Hordes of twisted Luigi Mangione super-fans lined up outside of Manhattan’s state courthouse early Monday morning hoping to get a seat at a pivotal hearing for the alleged CEO murderer.
New York Judge Gregory Carro is expected to determine if prosecutors can present jurors with key evidence — including the alleged murder weapon and anti-corporate “manifesto” cops found in his backpack after UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was gunned down.
One woman donned a “Free Luigi” shirt while other supporters sported a pin with Mangione’s face.
Another woman had a shirt with Mangione’s face in a heart-shaped Italian flag that said “Italian boys.”
Mangione, 28, is accused of gunning down the health insurance CEO on a Midtown Manhattan street in Dec. 2024.
When he was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, police recovered Mangione’s journal in which he allegedly wrote he wanted to “whack” Thompson and called the killing “justified” — which prosecutors claim amounts to a confession.
Carro’s decision Monday on whether the evidence found in Mangione’s backpack is admissible could drastically affect how prosecutors go about proving Mangione killed Thompson.
Prosecutors would still be able to show surveillance footage of Thompson’s shooting as well as fingerprint and DNA evidence and a phone retrieved by police.
In Mangione’s federal murder case, which is also in New York City, US District Judge Margaret Garnett ruled in January that the evidence in the backpack can be used.
Mangione’s state trial is expected to start next month and the federal trial in January 2027.
