(NEW YORK) — Accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione returns to a Manhattan courtroom for a seventh day Friday as his lawyers 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.
On Thursday, two supervisory officers who were at the Altoona, Pennsylvania, McDonald’s where Mangione was apprehended five days after the shooting testified that police did not need a warrant to search his backpack.
“It’s a warrant exception in Pennsylvania,” Lt. William Hanelly testified. “Police can search the person and their items.”
The defense has questioned whether the Altoona officers overstepped their authority, cut corners, and failed to follow their procedures in their rush to help crack a case that was getting nationwide attention.
Hanelly testified that 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.
The hearing is expected to continue into next week with a written decision from Judge Gregory Carro expected in January.
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