Suspected CEO shooter Luigi Mangione’s lawyer Thomas Dickey spoke out about the high profile case and said that he’s seen “zero evidence tying Mangione to the murder.”
Good Morning America host George Stephanopoulos asked Dickey if he stood by that statement on Wednesday, December 11, and the attorney confirmed that he did.
“We had a brief hearing yesterday, but there is one document – an arrest warrant from the state of New York – which merely referenced a statute,” Dickey replied. “We’ve seen no evidence. That’s one of the many reasons why we’re challenging the extradition at this point so we can see some evidence and get a little more detailed information about the charges against Luigi.”
Stephanopoulos also asked about the ghost gun, as well as the manifesto, that were allegedly found on Mangione, 26, when he was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday, December 9. Dickey countered that “a lot of guns look the same.”
“As I indicated yesterday, I have not been made aware of any evidence that links the gun that was found on his person to the crime. These are things we’re looking to see,” Dickey added. “Yesterday was fast, today’s another day. We’re looking forward to beginning our inquiry as to what evidence may or may not be out there. If you brought a gun in and said, ‘Well, it looks like that.’ I don’t even know if it would be admissible.”
The attorney continued, “And if so, I would argue that it wouldn’t be given much weight. That’s why they do ballistic tests, ballistics, examination, a test of all that to try to match that. Trust me, they’re going to try to match that firearm to the incident by more than just, ‘Well, it looks like that.’”
The manifesto that was allegedly written by Mangione focused on the problems within the United States healthcare system. A law enforcement officer claimed that Mangione wrote that the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson “had to be done” and, “Frankly, these parasites had it coming,” according to an article from People published on Wednesday, December 11.
When Stephanopoulos asked if the manifesto could be considered evidence, Dickey responded, “Well, I mean, certainly, it could be. I haven’t seen any of that yet. One of the rules of evidence is that there’s a rule of completeness, so you have to take any writing, any document in its entirety because some things can be taken out of context.”
However, Dickey added that the writings allegedly done by Mangione were “exactly the things that I’m looking to get my hands on. I’m hoping to get that as early as today,” and said that he “really can’t comment on something [he hasn’t] seen in its totality.”
On December 4, Thompson was shot and killed at approximately 6:45 a.m. while exiting a Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan. Video of the shooting showed a masked man wearing a hooded jacket who approached Thompson from behind before firing the gun at his back. When Thompson stumbled and fell to the ground, the suspect walked up and fired more shots point blank before walking away. A manhunt for the killer immediately began and, less than a week later, Mangione was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.