Pennsylvania's lawyer, Luigi Mangion, continues to argue that Altoona police have illegally detained the murder suspect and searched for his belongings.
Mangion, 26, is charged with first-degree murder in both New York and Pennsylvania, promoting terrorist acts, stalkers, and other state and federal charges, allegedly fired two married fathers, Brian Thompson, on a sidewalk in Manhattan in December 2024.
Now, his lawyer says he is using the authorities' term “manifesto” to describe Mangione's work, allegedly found in a backpack during his December 9 arrest.
“The use of this characterization of the defendant's personal experience and doubts of writing is incorrect, inappropriate, unjustified and has no evidentiary value,” Altoona-based defense attorney Thomas Dickey said in a court filing Tuesday. “The defendant believes this characterization was made solely to place him in a negative viewpoint in front of the public in an effort to bias the defendant and harm the potential pool of ju-secrets.”
Luigi Mangione supporters whine over alleged portrayal of CEO Assassin in “Corporate Supported Story”
Luigi Mangione will appear at Manhattan Crown Court on Friday, February 21, 2025 for a status hearing in New York City. Mangione has been accused of killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside the Manhattan Hotel last year. (Curtis is the means/pool)
Mangion allegedly shot Thompson outside the Manhattan Hotel, where United Healthcare's annual shareholders meeting was being held, in a law that believes it intends to send a message to the health insurance industry based on a manifesto discovered by a suspect arrested a few days after Thompson's murder.
In his writings, Mangion clearly revealed that he named the healthcare industry, particularly United Healthcare and the shareholders' meeting that Thompson was heading towards New York during the assassination.
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United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed in New York City. (AP Photo/UnitedHealth Group)
Dicky asks the court not to describe Mangion's alleged writing as a “manifesto.” He also asks the court to suppress various other evidence, including an unguaranteed search of the suspect's backpack, a statement to police during his arrest, and DNA evidence.
Luigi Mangione's Terrorist Incident: Has the suspected CEO of UnitedHealthCare “overcharged”?
Luigi Mangione was filmed on a mug shot in Pennsylvania after being arrested in connection with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (Retrieved by Fox News Digital)
Mangion's lawyers alleged that Mangion was improperly detained and arrested at McDonald's, so the specific evidence collected during that arrest should not be presented as evidence against his client.
The 26-year-old suspect earned his degree from Ivy League University in Pennsylvania and attended an elite private high school in Baltimore.
Despite some supporters characterised him as an anti-capitalist crusade, he was said to have stopped at Starbucks in New York City just minutes before the murder and was eventually arrested while eating hash browns at McDonald's.
The plan for the “Wack” CEO of UnitedHealthcare's suspected Assassin Luigi Mangione was revealed in a journal entry: affidavit
McDonald's restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania on Tuesday, December 10th, 2024. Luigi Mangione was arrested at McDonald's for the murder of Brian Thompson, the CEO of United Healthcare in New York City. (DavidDeeDelgado from Fox News Digital)
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, Mangion has been accused of planning the murder with the motive to spark a “public debate about the healthcare industry.”
New York prosecutors said Mangion planned a trip to New York. Find a Minnesota Thompson in town for United Healthcare's annual shareholder meeting. And kill him. Mangion is said to have shot Thompson from behind with a 3D printed ghost gun and suppressor.
Watch “Need, Defense, Delay: CEO Murder on Fox Nation”
Luigi Mangion left court following his arrest at New York City Criminal Court on Monday, December 23, 2024. (RashidUmarAbbasi from Fox News Digital)
The NYPD released stills from surveillance video showing him pulling down his face mask and laughing while flirting with the clerk at the check-in at a Manhattan hostel where police say they stayed for the murder. It went viral and quickly attracted a wave of support online for the defendant murderer.
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The suspect in the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was believed to be Luigi Mangione, but is believed to be flirting with hostel employees on surveillance footage before the December 4th shooting. (NYPD)
The suspect escaped from the scene of Thompson's murder, riding a bike to a bus stop, then on a bus to Altoona, where he was eventually identified and arrested.
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Mangion was originally from Maryland and recently lived in California and Hawaii. He graduated as a Valle Dictarian in 2016 at Gilman School, a private all-boy high school in Baltimore.
Mangion received his bachelor's and master's degree in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania in 2020.
Michael Ruiz of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
