Accused killer Luigi Mangione allegedly started a to-do list after the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a veteran police officer testified in court on Monday, December 8.
Christy Wasser of the Altoona Police Department in Pennsylvania said during a pretrial hearing in New York City that she found a red notebook inside Mangione’s backpack while he was being arrested at a McDonald’s on December 9, 2024, according to the New York Post.
One handwritten entry shown in court was dated December 5, 2024, the day after Thompson was fatally gunned down in Midtown Manhattan, and included bullet points such as “change hat, shoes, pluck eyebrows” and “check reports for current situation.”
The note also mentioned taking a “bus to Penn Station” and checking “red-eyes” to Pittsburgh as well as a reminder to “keep momentum” because the “FBI [is] slower overnight.”
Additionally, the entry featured a hand-drawn map with Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, St. Louis and other cities on it.
Wasser said on the stand on Monday that she also discovered a handgun and a silencer while searching Mangione’s backpack in addition to a magazine loaded with bullets, which she claimed had been wrapped in a wet pair of underwear.
Mangione’s defense team is fighting to have the evidence suppressed, as Altoona police admittedly did not have a search warrant at the time, but Wasser argued that she had probable cause because she was worried the backpack could have contained a bomb. Mangione’s lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo questioned Wasser’s concerns in court on Monday, pointing out that the officer did not clear customers out of the McDonald’s or contact a bomb squad.
Mangione’s attorneys are also trying to bar certain statements that their 27-year-old client made from being used in his upcoming state trial. During a hearing on December 2, prosecutors played police bodycam footage that confirmed Mangione’s claim he had been questioned for nearly 20 minutes at McDonald’s before officers read him his Miranda rights and handcuffed him.
At the time, Pennsylvania authorities charged Mangione with giving a fake ID to law enforcement and possessing a firearm without a license. He was later extradited to NYC, where he was hit with both state and federal murder charges.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty in the two cases. He faces life in prison for the New York charges and the death penalty for the federal counts.
Over the past week, the Ivy League graduate has attended all four of his pretrial hearings, which are set to continue on Tuesday, December 9, with more witness testimonies before the judge decides what — if any — evidence can be suppressed.
Mangione is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn.
The Maryland native has issued only one public statement since his arrest, saying in February that he is “overwhelmed by — and grateful for — everyone who has written” him letters of support while he is in jail.
