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Recently unveiled photographs capture the last fleeting moments of alleged killer Luigi Mangione’s freedom before his arrest in connection with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
The 27-year-old is depicted in the images clad in a dark jacket and a brown beanie, sitting alone in a corner at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on December 9, 2024.
The photos, seemingly taken from body camera footage, show police officers approaching Mangione, an Ivy League alumnus, who then lowers his mask in response to their presence.
Authorities across the nation had been on the hunt for Mangione for five days after surveillance cameras captured him fatally shooting the 50-year-old Thompson at close range in Midtown Manhattan and subsequently escaping.
In the footage, officers are seen speaking briefly with Mangione before escorting him out of the establishment, at which point it is revealed that he was wearing a tactical vest.
The images were released in court documents Friday, as Mangione’s lawyers spar with federal prosecutors over whether to drop the death penalty in his case.
Mangione is facing two federal counts of stalking, one count of murder through the use of a firearm, and one firearms offense in connection with Thompson’s murder.
But his attorneys last month asked Judge Margaret Garnett to suppress evidence collected during his arrest – claiming that officers in Altoona improperly seized evidence from his backpack and questioned him before reading him his rights.
Newly-released images show alleged assassin Luigi Mangione ‘s final moments of freedom before he was taken into custody for the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
The now 27-year-old could be seen in the photos wearing a dark jacket and a brown beanie while sitting alone in the corner of a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania on December 9, 2024
He briefly pulled down his mask when he was confronted by police officers
But in the 121-page filing on Friday, prosecutors argued that because there was a multiday manhunt for a shooter accused of killing ‘a complete stranger,’ officers had been justified in searching Mangione’s backpack to ensure it did not contain dangerous items before seizing it.
They noted that the contents of the backpack ‘would have inevitably been discovered’ during an inventory search anyway.
Inside the backpack were a 9mm handgun, ammunition inscribed with the words ‘delay, deny, and depose’ and a journal in which Mangione allegedly mused about his intent to ‘wack’ an insurance executive and wrote about rebelling against ‘the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel.’
Prosecutors also argued in their filing that the only pre-Miranda statement they plan to use against Mangione is when he allegedly gave officers a fake name.
At that point, the government argued, ‘no Miranda warnings were required.’
Much of the filing, though, rebuked Mangione’s lawyers after they claimed that statements made by President Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi have irreparably prejudiced the case.
The defense accused Trump of repeatedly intervening in the case, pointing to a series of public comments and official actions they say connected Mangione to Antifa.
The lawyers cited Trump’s September 25 proclamation, ‘Countering Domestic Terrorism and Organized Political Violence,’ which referenced ‘the assassination of a senior healthcare executive’ as part of a trend of politically motivated violence influenced by Antifa.
The proclamation did not name Mangione, but the defense argues it clearly referred to their client.
Police nationwide had been searching for five days for the man who was caught on surveillance footage shooting 50-year-old Thompson at point-blank range in Midtown Manhattan, killing him before fleeing the scene
The images released as part of court documents on Friday show officers leading Mangione – who appeared to be wearing a tactical vest – out of the McDonald’s
Defense attorneys also cited a September 18 Fox News interview in which Trump said Mangione ‘shot someone in the back as clear as you’re looking at me’ and called the act ‘a sickness.’
The next day, White House-affiliated X account Rapid Response 47 shared the clip with its 1.2 million followers. According to the defense, the post was later reposted by Justice Department deputy public affairs director Chad Gilmartin, who wrote that Trump ‘is absolutely right.’
‘Mr. Mangione is one young man, alleged to have acted alone, fighting for his life in three separate cases, against the full force and might of the entirety of the United States Government that is actively and persistently using him as a pawn to further its political agenda,’ Mangione’s attorneys wrote in their plea to get the death penalty dropped last month.
‘This is the very definition of prejudicial where the consequence is death.’
Federal prosecutors, however, told the court they had the posts removed after learning of them and argued the officials involved were not part of the prosecution team.
‘They operate entirely outside the scope of the prosecution team, possess no operational role in the investigative or prosecutorial functions of the Mangione matter, and are not ‘associated’ with this litigation,’ prosecutors said in a letter
Mangione’s defense team previously asked a judge to dismiss the federal indictment arguing that comments from Trump have irreparably prejudiced the case
Mangione’s attorneys also renewed allegations of political interference by Attorney General Pam Bondi (pictured), who in April directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty
Mangione’s attorneys also renewed allegations of political interference by Bondi, who in April directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty, calling it part of ‘President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again.’
In a Fox News interview that month, Bondi said, ‘If there ever was a death [penalty] case, this is one.’
The defense argues Bondi’s comments, along with Trump’s public statements, have ‘poisoned the jury pool’ and violated Mangione’s due process rights.
But in their filing, prosecutors argued that ‘public rhetoric by the Attorney General or the President is not a proxy for proof of prejudicial effect,’ citing precedent that ‘in the absence of clear evidence to the contrary, courts will presume that prosecutors have discharged their duties properly.’
The US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York further noted that ‘publicity – even intense – is not novel in this district,’ noting that ‘high-visibility cases’ were routinely tried there.
If the defense is worried about their client receiving a fair trial, prosecutors argued, they could create a jury questionnaire, make individual inquiries of prospective jurors and instruct jurors to avoid media exposure.
Mangione is now due back in court on December 1.