Luigi Mangione secured a partial legal win on Monday after a New York judge ruled that several items seized from his backpack during his arrest at a Pennsylvania McDonald's must be suppressed — but the ruling stopped well short of what his defence had sought. Judge Gregory Carro allowed evidence obtained during a subsequent inventory of the backpack at the police station, but ruled that items found during the initial search at the restaurant must be suppressed, including a gun ammunition magazine, cellphone, passport, wallet, and computer chip.
The judge's decision, handed down five months after a hearing examining how police came upon the items, was described as a major win for prosecutors, enabling them to show the jury a possible murder weapon and evidence they say points to motive. Mangione, 26, has pleaded not guilty to all charges in connection with the killing of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson in December 2024.
