Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO and father of two Brian Thompson, said in a filing on Friday that Pennsylvania police broke the law when they arrested him in December.
In a filing on Friday, Mangione’s lawyer claimed that police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, did not read Mangione his Miranda rights, which is required by the U.S. Constitution, Bloomberg reported. Mangione was arrested by police at a McDonald’s in Altoona on December 9 after a customer reportedly recognized him from “person of interest” pictures posted by the NYPD following the murder of Thompson on December 4.
According to defense attorney Thomas Dickey, police provided a “specious and unreasonable reason” for approaching Mangione, telling him he overstayed his welcome as a patron and looked suspicious. Dickey claimed that police never gave a reason for detaining his client and asked him questions before reading him his constitutional rights, Bloomberg reported.
Police questioned Mangione for 15 minutes before telling him he was under investigation, according to the filing. Asked if he wanted to speak to police, Mangione shook his head no before an officer told him, “You are not in custody,” Dickey said. The defense attorney added, “This statement was materially false, inaccurate and contrary to law. It is clear at this time that the defendant was in fact in custody.”
After Mangione was arrested at the McDonald’s, authorities found a notebook, where written inside were mentions of taking out “the CEO at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention.” In Mangione’s backpack, police also allegedly found a 9mm homemade handgun, a manifesto, and the same fake New Jersey ID that was used by the person of interest at a Manhattan hostel before Thompson was gunned down on the street. The manifesto included criticism of Thompson prioritizing profit over patients, according to authorities.
Mangione was extradited to New York where he faces murder and terrorism charges brought against him by the state and the federal government. The federal murder charges make Mangione eligible for the death penalty. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. The murder suspect has received support from fans in the form of hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations to his criminal defense and a deluge of photos sent to him.
