Lawyers for the man accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City gave him clothes for a hearing last month that included a hidden heart-shaped note touting his public support, prosecutors said Tuesday.
The note was found in a pair of argyle socks given to Luigi Mangione for his first appearance in a Manhattan courtroom on Feb. 21 on state murder and terrorism charges, according to a letter from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
“Know there are thousands of people wishing you luck,” the note said, according to the letter, which was addressed to the judge overseeing the case.
A second heart-shaped note was addressed to an unknown person named Joan, the filing states. The spokesperson for the defense is also named Joan but it’s unclear if the note was intended for her. Efforts to reach her Wednesday were unsuccessful.
In a filing Wednesday, Mangione’s attorneys released photos of both notes and said they were inadvertently included with the clothing. One was not meant for Mangione, according to the filing, while the other includes a second line not mentioned in the prosecution’s letter: “We are all rooting for you! Keep your held high.”
Mangione, 26, has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism and other crimes.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has called the killing “a frightening, well-planned, targeted murder that was intended to cause shock and attention and intimidation.”
Mangione’s writings and social media posts indicate that he suffered a life-altering injury to his back prior to Thompson’s Dec. 4 fatal shooting outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel, authorities have said. Mangione was not insured by UnitedHealthcare
When Mangione was arrested five days later in Pennsylvania, he was found with a handwritten document that referred to the healthcare industry and said: “these parasites had it coming,” law enforcement sources have told NBC News.
The killing prompted discussions about the U.S. healthcare industry and drew dozens of supporters to the Feb. 21 hearing.
In Tuesday’s letter, senior trial counsel Joel Seidmann wrote that incarcerated defendants typically wear jail-issued clothing, but special accommodations were made to suit Mangione’s “fashion needs.” This benefit was “violated” when an investigator charged with searching the bag of clothes discovered the notes, the filing states.
In the defense filing, Mangione’s lawyers said that wearing normal clothing for a court hearing is not a special accommodation and many defendants are allowed to do so.
It isn’t clear if the notes reached Mangione. According to the letter, he got the socks and tried them on before removing them because “they did not look good,” according to the document.
Seidmann also urged the judge to deny a request from Mangione for a laptop which he has sought to review evidence in the case.
“The defendant has ample access to desktop computers,” the prosecutor wrote.
Mangione is being held in federal jail in Brooklyn and faces a possible prison sentence of life without the possibility of parole, if convicted. He was also charged with the federal crimes of stalking, murder through use of a firearm and a firearms offense, which include the possibility of the death penalty.
