(NEW YORK) -- A year to the day after Luigi Mangione allegedly stalked and gunned down United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan sidewalk, the 27-year-old alleged killer was identified in court by one of the police officers who first encountered him in Altoona, Pennsylvania, following the shooting.
"He's the gentleman right there sitting between the female and the male. Looks like he's wearing a suit," patrolman Tyler Frye said, pointing with his left hand.
Mangione's lawyers are attempting to convince the judge overseeing his case to prohibit prosecutors from using critical evidence, including the alleged murder weapon and Mangione's journal. They argue the evidence was unlawfully seized from his backpack without a warrant during his arrest.
New York State Supreme Court Judge Gregory Carro said during Thursday's proceedings that a number of the exhibits introduced so far would be publicly released today.
Mangione -- in court for the third day of a pretrial hearing in his state murder case -- flipped a pen in his right hand and then began writing on a white lined legal pad, largely ignoring body camera footage of his arrest that played on screens around the courtroom.
Frye, 26, was still a probationary officer, on the job less than a year, when he responded to a McDonalds on E. Plank Road after the dispatcher told them a manager had called 911 to report someone who looked like the person wanted in the shooting.
On the body camera footage played in court, someone is heard directing the officers, "He's back there."
Frye is seen in the footage standing a few feet from Mangione while Mangione nibbled a hash brown as the officers stalled for time by engaging in small talk about the Steak McMuffin.
Another officer is heard asking Mangione, "Do you know what all this nonsense is about?" Mangione is heard replying, "We're going to find out I guess."
Mangione gave the officers a fake New Jersey ID for a Mark Rosario.
Officers subsequently informed Mangione he was under "official police investigation" and asked him his real name. Frye, on the video, is seen writing the name "Luigi Mangione" in a small notebook and providing his date of birth. At that point, Mangione is read is Miranda rights.
Defense attorneys are trying to exclude statements Mangione made and the contents of his backpack, including a 3D-printed gun and a red notebook.
"Where were you standing in relation to the backpack?" prosecutor Joel Seidemann asked. "Right near it," Frye replied.
"Were you aware of that backpack?" Seidemann asked. "I was," Frye said.
"When did you become aware of it?" asked Seidemann.
"About the time I walked in," Frye replied.
Shortly before he was placed under arrest, Mangione is heard on the body camera video questioning the large Altoona police response.
"Can I ask why there're so many cops here?" Mangione asks, after which an officer responds, "Just trying to figure it out."
Video footage shows Mangione standing with his hands cuffed behind his back and about nine officers near him in the restaurant. Three officers begin to search Mangione about two minutes later.
When prosecutors asked Frye if Mangione was under arrest at that point, Frye testified, "Yes."
Another Altoona officer is seen on video asking Mangione, "Anything in the bag we need to know about?" before officers begin searching Mangione's backpack. Frye testified he does not recall how Mangione responded.
Frye said Mangione was taken into custody under a Pennsylvania criminal code for "a type of forgery."
The officer also said Mangione spoke briefly to him and Officer Joseph Detwiler during the 10-minute drive from the McDonald's to the police station.
"The defendant asked us for our names, I believe he also apologized for the inconvenience that was caused in the McDonalds," Frye said on the stand. "I said that the fake ID was a bit ridiculous."
After an initial search at the station, officers on the video tell Mangione he can only wear one layer of clothing and would need to remove the long johns he had under his jeans.
As additional officers come into the station, an officer carrying Mangione's backpack says, "There's a weapon."
Body camera video shows officers also performed an "in-depth" search of Mangione -- what Frye said was a search that requires defendants to be nude so they can be "searched more thoroughly."
"We don't do them very often," Frye testified.
A blurred video played in court shows Mangione stripping down before officers' cameras are turned off for the search.
Video shows officers continuing to search Mangione's clothing after he was placed in a cell, finding a bus ticket from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh with the passenger name "Sam Dawson" dated Dec. 4, 2024, in one of his jacket pockets.
The hearing has the potential to sideline what prosecutors say is some of the strongest evidence of Mangione's guilt, and has provided the most detailed preview to date of their case against the alleged killer.
The proceedings could last into next week.