and three rows for the public; some attendees wore shirts with Mangione’s name or photo and the color green. People waited outside to try to get seats. The hearing, expected to start at 10 a.m., began around 11 a.m. Mangione smiled while speaking with his attorneys before proceedings and took notes throughout.
First witnesses and evidence shown
The first witness, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Sgt. Chris McLaughlin, reviewed surveillance images obtained after the shooting, including what appeared to be a photo of Mangione at a Starbucks wearing a gray backpack and a facemask with his nose exposed, images of him in an Upper West Side hostel without a facemask, and a Facebook post showing a man on a bicycle and a man with a gun. Defense attorneys objected to the relevance of the witness while the photos were displayed; Mangione was seen taking notes and conferring with counsel.
Prosecutors played video of the moment Thompson was shot outside a Midtown hotel nearly a year ago but stopped the clip before Thompson fell.
The second witness worked for the company that handled security cameras at the McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where Mangione was arrested days after the shooting. For the first time, prosecutors showed security video from that McDonald’s. With no audio, the footage shows Mangione sitting and eating and later speaking with officers.
A 911 coordinator from Blair County then took the stand and a manager’s 911 call from the McDonald’s was played. In the recording the manager said, “I have a customer here that some other customers were suspicious of,” explaining patrons were upset and thought the man resembled the person police were searching for. Surveillance showed Mangione sit in a side dining room near the restroom at 9:01 a.m. At 9:28 a.m., two officers approached and he stood with his hands up. Customers and employees moved through the dining area as officers engaged with him. At one point he resumed eating while speaking with officers. Around 9:40 a.m., more officers arrived and Mangione was searched and detained.
Corrections testimony
Corrections officer Thomas Rivers, who works at State Correctional Institution Huntington where Mangione was held after arrest, testified Mangione was placed there because of the facility’s heightened security and was kept under constant watch because “SCI Huntington didn’t want an Epstein-style situation,” referring to Jeffrey Epstein’s suicide. Rivers said he spoke with Mangione about his travels in Thailand, including Mangione recounting a “gang fight between lady boys.” Rivers testified Mangione discussed how people raised in Third World countries cope with suffering and how that can affect happiness. They also discussed media comparisons of Mangione to Ted Kaczynski and books by George Orwell, Aldous Huxley and Henry David Thoreau.
Defense arguments
Mangione’s lawyers argue statements he made to law enforcement should be suppressed because officers did not provide Miranda warnings. They contend evidence seized during his arrest at the Altoona McDonald’s should be excluded because officers conducted a warrantless search of his backpack after he was handcuffed and surrounded. Items recovered from the backpack included a gun with a 3D-printed receiver, ammunition and a red notebook prosecutors say is his diary. Defense attorneys asked that notebook entries and other writings not be admitted at these pretrial hearings, arguing their publicity would prejudice Mangione and potential jurors. The defense is also challenging non-eyewitness identification testimony—identifications made from photos or video by people who did not witness the alleged crime.
