NEW YORK – The fourth day of testimony in Luigi Mangione’s pretrial hearing was postponed on Friday after his attorneys informed the court that he was too sick to appear. The proceedings, which center on his effort to block key evidence from being used in his state murder case, are now expected to resume on Monday. The delay paused a hearing that began earlier in the week and may stretch into next week as lawyers continue to argue over what investigators can present at trial.
Mangione is seeking to suppress a handgun, notebook, and several other items that police say were recovered from his backpack when he was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on December 9, 2024—five days after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot in Manhattan. His legal team is also attempting to exclude statements he made to police, arguing they should not be admissible. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to both state and federal murder charges, and this hearing applies solely to the state case.
In court, Judge Gregory Carro briefly addressed the postponement, noting that Mangione was reportedly ill. Prosecutors have argued that the contested evidence is central to their case, asserting that the 9 mm handgun found in the backpack matches the weapon used in the killing and that entries in the seized notebook outline Mangione’s hostility toward health insurers, along with thoughts about targeting a CEO at an investor conference. They also claim he provided officers with the same alias used by the alleged gunman at a Manhattan hostel shortly before the shooting.
Thompson, 50, was shot from behind while walking to an investor conference. He became CEO of UnitedHealthcare in 2021 after two decades with UnitedHealth Group. Prosecutors in Manhattan have not yet presented their full rationale for admitting the evidence, but federal authorities have argued that searching the backpack was necessary for safety reasons and that Mangione’s statements were voluntary and made before he was formally placed under arrest.