Luigi Mangione flashed an unsettling smile at the cameras this morning as he appeared in court for the eighth day of evidence suppression hearings.
Mangione, 27, grinned from ear to ear as he appeared in Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday morning.
The accused killer seemingly toyed with the courtroom photographer as he playfully put his hands up in what appeared to be a message for the snapper to back off.
It is unclear what prompted the exchange, but there is no doubt Mangione’s flock of female fans will fawn over the new photographs.
Mangione is accusing of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a New York City sidewalk in December 2024.
His lawyers have been in court seeking to have key pieces of evidence ruled inadmissible at his trial.
Since his arrest, Mangione has been inundated with support and amassed a huge fan base who have praised his actions and called for his release.
Mangione supporters appeared en masse last week as the alleged assassin returned to court for the first time in months. Many were wearing a selection of merchandise supporting him and vying for his attention.
Luigi Mangione, 27, grinned from ear to ear as he appeared in Manhattan Supreme Court on Tuesday morning
The accused killer seemingly toyed with the courtroom photographer as he playfully put his hands up in what appeared to be a message for the snapper to back off
Thompson, 50, was killed as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealthcare’s investor conference on December 4, 2024.
Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind and then fleeing the area.
Over the next hours and days, police released photos of a suspect – first showing him in a mask and hooded coat and then his face and thick eyebrows.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges.
The pretrial hearing, which resumed for an eighth day on Tuesday, applies only to the state case.
His lawyers are making a similar push to exclude the evidence from his federal case, where prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Over two weeks, the hearings have shined a light on the events that led police to locate and arrest Mangione in Altoona, Pennsylvania – a small town 300 miles away from New York.
Mangione fled to Newark, New Jersey, immediately after the shooting and took a train to Philadelphia, prosecutors told the court last week.
Among the evidence shown at the pretrial hearing was a Philadelphia transit pass purchased at 1.06 pm – a little more than six hours after the shooting – and a ticket for a Greyhound bus, booked under the name Sam Dawson, leaving Philadelphia at 6.30pm and arriving in Pittsburgh at 11.55pm.
Among the notes presented to the hearing was one with a heading ’12/5′ and a starred entry that said: ‘buy black shoes (white stripes too distinctive).’
Another, also written in to-do list style, suggested spending more than three hours away from surveillance cameras and using different modes of transportation to ‘Break CAM continuity’ and avoid tracking.
Below that, it said: ‘check reports for current situation,’ a possible reference to news reports about the search for Thompson´s killer.
A note with the heading ’12/8′ lists a number of tasks, including an apparent trip to Best Buy to purchase a digital camera and accessories, ‘hot meal + water bottles,’ and ‘trash bag(s).’
Under ’12/9,’ the day of Mangione’s arrest, the note lists tasks including ‘Sheetz,’ an Altoona-based convenience store chain, ‘masks’ and ‘AAA bats.’
Under ‘Future TO DO,’ it listed ‘intel checkin’ and ‘survival kit.’
Mangione had a Sheetz hoagie in his backpack when he was arrested, along with a loaf of Italian bread from a local deli, police officers testified.
It had been raining, and the bag and items inside it were wet, the officers said. They were heard on body-worn camera footage played in court theorizing that Mangione had gotten soaked walking from the city´s bus station.
Police responded to the McDonald’s after a manager called 911 to relay concerns from customers who thought that Mangione, eating breakfast in a back corner, resembled the man wanted for killing Thompson.
On the call, played in court, the manager could be heard saying that because Mangione was wearing a medical mask, she could only see his eyebrows and that she searched online for a photo of the suspect for comparison.
Altoona Police Officer Stephen Fox testified last Tuesday that Mangione, the Ivy League-educated scion of a wealthy Maryland family, expressed concern for the 911 caller’s wellbeing.
Fox said Mangione asked if police had planned on releasing her name, which they didn’t. The officer recalled him saying: ‘It would be bad for her’ and ‘there would be a lot of people that would be upset.’
At another point, Fox said, a shackled Mangione stumbled while trying to keep up with the brisk-moving officer. Fox said he apologized and said, ‘I forgot you were shackled.’
He said Mangione responded: ‘It’s OK, I´m going to have to get used to it.’
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates.