2 more officers testify on Day 7 of Luigi Mangione’s evidence suppression hearing

(NEW YORK) — Two more Altoona, Pennsylvania, police officers took the stand Friday on Day 7 of accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione’s evidence suppression hearing as his attorneys work to get evidence excluded from his state murder case.

The marathon hearing will determine what evidence will used against him when he goes on trial on charges of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan sidewalk last year.

Testimony has centered around what transpired at the Altoona McDonald’s where Mangione was apprehended five days after the shooting.

Altoona police officer Samuel McCoy testified Friday that he knew whatever was happening at the McDonald’s on East Plank Road was serious when he saw his lieutenant, William Hanelly, putting on his bulletproof vest on on his way out of the stationhouse.

“Lt. Hanelly leaving with a vest on, that means something’s happening,” McCoy testified. “Significant.”

McCoy walked to a seated Luigi Mangione in the McDonald’s and immediately asked if he had any weapons.

“With the information I had that he was a homicide suspect, it’s very possible that he had weapons or feel desperate which makes people do erratic things,” McCoy testified.

McCoy then noticed a backpack on the floor and is seen on body camera footage moving it.

“I asked him, ‘Is this your property?’  He indicated to me it was,” McCoy testified.  He said he moved the bag “so that if he decides he wants to make a dramatic exit, per se, he doesn’t have access to any weapons.”

McCoy is then heard on camera asking Mangione, “Do you know what all this nonsense is about?” The officer said he wanted to gauge Mangione’s reaction.

“Through my experience, if somebody is being questioned and they’re not involved they’ll have one type of reaction and if they are involved, they’ll have a different type of reaction,” McCoy testified.

“I guess we’ll find out,” Mangione is heard answering.  

When McCoy asked how he had arrived at the McDonalds, Mangione indicated he did not want to speak.

“I said, ‘That’s fine.’  I did not ask him any more questions,” McCoy testified.

On cross-examination, McCoy said those questions were meant to elicit information.

The defense has argued that police waited too long to read Mangione his Miranda rights and that the police actions amounted to overkill.

McCoy conceded on cross-examination Mangione was largely compliant.

“None of the actions he took that day were frightening, made me fear for my life,” McCoy said.

On re-direct examination, he testified that officers had “established control” of the scene, but that going in he said “there is serious safety concerns,” given Mangione was suspected of committing a homicide.

Sgt. Eric Heuston, who oversaw the search of Mangione at the police station and helped catalog the items seized from him, including cash, clothing, a passport and a handgun, testified that Mangione was carrying “a good bit of property” and “over $7,000” when he was arrested.  

All of it was turned over to the NYPD pursuant to a search warrant Heuston drafted, “based on the fact that it could be of value to New York,” Heuston testified.

With Heuston on the witness stand, prosecutors showed three dozen evidence photos, including a full-body picture of Mangione after his strip search in which he stands awkwardly with his shoulders slumped forward, wearing jeans and a blue long-sleeve shirt.

Heuston testified on cross-examination that he read some of Mangione’s writings and decided which ones might have evidentiary value to the NYPD.  He’s heard on body-worn camera footage reading Mangione’s “to do” list over the phone to an NYPD contact and listing items that indicated he “more likely than not” was the shooting suspect wanted for the murder of Brian Thompson.

Defense attorney Karen Agnifilo suggested those actions were improper, but as she peppered Heuston with questions about inventory lists, evidence seizures and search warrant drafts, Heuston smiled and said, “I think we’re getting confused here.”

The hearing, which will continue into next week, was adjourned until Tuesday. A written decision from Judge Gregory Carro expected in January.

On Thursday, Lt. Hanelly testified that after the initial call came in he offered a responding officer a free sandwich from his favorite local place, Luigetta’s, if he actually collared the suspected killer.

“If you get the New York City shooter I’ll buy you Luigetta’s for lunch,” Hanelly said he texted patrolman Joseph Detwiler. The text included a wink emoji because, Hanelly testified, it seemed “preposterous” to him that the suspect could actually be sitting in a fast food place five hours away from the scene of the shooting.

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