(NEW YORK) — For the first time, prosecutors played the 911 call that led to the arrest of Luigi Mangione, as the alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is in court in New York City on Monday for a multi-day hearing that could determine the balance of evidence in his state murder trial.

Mangione, 27, was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days after the fatal shooting of Thompson in midtown Manhattan last year.

“I have a customer here that some other customers were suspicious of, that he looks like the CEO shooter from New York,” an unnamed McDonald’s manager told a Blair County emergency dispatcher, according to a recording of the 911 call played in open court in Manhattan. 

The recording was played during the testimony of Emily States, the 911 Coordinator for Blair County Emergency Services. She authenticated the video before prosecutors played it for the judge. 

According to the manager, an older female customer was “really upset” and “frantic” after seeing Mangione eating breakfast in the rear of the McDonald’s. She noted that the customer was trying to be “non-discreet” while she scoped out the suspected killer. 

“I can’t approach him,” the female manager told the dispatcher, identifying Mangione by his black jacket, surgical mask and tan beanie. 

“He shot the CEO. I got you,” the dispatcher responds at one point. 

The manager tried to identify Mangione by his size — “mid height” and “mid weight” — but appeared to struggle to list any identifiable characteristics beyond his clothing, according to the recording.

“The only thing you can see are his eyebrows,” the manager said. “I don’t know what to do here, guys.”

The recording itself is occasionally muffled and interrupted by the sounds of a bustling McDonald’s in the background, including breakfast orders being placed. Toward the end of the recording, the dispatcher confirms that an officer is en route to the McDonald’s. 

“I do have an officer on the way for you. Just keep an eye on him. If he leaves, let us know,” the dispatcher said.

Mangione, sitting in the courtroom, leaned forward in his chair while the audio played, occasionally writing down notes of the call.

The judge has not yet ruled on whether to allow the audio into the trial.

Mangione’s attorneys are trying to limit prosecutors from using key evidence — including a 3D-printed gun and purported journal writings — police say they obtained when they arrested him in Pennsylvania last year. 

Earlier during Monday’s hearing, Mangione leaned on his left hand and stared at a large screen at the front of the courtroom, gazing at images police in New York City disseminated following the murder of Thompson.

The images allegedly depict Mangione at a Starbucks, on a bicycle, at a hostel, in the back of a taxi and with a gun taking aim at Thompson as the United Healthcare chief executive strolled toward the Hilton in Midtown.

The NYPD posted the images to social media following the killing as it asked the public for help identifying the suspect wanted for a “premeditated targeted attack” and announced a $10,000 reward for information leading to arrest.

With Sgt. Christopher McLaughlin on the witness stand, prosecutor Joel Seidemann played a video of the shooting allegedly depicting Mangione firing more than once, Thompson buckling against the building facade, and Mangione calmly walking by the victim.

Prosecutors seem intent on firmly establishing Mangione as the definitive suspect as the defense raises questions about officers approaching him five days later at the McDonald’s in Altoona.

Bernard Pyles, who works for the company that installed security cameras at the McDonald’s, testified Monday that he was asked to retrieve footage for the police.

“We were told there was an arrest made and they need footage,” Pyles said. “We were looking for a certain individual on the footage in order to cut out the pieces they needed.”

On Dec. 9, McDonalds cameras allegedly captured Mangione ordering from a kiosk, waiting at the counter and picking up his order. Mangione is allegedly seen on a different camera carrying his food, taking a seat in a back corner table and wiping it down.

The individual that police identified as Mangione remained at the table 25 minutes before camera showed police officers arriving and confronting him. 

Defense attorneys have argued Altoona police officers questioned Mangione for 20 minutes before reading him his rights, and also searched his backpack without a warrant.

Nearly two dozen Mangione supporters seated in the back row of the courtroom craned their necks to get a look at the accused killer as he entered the courtroom at the start of Monday’s hearing. Some were dressed in T-shirts displaying slogans about the case, including one saying “Justice is not a spectacle.” 

Though no trial date has been set for either Mangione’s state or federal criminal cases, the outcome of this week’s hearing will determine the shape of the case Mangione and his lawyers will face at trial. If they succeed in limiting key evidence, prosecutors could lose the ability to use Mangione’s writings — which prosecutors say paint a clear motive for the crime — and the alleged murder weapon. 

“I finally feel confident about what I will do,” Mangione allegedly wrote in a notebook seized from his backpack, later included in court filings. “The target is insurance. It checks every box.”

This week’s hearing in New York’s State Supreme Court — where Mangione is charged with second-degree murder — follows a legal victory for Mangione’s defense when the judge in September tossed two murder charges related to an act of terrorism. He is still charged with second-degree murder and other offenses, as well as a separate criminal case in federal court. If convicted in state court, Mangione faces a potential life sentence, and he could face the death penalty in his federal case. 

Mangione is accused of gunning down Thompson — a father of two who spent two decades working for UnitedHealthcare before being named its CEO — last December outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel before allegedly fleeing the city. He was arrested on Dec. 9 at the McDonald’s in Altoona after someone reported seeing a “suspicious male that looked like the shooter from New York City.” 

Defense lawyers are trying to bar prosecutors from using any of the evidence recovered from the backpack — including electronic devices, a 3D-printed gun, silencer, and a journal — as well as referencing any statements Mangione made to police. Lawyers with the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office have defended the lawfulness of the arrest and search and are expected to argue that the evidence would have inevitably been recovered during the discovery process ahead of trial.

“Despite the gravest of consequences for Mr. Mangione, law enforcement has methodically and purposefully trampled his constitutional rights,” Mangione’s attorney argued in their motion. 

Defense lawyers argue the constitutional issues began almost immediately after officers approached Mangione, who was seated in the McDonald’s to have breakfast. After Mangione allegedly provided officers with a fake driver’s license, they immediately began questioning Mangione about whether he was recently in New York and why he lied about his identity, defense lawyers say. As he was questioned, defense lawyers say officers filled the restaurant to form an “armed human wall trapping Mr. Mangione at the back of the restaurant.”  

Citing time-stamped police body camera footage, Mangione’s attorneys allege police waited 20 minutes to read his Miranda Rights and extensively questioned him without informing him he was under investigation or that he had the right to remain silent. They have asked New York State Supreme Court Judge Gregory Carro to prohibit prosecutors from introducing any evidence or testimony related to what they say was an illegal interrogation at the McDonald’s. 

Defense lawyers also contend that an officer illegally searched Mangione’s bag while he was being interrogated, eventually discovering a loaded magazine and handgun. Despite another officer commenting, “at this point we probably need a search warrant” for the bag, Mangione’s attorneys argue that the officer continued searching the bag and claimed she was trying to make sure there “wasn’t a bomb or anything” in the bag. 

“[The officer] did not search the bag because she reasonably thought there might be a bomb, but rather this was an excuse designed to cover up an illegal warrantless search of the backpack,” they argue. “This made-up bomb claim further shows that even she believed at the time that there were constitutional issues with her search, forcing her to attempt to salvage this debacle by making this spurious claim.” 

Mangione’s attorneys argue that any of the items recovered from the backpack, including his alleged writings and weapon, should be limited as “fruit” of an illegal search. 

Ahead of the hearing, Mangione’s attorneys have previewed plans to call at least two witnesses from the Altoona Police Department. During an unrelated court hearing last week, one of Mangione’s attorneys claimed that the hearing could include more than two dozen witnesses and hours of body camera footage. 

Judge Carro has set aside several days beginning Monday to hear arguments about whether the testimony and evidence can be suppressed.

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