Mangione listed ways to alter look and evade CCTV

US suspect in health boss killing planned to 'pluck brows'

- MICHAEL R. SISAK

A detailed “to-do list” and travel plans found during Luigi Mangione’s arrest, and revealed in court this week, shed new light on his alleged efforts to evade capture.

Following United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s killing last year, the instructions included plucking eyebrows, buying less conspicuous shoes, and taking a bus or train west towards Cincinnati and St Louis. Mr Mangione also planned to move late at night and avoid surveillance cameras.

“Keep momentum, FBI slower overnight”, said one note. “Change hat, shoes, pluck eyebrows”, said another.

The notes, including a hand-drawn map and tactics for surviving on the run, were shown on Monday at a pretrial hearing as Mr Mangione’s lawyers attempted to prevent prosecutors from using evidence seized during his arrest on 9 December 2024 at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

Excerpts of body-worn camera footage of the arrest, previously unseen by the press or the public, were released on Tuesday.

Police said they discovered the notes in Mr Mangione’s backpack, along with a 9mm handgun that prosecutors said matches the one used to kill Thompson five days earlier; a loaded gun magazine and silencer; and a notebook containing entries in similar handwriting, in which the accused purportedly described his intent to “wack” a health insurance executive.

Mr Mangione’s lawyers haven’t disputed the authenticity of the notes or the provenance of the gun, pocket knife, fake ID, driver’s licence, passport, credit cards, AirPods, protein bar, travel toothpaste, flash drives and other items seized from him and his backpack. But they argue that anything found in the bag should be barred because police didn’t have a search warrant and lacked the grounds to justify a warrantless search.