Luigi Mangione, the Ivy League graduate charged with executing the head of America’s largest health care company on a Midtown sidewalk, is back in Manhattan court today for an evidence hearing that could make or break his state case, in New York City, US, December 1, 2025. © Steven Hirsch/Pool via REUTERS
By James Flippin and Lisa Glasberg, 77 WABC News
(New York, NY) – On Monday, December 1, 2025 — nearly one year to the day in which UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed — his alleged assassin was inside a New York City courtroom.
@77wabc Behind the scenes of the Luigi Mangione trial
As reporters assembled in the dark outside of Manhattan Criminal Court, dozens of young women has also lined up in wait. Luigi Mangione, the 27-year-old Maryland native who is accused of using an assassin’s pistol to murder Thompson, was there for an evidentiary hearing. His jailers loaded him into a prison van and shuttled him from Metropolitan Detention Center Brooklyn — to the courthouse in Lower Manhattan.
Luigi Mangione’s supporters are going all out today as the 26-year-old appears in court on murder and weapons charges pic.twitter.com/vA3oExLQ9d
— TalkRadio 77 WABC (@77WABCradio) December 1, 2025
Here’s how Lisa G. described the scene:
In many way the bitter cold set the tone for the morning. Gray skies hung low over the old building, matching its facade. One of those days where if you weren’t wearing gloves, your hands would freeze within minutes. Yet despite the early hour, a line with upwards of fifty Mangione supporters stretched down the block. If you didn’t know why they were there, you might’ve assumed tickets were going on sale for a local concert. Mangione’s supporters were an eclectic group; women who were fiercely loyal, convinced of Mangione’s hatred for health insurance companies and — seemingly unbothered by the allegation that he had fatally shot someone.
About twenty police officers stood watch, keeping order as three distinct lines formed: one for Mangione fans, one for the media, and one for photographers. Many reporters joined the photographer line, hoping to record Mangione being escorted into the courtroom.
After clearing security, everyone was directed up to the 13th floor, where the hallways—lined with old terrazzo floors, wooden benches, and century-old-looking signage— feeling more like an aging elementary school than a modern criminal courthouse.
Outside the courtroom, about fifty photographers were packed into two tight pens held in place by police barricades, leaving the center walkway clear for Mangione’s entrance. Around eight court officers monitored us and the hallway as we waited. Rumors about Mangione’s arrival time kept shifting: 10:00, then 10:30, then 11:00. But at 11 a.m., a court officer finally walked over to tell us he was already inside. They had quietly snuck him in—no walk-through, no cameras, no spectacle.
Mangione had slipped past everyone without a single shot being captured. Inside the court room, pool photographers were allowed to snap some still shots. Mangione was handcuffed when entering the court, wearing a grey suit jacket and checkered dress shirt — but no tie.
Cats & Cosby Discuss Luigi Mangione:
From there the state’s prosecutors and Mangione’s defense attorneys argued their case in front of Judge Gregory Carro. Photos were presented showing a man both wearing and not wearing a mask. They were taken at a hostel in New York City, and later at a Starbucks. Video was presented from the McDonald’s in Pennsylvania were Mangione was eventually arrested.
In essence, Mangione’s attorneys know their best tactic is to have certain statements and pieces of evidence suppressed. The question becomes whether cops in Pennsylvania stepped over their legal bounds by searching a backpack and finding certain items. In particular, attorneys focused on trying to have statements suppressed as allegedly made by Mangione to corrections officers. Miranda Rights are a factor — as law enforcement must legally inform suspects in custody of their right to remain silent, avoid self incrimination, and have an attorney present.
For prosecutors, it’s tedious and careful work that entails laying out the entire timeline of Thompson’s murder — and Mangione’s apprehension. It was December 4, 2024 when the healthcare executive was gunned down. Around five days later he was arrested at the McDonald’s in Altoona, PA — after allegedly escaping NYC via bus. Surveillance video, as well as various police agencies, were involved in that search.
An especially dramatic moment unfolded when 911 audio was played — from a phone call made by a customer at the McDonald’s. It’s not clear if the audio will be allowed at trial. But the following is a transcript of that call, as reported by ABC News:
“I have a customer here that some other customers were suspicious of, that he looks like the CEO shooter from New York,” — unnamed McDonald’s manager speaking with a Blair County emergency dispatcher. The manager relayed that an older woman eating at the McDonald’s was “frantic” and “really upset” while trying to avoid being obvious while scoping out the suspect. The manager tells the dispatcher “I can’t approach him,” while saying the man was wearing a black jacket, tan beanie, and surgical mask.
The dispatcher says: “He shot the CEO. I got you.”
Cops say they uncovered writings from Mangione’s backpack that said “insurance is the target,” adding “it checks all the boxes.” Prosecutors have said that Mangione was motivated by a hatred of the insurance industry and the notion that people’s claims are often unfairly denied.
