Accused Ivy League assassin Luigi Mangione arrived in Manhattan court Monday looking preppy and furiously scribbling notes during the key pretrial evidence hearing in his murder case.
The 27-year-old former prep-school scholar — dressed in a gray suit jacket over a white and red checkered collared shirt — was led into the room through a side door before taking a seat at the defense table for the start of the proceeding.
Prosecutors are expected to call more than two dozen witnesses involved in Mangione’s sensational arrest in December 2024 on charges of executing the head of health-care giant UnitedHealthcare on a Midtown sidewalk.
Monday’s hearing, set to last a week, drew dozens of fans of Mangione to the courthouse, including some dressed in Super Mario “Luigi” costumes and wearing “Free Luigi” garb.
The hearing will probe whether police breached Mangione’s rights by questioning him and searching his backpack before getting a warrant.
If Judge Gregory Carro sides with the defense, he could deal Manhattan prosecutors a “devastating” blow by barring them from showing jurors the key evidence cops found inside the backpack, including the alleged murder weapon and a notebook in which Mangione reportedly explained his motive.
The prosecution’s first witness Monday was Chris McLaughlin, a sergeant in the NYPD’s public-information office, who helped set the stage for the hearing by reviewing widely released images of the suspect released to the public during the manhunt for him.
The images, including the infamous photos of a man authorities say was Mangione slipping down his COVID-19 mask to flash a flirty grin at a Manhattan hostel worker, were displayed on four large screens in the courtroom.
Mangione scrawled down notes as some of the photos were displayed.
There also was footage played of the suspect ordering breakfast at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa., as he was being hunted, and it showed the well-heeled accused killer cleaning off his table at one point — before cops descended on him.
The accused killer plotted to “rebel against the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel” by targeting Thompson, the head of “a company that literally extracts human life force for money,” according to excerpts of diary entries cited in court papers.
Mangione — the scion of a wealthy Maryland family — faces separate federal charges in a case where prosecutors have taken the rare step of asking for the death penalty.
The accused killer is being allowed to shed his drab inmate scrubs and instead wear his choice of outfit from a selection of two suits, three shirts and three sweaters, court records show.
