According to a recent court update in the Luigi Mangione case, a loaded gun magazine was found in his backpack and wrapped in pair of underwear.
The discovery, recounted in court Monday as Mangione fights to keep evidence out of his New York murder case, convinced police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, that he was the suspect wanted for killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan five days earlier.
On the fourth day of the pretrial hearing, Christy Wasser, a police veteran of 19 years, testified in opposition to Mangione’s attempt to bar prosecutors from using any form of evidence against him. The evidence included a 9mm handgun and a notebook, that was discovered alongside the firearm in Mangione’s bag.
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Mangione’s lawyers argue the items should be excluded because police didn’t have a search warrant and lacked the requisite grounds to justify a warrantless search. Prosecutors contend the search was legal and that police eventually obtained a warrant. Wasser’s testifying statement was that Altoona police protocols require promptly searching a suspect’s property at the time of an arrest, in part for dangerous articles that could be seized as evidence.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder charges, and appeared in good health on Monday, pumping his fist for photographers.
