The video of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s violent end that was played on multiple screens at an evidentiary hearing in Manhattan Supreme Court on Monday was originally released last December by the NYPD to further a manhunt for the killer.
But there was something new about the screening in Courtroom 1300 at Manhattan Supreme Court.
Among those who watched was Luigi Mangione, the 27-year-old Ivy League graduate accused of being the figure who steps into view and shoots an unsuspecting Thompson in the back as he strides down a midtown sidewalk toward a morning business meeting. The daring daylight shooter then flees without showing his face.
In the courtroom, Magione’s face became vivid as he gazed at one of the screens from the defendant’s table in a grey suit and patterned red and white shirt. His even gaze suggested that if he is in fact the killer, he remains convinced it was justified.
At one point, Mangione peered up at a bank of windows set too high on the wall to afford any view of the world outside. But they still allowed in sunshine, which seldom reaches the Metropolitan Detention Center, where he is remanded pending trial in federal court as well as state.
Mangione then peered back over his shoulder at the crowded courtroom, seeming not to look for anybody in particular so much as to just take it all in. The first spectator benches were filled with the press. Further back were two rows of his fans. There were fewer of them at the courthouse than during an appearance nine months ago, even though health insurance is a bigger issue than ever.
The hearing then moved from footage of the victim’s final moments of life to video of what may prove to be the accused’s final minutes of freedom. The footage and 911 recordings document a five-day manhunt ending at a Pennsylvania fast food spot.
Most of it is new, including seemingly minor moments that become dramatic in context. Some of it provides insight into who Mangione is beyond what he is accused of doing.
Surveillance video from the McDonald’s at 407 E Plank Rd in Altoona shows the most wanted fugitive in America pausing just after 9 a.m. to wipe a corner table with a napkin before sitting down with a Hash Brown. He is wearing a blue surgical mask and a brown knit cap pulled down over his forehead. But one distinctive feature was still visible enough that several patrons sought out the manager, who then called 911.
“[A] customer says he resembles the CEO shooter from New York,” the manager tells a 911 operator at 9:13 a.m. in a recording played in court. “You can see nothing but his eyebrows.”
The manager was uncertain enough that the operator rated the call as “low priority.” Two uniformed police officers responded 15 minutes later, at 9:28 a.m. The surveillance video shows them walking up to where Mangione is still sitting. They ask him to place his hands behind his head and he complies without rising. He lowered his hands as one of the cops steps away to call in what would prove to be a fake driver’s license.
In the meantime, Mangione demonstrates remarkable cool, calmly taking one bite, and after a moment, another of his Hash Brown, as if it were all just a misunderstanding.
The other cop returns and Mangione gives his real information. The dispatcher confirms it is him by sending a driver’s license photo over the officer’s cellphone.
That photo now appeared on the courthouse screen. Mangione looked up at an image of himself, younger, from a time when it would have been impossible for him and his family and all who knew him to imagine what is coming to pass.
His lawyers, the wife and husband team of Karen Friedman Agnifilo and Marc Agnifilo, are fighting for their client’s future as if he were their son. The immediate battle is to convince Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Gregory Carro to exclude a 3-D printer “ghost gun” along with writings and other items police discovered in his backpack at the time of his arrest without obtaining a search warrant. The Agnifilos also hope to exclude any statements he made before he was advised of his right to remain silent.
That effort began with the cross-examination of two Pennsylvania state corrections officers who conversed with Mangione before he was returned to New York. It is expected to continue through the first anniversary of the killing on video.
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