NEW YORK (AP) — Pluck your eyebrows. Buy less noticeable shoes. Take the bus or train west to Cincinnati and St. Louis. Move around late at night. Stay away from security cameras.
A to-do list and travel plans found during Luigi Mangione’s arrest and revealed in court this week shed new light on steps he may have taken — or planned to take — to avoid capture after last year’s murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
“Keep the pace, FBI slower overnight,” read one note. “Change hat, shoes, pluck eyebrows,” said another.
The notes, including a hand-drawn map and survival tactics on a llama, were shown at a pretrial hearing Monday as Mangione’s effort to prevent prosecutors from using evidence seized during his arrest on Dec. 9, 2024, at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Excerpts from body-worn camera footage of the arrests that had not previously been seen by the press or the public were released Tuesday.
Police said they discovered the bills in Mangione’s backpack along with 9mm handgun that prosecutors say matches the one used to kill Thompson five days earlier; loaded magazine and silencer; and a notebook in similar handwriting, in which he allegedly described his intention to “drive crazy” the head of a health insurance company.
Mangione’s lawyers did not dispute the authenticity of the notes or the origin of the gun, pocket knife, fake ID, driver’s license, passport, credit cards, AirPods, protein bar, travel toothpaste, flash drives and other items seized from him and his backpack.
However, they argue that anything found in the bag should be blocked because the police did not have a search warrant and lacked grounds for a warrantless search. Prosecutors say the search was legal — officers said they were looking for a bomb — and that police eventually obtained an arrest warrant.
The notes, along with other evidence highlighted in the preliminary hearing, underscored that Mangione’s stop in Altoona, a city of about 44,000 about 230 miles west of Manhattan, was intended to be only temporary.
One note said Pittsburgh to Columbus, Ohio, or part of the way to Cincinnati (“get off early,” it says, if you don’t have “red eyes”). The map drawn below shows the lines connecting these cities as well as other possible destinations, including Detroit, Indianapolis and St. Louis.
Thompson50, was killed as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for his company’s investor conference on Dec. 4, 2024. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind and then fleeing the area. In the hours and days that followed, police released photos of the suspect — first showing him in a mask and hooded coat, then his face and bushy eyebrows.
Mangione, 27, pleaded not guilty to state and federal murder. The preliminary hearing, which continues for the sixth day on Thursday, concerns only the state case. His lawyers are similarly pushing to exclude evidence from his federal case, where prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Among the notes revealed this week was one with the headline “12/5” and a star-studded entry that said: “Buy black shoes (white stripes are too bold).
Another, also written in the style of a to-do list, suggested spending more than three hours away from surveillance cameras and using different modes of transportation to “break the CAM continuity” and avoid surveillance. Underneath it read: “check updates on the current situation,” a possible reference to reports on the manhunt for Thompson’s killer.
According to prosecutors, Mangione fled to Newark, New Jersey immediately after the shooting and took a train to Philadelphia. Among the evidence presented at the pretrial hearing was a transit pass to Philadelphia purchased at 1:06 p.m.—a little more than six hours after the shooting—and a Greyhound bus ticket, booked under the name Sam Dawson, departing Philadelphia at 6:30 p.m. and arriving in Pittsburgh at 11:55 p.m.
The note, titled “12/8,” lists a number of tasks, including an apparent trip to Best Buy to purchase a digital camera and accessories, a “hot water bottle,” and a “garbage bag.” Under “12/9,” the day of Mangione’s arrest, the note lists assignments including “Sheetz,” an Altoona-based retail chain, “masks” and “AAA bats.” The “Future TO DO” section listed “intel checkin” and “survival kit”.
Mangione had a Sheetz hoagie in his backpack when he was arrested, along with a loaf of Italian bread from a local deli, according to officers who testified Monday and Tuesday. It was raining and the bag and the contents inside were wet, police said. They were heard on body camera footage played in court, believing Mangione got wet while walking from the city’s bus station.
Police responded to the McDonald’s after a manager called 911 to relay the concerns of customers who thought Mangione, who was eating breakfast in the back corner, resembled the man wanted in Thompson’s killing. During the call, which was played in court, the manager could be heard saying that because Mangione was wearing a medical mask, she could only see his eyebrows and that she had searched the Internet for a photo of the suspect for comparison.
Altoona Police Officer Stephen Fox testified Tuesday that Mangione, the Ivy League-educated scion of a wealthy Maryland family, expressed concern for the 911 caller’s health. Fox said Mangione asked if police planned to release her name, which they did not. The officer recalled him saying, “It would be bad for her” and “there would be a lot of people who would be upset.
At another point, Fox said, the handcuffed Mangione stumbled as he tried to keep up with the fast-moving officer. Fox said he apologized, saying, “I forgot you were handcuffed.”
He said Mangione replied, “It’s OK, I’ll just have to get used to it.”
