Dec. 5 (UPI) — The fourth day of an evidentiary hearing in the case against Luigi Mangione was postponed Friday because he is ill, Judge Gregory Carro said.
“Apparently the defendant is ill today, so we’ll continue Monday morning,” Carro announced Friday. He didn’t elaborate on Mangione’s condition.
Mangione, 27, is accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealth Group CEO Brian Thompson, 50, on a sidewalk in Manhattan. He was captured five days later in an Altoona, Pa., McDonalds.
Mangione and his lawyers are in court to get his first statements, his notebook and a gun found in his backpack excluded from evidence at trial. Police seized them before they had a search warrant.
When the hearing resumes on Monday, two Altoona police officers are expected to testify.
On Thursday afternoon, Patrolman Tyler Frye testified that Mangione never became belligerent or opened his backpack.
“He never attempted to open his backpack at the McDonald’s, did he?” ABC News reported that defense attorney Jacob Kaplan asked. “No,” Frye responded.
The hearing is expected to continue into next week. On Thursday, Carro said both sides were being “duplicative” and said that’s “not helping your case.”