Altoona officials are refusing to release records tied to four police officers at the center of misconduct allegations in Luigi Mangione’s high-profile murder trial.

The city withheld any background on the officers, including prior complaints or disciplinary actions that could shed light on their credibility — and we're appealing the silence.

Why It Matters

This is about transparency in a trial where the state is seeking the death penalty.

Mangione’s latest defense motion alleges officers delayed Miranda rights, conducted a warrantless search, and blacked out bodycam footage during key moments. It argues Altoona police “created the air of terrorism” to sway public opinion and poison the jury pool.

Those claims—detailed in our original investigation—are serious. And yet, the city says no internal records about them exist.

The Backstory

Hot Take Times submitted a public records request asking for:

• Complaints, investigations, or disciplinary actions involving Officers Detwiler, Frye, Fox, and Wasser
• Internal communications and reports tied to Mangione’s Dec. 2024 arrest
• Any official comment on the April 30 defense motion

What we got back: a link to the Altoona Police Department’s Facebook page — which contains no statements addressing the defense’s allegations — and confirmation that all four officers are patrol officers, along with their start dates:

• Patrolwoman Christy Wasser — hired 8/1/07
• Patrolman Stephen Fox — hired 6/10/19
• Patrolman Tyler Frye — hired 1/2/24
• Patrolman Joseph Detwiler — hired 6/28/11

What Altoona Said

The city cited Right-To-Know-Law Section 708(b)(7), which shields many employee records—but only if they’re not final disciplinary actions.

They wrote:

“Information regarding discipline, demotion or discharge contained in a personnel file... shall not apply to the final action of an agency that results in demotion or discharge.”

But they never confirmed whether such final actions even exist.

As for internal reports or responses to this defense motion detailing misconduct allegations?  “No records exist for motions filed in New York State.”

Even though that motion is publicly available online.

Why We're Appealing

The law is clear: final disciplinary actions must be disclosed. Blanket denials aren't allowed when redactions are possible per statute 65 P.S. § 67.706.

We also disputed the claim that Altoona has no internal references to the April 30 motion, among other disputed points.

What’s Next

We submitted an appeal to the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records following the denial of our public records request. The review process typically takes up to 30 days.

Mangione’s suppression hearing is scheduled for June 26. What remains unknown — is whether the officers' records contain additional evidence that could impact the trial.