Judge allows gun, notebook in Luigi Mangione murder trial evidence

A Manhattan judge trimmed the evidence in Luigi Mangione’s murder case while preserving the items prosecutors consider most damaging: a gun and a notebook they say connect him to the killing of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro ruled that prosecutors may use the gun and notebook at Mangione’s New York state murder trial, but suppressed five other items police found during the first search of Mangione’s backpack at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania: a gun ammunition magazine, cellphone, passport, wallet and computer chip. Carro called that initial search an “improper warrantless search,” finding that the backpack was not in Mangione’s immediate, grabbable possession when officers opened it.

The distinction matters because the admissible gun and notebook came from a later inventory search at the police station, not from the search at the restaurant. That ruling preserves what prosecutors view as possible physical proof of the killing while limiting how much of Mangione’s arrest haul jurors will see. For the defense, the decision removes several items that may have helped prosecutors tie Mangione to the case more broadly, even as it leaves the most serious evidence in place.

Mangione, 28, has pleaded not guilty in both the state case and a separate federal stalking case. He was arrested in Altoona on Dec. 9, 2024, five days after Thompson was shot to death outside the Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan on Dec. 4, 2024. The case has drawn intense attention because it centers on the killing of a high-profile health insurance executive and because pretrial evidence rulings can shape the entire trial narrative before a jury is sworn.

The state murder trial is scheduled to begin Sept. 8, 2026. Jury selection in the federal case is set for Oct. 13, with opening statements and testimony scheduled to start Nov. 4. Mangione faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted.

For prosecutors, Carro’s ruling keeps the alleged murder weapon and the notebook in play, two items that could anchor the state case at trial. For the defense, the suppression order gives a partial victory on the legality of the arrest search and narrows the evidence jurors are likely to see when the case reaches court.