NEW YORK – Luigi Mangione was seen on surveillance video in a hotel lobby walking past the health care CEO he would kill just one day later, according to testimony from a lead investigator in the case.
Mangione, 27, is accused of fatally shooting HealthcareUnited CEO Brian Thompson, 50, in the back and leg as Thompson left a Manhattan hotel on the morning of Dec. 4, 2024. Over the past few weeks, a pretrial hearing has been taking place to determine what evidence can be used in Mangione’s upcoming state murder trial.
New York Police Department Lt. David Leonardi testified Tuesday about his role in investigating the fatal shooting. Leonardi, a 23-year veteran of the department, said that when he arrived at the crime scene, he noticed “there was a puddle of blood that had accumulated next to the wall” where Thompson had been shot.
As Mangione made his way to Pennsylvania, Leonardi testified that he and other officers got to work attempting to track down the suspect, including checking surveillance videos in the area.
One of those videos came from the Hilton Hotel where Thompson was staying. A day before the shooting, Mangione could be seen on surveillance video “walking past Brian Thompson in the Hilton lobby,” Leonardi testified. The video itself was not shown in court.
The Justice Department previously released a statement saying Mangione arrived in New York one week before the killing and “performed reconnaissance in the area around the victim’s hotel and the conference venue where the victim was scheduled to speak.”
The day of the shooting, Leonardi said, officers also found a gray backpack in Central Park allegedly belonging to Mangione.
“Candy bars, candy, and Monopoly money,” Leonardi said of what was found in the backpack.
Mangione was eventually picked up by police five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Police found a laundry list of items in his backpack, including a gun with a loaded magazine, a red notebook, a homemade silencer and thousands of dollars in domestic and foreign cash.
His defense team has argued that those items shouldn’t be included in the trial, because they say their client was illegally searched and not correctly read his Miranda rights.
Judge Gregory Carro will ultimately decide whether the evidence can be used at Mangione’s trial following the conclusion of the hearing, which is expected to continue this week.
Along with his state murder trial, Mangione also faces a federal murder trial. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.