Judge blocks evidence from Luigi Mangione backpack in UnitedHealthcare CEO murder case

A New York state court judge on Monday blocked prosecutors in the murder trial of Luigi Mangione from using some of the evidence from his backpack when he was detained by police at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania, on the heels of the slaying of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan.

Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Gregory Carro said that because the backpack was not sufficiently in Mangione’s control when Altoona police were detaining him, “the evidence found during the search of the backpack at the McDonald’s must be suppressed, including the [loaded ammunition] magazine, cellphone, passport, wallet and computer chip.”

However, a 3D printed gun, which is suspected of having been used in Thompson’s murder, and journal in the backpack, which was later inventoried by police at their headquarters, can be used as evidence, Carro ruled.

Mangione is accused of fatally shooting the 50-year-old Thompson on a midtown Manhattan street in December 2024, when the insurance company CEO was headed into an investors’ event for UnitedHealthcare’s parent, UnitedHealth Group.