Editor’s note: This is Day 3 of JURIST’s coverage of Luigi Mangione’s suppression hearings. Read Day 1 and Day 2.

One year after the December 4 shooting of Brian Thompson, CEO of medical insurance company UnitedHealthcare, Luigi Mangione returned to court for day three of critical suppression hearings in his New York state case before Judge Gregory Carro. Altoona Police Department Officer Tyler Frye, one of the first two officers to arrive at the McDonald’s restaurant where Mangione was apprehended on December 9, 2024, testified about the arrest. Body camera footage showed Mangione initially presenting a fake identification document (ID) under the name “Mark Rosario” before admitting his real identity and invoking his right to silence.

Mangione, accused of fatally shooting Brian Thompson, faces a nine-count indictment including second-degree murder, where he faces 25 years to life, and multiple weapons offenses. Mangione’s defense lawyers are seeking to suppress key evidence, including items found during what they argue was a warrantless search of Mangione’s backpack at the Altoona McDonald’s, as well as statements Mangione allegedly made to law enforcement.

Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann, prosecuting the case, devoted the entire day’s proceedings to Officer Frye’s testimony. Officer Frye, along with Officer Joseph Detweiler, was among the first officers to arrive at the McDonald’s on East Plank Road—an incident that led to Mangione’s apprehension five days after the New York shooting. Day two’s proceedings had focused on Officer Detweiler’s testimony.

Prosecutors played dispatch audio from around 9:00 a.m. on December 9, in which Altoona police were informed of “a male in the store that looks like the New York City shooter.” A McDonald’s manager had described a “suspicious” man wearing a blue medical mask, tan beanie, and black jacket. Body camera footage from Officer Detweiler’s camera showed the officers traveling in a marked patrol car when they received the transmission, with Officer Frye in the passenger seat. Officer Frye testified that he and Officer Detweiler entered the McDonald’s at approximately 9:30 a.m. and saw no other patrons seated near the individual who matched the description.

The officers approached the man later identified as Luigi Mangione, though he initially presented a New Jersey state driver’s license bearing the name “Mark Rosario.” Prosecutors introduced images of the ID—front and back—on placards. Officer Frye confirmed the ID was the one he “ran” through Pennsylvania’s CLEAN system to check for validity and warrants. CLEAN provides statewide access to driver’s license and motor vehicle information, criminal history, and warrants, and serves as a conduit to the federal National Crime Information Center (NCIC) system operated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Officer Frye explained that if the ID was fake, “it would not come up” in the system. Officers initially input “Mark Rosario” and could not find any records. After questioning, they input an incorrect spelling of Luigi Mangione. On the third try, they input “Luigi Mangione” and his legal date of birth, May 6, 1998, retrieving his Maryland state license information and finding that he had “no warrants.”

Video footage played in court showing Mangione seated with his arms loosely crossed, a hash brown and unwrapped breakfast sandwich in front of him. Officer Detweiler asked, “What’s going on—what brings you here from New Jersey?” Officer Frye testified that Mangione indicated that he “didn’t want to talk to me at that time.” Approximately 20 minutes passed with police questioning Mangione before reading him his Miranda warning.

As the officers waited for dispatch to verify the ID, Mangione continued eating. The footage included the ambient sound of “Jingle Bell Rock,” with Officer Detweiler lightly whistling along, at times commenting on the food. “Is that steak?” he asked at one point. Mangione responded, “it’s good,” and Officer Frye followed, “it’s my favorite.” Officer Detweiler and Officer Frye stated during their testimonies that their small talk was to keep Mangione “calm.”

Officer Frye testified that Officer Detweiler mentioned the restaurant had previously called police about people staying too long, though Officer Frye clarified he did not recall any such policy. Officer Frye also noted the presence of a CVS Pharmacy bag and laptop on the table in front of the defendant. By this time, additional Altoona officers—approximately 13 in total, out of a roughly 80-officer department—began arriving. About five New York officers also arrived at the scene within hours.

When officers found that the “Mark Rosario” ID was fake, Officer Frye testified that Mangione admitted his real identity after repeated questioning. Body camera footage showed the following correspondence:

Officer Frye: “What’s your real name?” Mangione: “Luigi.” Officer Frye: “Luigi?” Mangione: “Luigi Mangione.” Officer Frye: “Spell your full name.”

The video footage showed Mangione verbally spelling his full name and Officer Frye writing it down on a notepad.

Officer Frye: “And birthday.” Mangione: “May 6, 1998.”

The video footage showed Officer Frye writing this date down as well.

Another officer at the scene, Patrolman Fox, then asked: “Why did you lie about your name?” Mangione: “I clearly shouldn’t have.”

Officers further pressed him about the fake ID. Mangione told them, “That was the ID that I had in my wallet.” After a brief pause, a voice off-screen said, “Mirandize him,” before Mangione was read his Miranda rights. Officer Frye confirmed that Mangione was not yet in custody at that moment, but officers warned him that “any false information provided now” could lead to charges, including forgery under Pennsylvania law. Upon being asked why he possessed a fake ID, Mangione stated, “I’m going to remain silent.”

