Man accused in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing faces federal charge that’s eligible for death penalty
NEW YORK — The man accused of killing of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive was whisked back to New York on Thursday to face new federal charges of stalking and murder, which could bring the death penalty if he’s convicted.
Luigi Mangione was held without bail following a Manhattan federal court appearance. He remained shackled at the ankles throughout the 15-minute proceeding, during which he told a magistrate he understood the allegations against him.
The hearing followed morning court appearances in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested last week five days after the shooting of Brian Thompson. Mangione now faces state and federal prosecutions in New York. Manhattan’s top federal prosecutor said in a release that the state charges were expected to proceed to trial first.
After his Pennsylvania court appearance, Mangione was immediately turned over to at least a dozen New York Police Department officers who were in the courtroom and quickly led him to a plane bound for Long Island. He then was flown to a Manhattan heliport, where he was walked slowly up a pier by a throng of officers with assault rifles.
The federal complaint unsealed Thursday charges him with two counts of stalking and one count each of murder through use of a firearm and a firearms offense. Murder by firearm carries the possibility of the death penalty, though federal prosecutors will determine whether to pursue that path in coming months.
Prosecutors move to bring Luigi Mangione, suspected in the killing of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson, back to New York from Pennsylvania to face a murder charge.
In a New York state indictment filed earlier this week, Mangione was charged with murder as an act of terrorism, which carries a possible sentence of life in prison without parole. New York does not have the death penalty.
His attorney said dual state and federal cases puts the defense in a highly unusual situation. “Frankly I’ve never seen anything like what is happening here,” said Karen Friedman Agnifilo. She reserved the right to petition for bail at a later point. Agnifilo declined to comment as she left the courthouse.
The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate is accused of ambushing and shooting CEO Brian Thompson on Dec. 4 outside a Manhattan hotel where the head of the United States’ largest medical insurance company was walking to an investor conference.
Prosecutors add murder as an act of terrorism to the charges against Luigi Mangione, accused of killing United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson on Dec. 4.
Authorities have said that Mangione was carrying the gun used to kill Thompson, a passport, fake IDs and about $10,000 in cash when he was arrested while eating breakfast on Dec. 9 at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa.
According to the federal complaint unsealed Thursday, a notebook Mangione was carrying when he was arrested included several handwritten pages expressing hostility toward the health insurance industry and wealthy executives in particular.
An August entry said that “the target is insurance” because “it checks every box,” according to the filing. An entry in October “describes an intent to ‘wack’ the CEO of one of the insurance companies at its investor conference,” the document said. Mangione was never a UnitedHealthcare client, according to the insurer.
The killing ignited an outpouring of stories about resentment toward U.S. health insurance companies while also shaking corporate America after some social media users called the shooting payback.
Video of the attack showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson, 50, from behind and then firing several more shots. The suspect eluded police until Mangione was captured in Altoona, about 280 miles west of New York.
After the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, many are expressing frustrations and anger at the health insurance industry and claim denials.
Mangione, a computer science graduate born into a prominent Maryland family, was carrying a handwritten letter that called health insurance companies “parasitic” and complained about corporate greed, according to a law enforcement bulletin obtained by the Associated Press last week.
One of his lawyers has cautioned the public against prejudging the case.
Mangione repeatedly posted on social media about how spinal surgery last year had eased his chronic back pain, encouraging people with similar conditions to speak up for themselves if told they just had to live with it.
In a Reddit post in April, he advised someone with a back problem to seek additional opinions from surgeons and, if necessary, say the pain made it impossible to work.
“We live in a capitalist society,” Mangione wrote. “I’ve found that the medical industry responds to these key words far more urgently than you describing unbearable pain and how it’s impacting your quality of life.”
He had apparently cut himself off from his family and close friends in recent months. His family reported him missing in San Francisco in November. His relatives have said in a statement that they were “shocked and devastated” by his arrest.
Mangione initially fought attempts to extradite him from Pennsylvania, but on Thursday, he waived a preliminary hearing on forgery and firearms charges before agreeing to be sent back to New York.
Thompson, who grew up on a farm in Iowa, was trained as an accountant. A married father of two high school students, he had worked at the giant UnitedHealth Group for 20 years and became CEO of its insurance arm in 2021.
Associated Press writer Scolforo reported from Hollidaysburg, Pa., and AP writers Sisak and Neumeister reported from New York. AP writers Mike Rubinkam in Allentown, Pa., and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.
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