In the fourth day of evidence suppression hearings, Luigi Mangione looks confident until cop reveals ammunition hidden in wet underwear in his backpack.
Monday morning saw him in court for the ongoing hearing ahead of Mangione’s trial for allegedly murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan a year ago in December. He was seen to be making a fist while speaking to his lawyer in the courtroom. However, as police bodycam footage showed officers finding a loaded magazine, hidden away in his underwear. This led to Mangione losing a little of his confidence, while looking down during the footage.
Mangione, 27, called in sick on Friday with an unspecified illness. However, he was back in court, attending the fourth day of the evidence suppression hearings. The defendant was dressed in a grey suit and blue shirt as he entered the courtroom, and took a seat next to his lawyer.
New photo of Luigi Mangione from court today seen pumping his fist and looking confident! This is the picture of a man who knows the police illegally searched him without a warrant and unlawfully interrogated him without reading his rights. pic.twitter.com/6OfF3WUG08
— Power to the People ☭🕊 (@ProudSocialist) December 8, 2025
While he looked confident on entering the court room, as Altoona, Pa., Police Officer Christy Wasser took the stand on Monday his demeanor quickly changed. Wasser is the police officer who conducted the initial search of Mangione’s backpack. As the bodycam footage played on televisions in the courtroom, the plaintiff looked down, writing notes and talking with his lawyers. However, previously when the bodycam footage was revealed, Mangione’s eyes were glued to the footage of his arrest.
Mangione’s lawyers hope to suppress evidence taken in the case, claiming they were recovered in an illegal, warrantless search. Officers had found a 3D-printed 9mm pistol in his backpack, along with a “manifesto” against the health insurance industry. As reported by the Gothamist, it also contained a hand-drawn map and a bus ticket.
Now, Wasser’s testimony could prove pivotal to the evidence suppression hearings. Should the defense manage to suppress this evidence, it will be a major win for Mangione and will make it harder to prove that the defendant possessed the gun that allegedly was used to kill Thompson, or even a clear motive for him to do so.
New photo of Luigi Mangione just now at the New York Supreme Criminal Court. pic.twitter.com/6kvb29YeDC
— The Luigi Case (@LuigiCaseFiles) December 9, 2025
Should the defense suppress the evidence, this would be a major win, while making it more difficult to establish that Mangione possessed the gun that was allegedly used to kill Thompson, or even a motive to do so.
The bodycam footage in question reveals Wasser, wearing gloves and rifling through the defendant’s black backpack as Mangione to one side in handcuffs, Besides the gun and a fully loaded magazine wrapped in underwear, the backpack contained a knife, a loaf of bread, a sandwich, a passport and a mobile phone. Reportedly, they were contained in a “Faraday bag” that blocks cell signals, in an effort for the alleged killer to keep hidden from the police. Now, he faces state and federal charges in the killing.
In the footage, Wasser was clearly smiling while holding the magazine of ammunition as another officer says, “it’s f***ing him, 100 percent.”
The footage then revealed the officers debating whether a warrant was required for the search, but most of them concluded it wasn’t necessary. Meanwhile, in the bodycam footage and in the court, Wasser explained that she was concerned the bag could contain a bomb, which made it vital to open it. This made her concerned as she didn’t want to mistakenly bring explosives into the police station as happened once before for another Altoona cop named Moser.
Once in the police station some 15 minutes later, the police officer put the backpack down on a chair and opened a side pocket, where she discovered a 3D-printed handgun. Later in the footage, Wasser takes the backpack into another room, where she discovered a suppressor hidden underneath the underwear. Later, she finds a red notebook, which she and prosecutors claim contains Mangione’s manifesto.
Mangione and his supporters, mostly consisting of young women, have also watched as the prosecutors played the surveillance footage of the shooting, and the 911 call from McDonald’s that resulted in his arrest. They have further watched the bodycam footage of his arrest and interrogation.
Meanwhile, Mangione has pleaded not guilty to the state charges and concurrent federal murder charges, either of which could hand him the death penalty if convicted. He is currently being held pretrial at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York City.
