Judge Lets Jurors See Gun and Notebook in Luigi Mangione Murder Trial, Tosses Phone and Wallet

A New York judge has ruled that prosecutors may show jurors the gun and the handwritten notebook at the center of the case against Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson, while suppressing other evidence he found was improperly seized.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro issued the decision on May 18, partially rejecting defense arguments that police had illegally searched Mangione's belongings when they arrested him at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, in December 2024. The judge allowed prosecutors to introduce a 3D-printed pistol they say matches the weapon used to kill Thompson, along with a spiral notebook containing writings that authorities say describe a desire to "wack" a health insurance executive.

Carro determined that the initial search of Mangione's backpack at the restaurant amounted to an "improper warrantless search," but he ruled that a later inventory search conducted at the police station was a valid exception to constitutional protections, preserving the admissibility of key items catalogued there. A pivotal moment came when Officer Stephen Fox, recognizing the suspect, paused the backpack search after spotting a loaded magazine and declared, "It's him, dude. It's him, 100%."

Not all of the evidence survived. The judge suppressed the loaded magazine recovered from the backpack, as well as a cellphone, passport, wallet and a computer chip, along with certain statements Mangione made before he was read his Miranda rights. Defense attorneys had argued that the entire haul should be excluded as the fruit of an unlawful stop and search.

Mangione, 28, has pleaded not guilty and faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted on the state murder charges. He is being prosecuted in parallel tracks: the New York state murder trial is slated to begin with jury selection in September, while a separate federal case centered on stalking charges is scheduled to follow in October.

Legal analysts said the ruling, while a partial victory for the defense, leaves prosecutors with the most damaging items in their arsenal — the alleged weapon and the writings said to lay out a motive. Defense attorneys are expected to argue at trial that the surviving evidence is insufficient to prove Mangione was the shooter and to press their broader critique of how the arrest and searches were conducted.

Thompson, the 50-year-old head of the nation's largest health insurer, was shot in a brazen early-morning attack outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel where his company was holding an investor conference, a killing that set off a five-day manhunt and an outpouring of public commentary about the U.S. health insurance industry. The evidence ruling clears the way for one of the most closely watched murder trials in years to move toward a jury.