Luigi Mangione Returns To Court

Luigi Mangione, the suspect accused in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, will return to New York state court for the beginning of a crucial pretrial hearing on Monday (December 1), NBC News reports.

Mangione, 27, had previously pleaded not guilty to nine state charges, as well as four federal accounts, which include the possibility of the death penalty and Monday's hearing could last at least one week. Marc Agnifilo, one of the attorneys representing Mangione, said he expects prosecutors to call up to 28 possible witnesses, which includes individuals from Altoona, Pennsylvania, where the suspect was arrested at a McDonald's days after the Manhattan shooting took place.

The proceedings are reported to be divided into two sections, both of which will focus on whether evidence or statements were obtained illegally and, therefore, excluded from trial. Judge Gregory Carro had previously thrown out charges of murder in the first degree as an act of terrorism and murder in the second degree, but kept the second-degree murder charge in September.

Mangione, who is an Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland real estate family, was arrested in Altoona after a McDonald's employee spotted him eating at the restaurant and believed he resembled the then-wanted gunman linked to the Manhattan shooting. The suspect was found carrying a ghost gun, masks and a manifesto linked to the incident at the time of his arrest, authorities confirmed.