Luigi Mangione had gun journal wrapped in underwear and notes about redeye ‘escape routes’, courtroom hears | EUROtoday

One of the law enforcement officials who arrested Luigi Mangione final 12 months has described the second she found a loaded gun journal wrapped in moist underwear in his backpack.

At a pretrial listening to on the New York State Supreme Court on Monday, Pennsylvania police officer Christy Wasser testified that she pushed for Mangione’s bag to be searched on the spot as a result of she was nervous he might have a bomb on him.

The loaded journal, she mentioned, was what satisfied she and her fellow officers that Mangione was certainly the one who had killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan 5 days earlier.

“It’s f***ing him, 100 percent,” one officer may very well be heard saying on a bodycam video.

Officers mentioned they’d later discover a 9mm handgun, a silencer, a passport, and handwritten notes together with maps and particulars of transport routes, which prosecutors describe as a listing of “possible escape routes.”

But Mangione’s protection attorneys contend that the bag search was unlawful as a result of the officers didn’t but have a warrant, and wish the gun and pocket book excluded as proof — which might be a serious blow for the prosecution.

They additionally wish to suppress a few of Mangione’s statements to police, comparable to his allegedly giving a false title, as a result of officers began asking questions earlier than telling him he had a proper to stay silent.

Mangione has pleaded not responsible to 2 separate state and federal homicide fees. An earlier courtroom date was delayed as a result of sickness, however he appeared in good well being on Monday’s listening to, which applies solely to the state fees.

At one level, he seemed immediately at a photojournalist’s digital camera and made a fist together with his proper hand.

Wasser — a 19-year veteran of the Altona Police Department in Pennsylvania — described in courtroom how officers debated whether or not they would want a warrant to proceed their search of Mangione’s backpack.

The search occurred in a Pennsylvania McDonald’s on December 9, 2024, about 230 miles west of the place Thompson was killed. A patron on the restaurant had phoned 911 and described seeing somebody who resembled the suspect inside.

Officers mentioned they initially arrested Mangione for exhibiting them a faux ID, and requested him if there was something within the bag they need to be involved about. Mangione, now knowledgeable of his rights, invoked the Fifth Amendment to stay silent.

That response, Wasser informed the courtroom, “heightened” her concern that there was one thing harmful within the bag. One police corporal, Garrett Trent, urged taking it again to the station to “check for bombs”.

But Wasser needed to test for bombs on the spot as a result of she had as soon as had a colleague who unknowingly introduced a bomb again to the station.

Bodycam footage then confirmed her extracting from the bag a hoagie, a loaf of bread, a knife, and a mobile phone, a pockets, and a passport wrapped in a Faraday bag — designed to dam cell reception, GPS, and different digital indicators.

Then she mentioned they discovered the gun journal wrapped in a moist pair of gray underwear, reportedly smiling on the discovery. Satisfied that there was no bomb, she repacked the bag.

Corporal Trent then mentioned that they would want a warrant to proceed the search. But Stephen Fox, a Okay-9 officer, mentioned: “We don’t need one, it’s a search incident to an arrest.” Others agreed.

Mangione’s attorneys have argued that the supposed concern of a bomb was merely a ploy by officers, “designed to cover up an illegal warrantless search of the backpack.”

Either method, Mangione’s backpack was introduced again to the station for a extra thorough search, whereupon Wasser mentioned she rapidly found the gun and the silencer.

Wasser made a shocked noise after which exclaimed: “Wooh, hoo hoo hoo!” A senior colleague mentioned: “It’s him.” “Oh my God,” Wasser responded.

In courtroom, Wasser testified that she additionally she discovered a hand-drawn map that includes Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Cleveland, and Columbus, Ohio, plus the be aware “check Pittsburgh red eye.” Prosecutors known as this a listing of “possible escape routes”.