Officer Frye described multiple searches conducted at different stages: an initial frisk by Officer Detweiler, followed by Officer Frye’s own pat-down search in which he recovered a jar of Skippy brand peanut butter, black gloves from a jacket pocket, and a folded piece of paper. Officer Frye testified that when he and Officer Detweiler were in the patrol car bringing Mangione to the police station, Mangione asked for their names. “He also…apologized for the inconvenience caused in the McDonald’s,” Officer Frye testified, prompting Mangione to break into a smile and rest his chin on his left hand at the defense table. Officer Frye continued that he answered, “the fake ID was a bit ridiculous.”

At the Altoona police station, Officer Austin Homan’s body camera showed the intake booking process: officers removing Mangione’s necklace with a USB stick, socks, and inspecting personal effects—including a survival kit, currency, medical masks, string, a watch, and clothing. The court also saw a never-before-seen handwritten note recovered from Mangione. It was organized by dates “12/8” and “12/9” to the left-hand side, with both days containing checklists. Each checklist line held various items such as “hot meal,” “Best Buy,” “USB 256,” and “trash bag(s).” The last item on the left-hand side 12/9 section read, “Archive LNM accounts (indecipherable, X, indecipherable).” Mangione’s initials are LNM, for Luigi Nicholas Mangione, and Mangione had an X account, indicating that he planned to archive his social media. On the right hand side was a hand drawn map of 16th Street to Cayuga Street in Pennsylvania. Below this, a “To-Do” list had one starred checklist item—”intel check-in.”

Prosecutors also introduced a separate Greyhound bus ticket in the name “Sam Dawson,” dated December 4, with travel from cities Philadelphia to Pittsburgh. A transit card and other receipts were also logged. As law enforcement searched Mangione’s belongings, another officer, Officer Wasser, can be heard in the background exclaiming, “there’s a gun.”

During cross-examination, defense attorney Jacob Kaplan, part of Mangione’s legal team alongside attorneys Karen Friedman Agnifilo and Marc Agnifilo, pressed Officer Frye on his state of mind when responding to the initial call. Officer Frye acknowledged that by December 9, he knew a New York CEO had been shot and that the suspect had not been located. Attorney Kaplan asked whether Officer Frye believed he might be “approaching the New York City shooter.” “Possibly,” Officer Frye answered. The prodding may indicate that during trial, the defense will attempt to undermine the purity of law enforcement’s motives in apprehending a high-profile suspect.

Attorney Kaplan also emphasized the extent of police presence and assessment of threat level. Officer Frye agreed that approximately 13 Altoona officers ultimately responded, though he maintained that at no time were all of them “surrounding the table.” Attorney Kaplan highlighted that Mangione did not act aggressively, made no threats, and spent about 13 minutes eating without attempting to access his backpack. Officer Frye confirmed that Mangione never told police not to touch his bag and that officers did not move the backpack away until later. When asked whether safety concerns should have prompted immediate relocation of the bag, Officer Frye stated he “felt comfortable enough as long as he didn’t reach for the backpack.”

Attorney Kaplan questioned whether the Altoona Police Department trains officers to use “ruses”—deceptive tactics—when interviewing suspects. At the time of the arrest, Officer Frye was a new officer, and Officer Detweiler was teaching Officer Frye how to run traffic stops when they received the dispatch call to report to the McDonald’s. “As part of that training, did they teach you that you could lie to suspects?” Attorney Kaplan pressed. Officer Frye said officers may “use a ruse to get a statement,” though he denied that any illicit tactics occurred. Under Supreme Court precedent Frazier v. Cupp, police may lie in interrogations as long as the deception is not illicit, although this line is an ambiguous one in common law. Since the Frazier ruling, several defendants have been wrongfully convicted due to police misrepresentations to suspects. Others argue that it is necessary for officers to judiciously exercise this right and extract critical information from suspects.

Attorney Kaplan also highlighted the legality of traveling across state lines. “It’s not a crime to travel from New Jersey to Altoona?” he asked. “No,” Officer Frye answered.

The hearing concluded with Judge Carro encouraging both parties to be more efficient with time. “This is going longer than I thought. Both sides are being duplicative. This isn’t the trial, so try to move it,” he stated. The defense and prosecution became slightly entrenched in a verbal dispute over scheduling, with Assistant District Attorney Seidemann proclaiming, “I will not stand for this muscling,” prompting a brief but exasperated huff from Mangione.

Mangione, who wore a dark charcoal suit and white button-down shirt, remained stoic for most of the day. Concurrently, UnitedHealthcare lowered its flags to half-staff on its Minnetonka and Eden Prairie, Minnesota campuses.

The court has seen seven out of approximately 30 witnesses so far, meaning proceedings have advanced more incrementally than expected.