Luigi Mangione Indicted for First-Degree Murder in CEO Death

Luigi Mangione Indicted for First-Degree Murder in CEO Death

Luigi Mangione was formally indicted in New York on first-degree murder charges for the fatal shooting of UnitedHealth Group Inc. executive Brian Thompson outside a midtown Manhattan hotel.

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(Bloomberg) — Luigi Mangione was formally indicted in New York on first-degree murder charges for the fatal shooting of UnitedHealth Group Inc. executive Brian Thompson outside a midtown Manhattan hotel.

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The case was elevated to first-degree murder because Thompson was killed “in furtherance of an act of terrorism,” prosecutors said Tuesday in New York. Mangione faces as long as life in prison without the possibility of parole if he’s convicted.

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Mangione, 26, fled Manhattan after the Dec. 4 shooting, authorities said, touching off a five-day manhunt that ended with his arrest in western Pennsylvania. He waited outside the New York hotel with a 9mm 3D-printed ghost gun, prosecutors said. 

“This was a frightening, well planned targeted murder, that was intended to cause shock and attention and intimidation,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at a press conference. “It occurred in one of the most bustling parts of our city, threatening the safety of local residents and tourists alike.”

Bragg announced the indictment hours after court officials scheduled a pair of court hearings Thursday for Mangione in Blair County, Pennsylvania, which could determine how quickly he returns to New York. Mangione said in a hearing last week that he would contest his extradition to New York.

Bragg said his office has indications that Mangione may now waive extradition, allowing him to be brought to New York more quickly than a protracted battle that could take weeks, or even months.

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Mangione was indicted on one count of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder, seven counts of criminal possession of a weapon, and one count of possessing a forged driver’s license. 

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Last week, Mangione hired former veteran Manhattan prosecutor Karen Friedman Agnifilo to defend him on the murder charges. He can’t enter a plea to the charges in the New York case until he is formally arraigned in a state court.

Prosecutors had previously filed preliminary charges to start the extradition process, but a grand jury indictment means Bragg can move more quickly on the case.

Bragg’s office presented evidence in secret to a group of about 16 to 23 people, known as a grand jury. The panel heard testimony from witnesses, saw evidence offered by prosecutors and voted in secret on whether to charge Mangione in a legal instrument known as an indictment.

The 50-year-old Thompson, a father of two, was shot in the back and leg around 6:45 a.m. outside of the New York Hilton Midtown. The murder uncovered a deep anger among Americans who say the health insurance industry has too often failed to cover large medical bills and stood in the way of necessary care.

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“In the nearly two weeks since Mr. Thompson’s killing, we have seen a shocking and appalling celebration of cold blooded murder,” New York Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said at the news conference. “Social media has erupted with praise for this cowardly attack people ghoulishly plastered posters, threatening the CEOs, other CEOs, with an X over Mr. Thompson’s picture, as though he was some sort of a sick trophy.”

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Online Presence

A survey of Mangione’s online presence shows that the suspect — who earned two degrees at the University of Pennsylvania — praised the manifesto of another Ivy League graduate known for violent acts aimed at corporate targets, the Unabomber, calling his insights “prescient” on the book-review website Goodreads.

Mangione appears to have had a privileged upbringing in Maryland, the product of a wealthy family with various business interests.

Manhattan investigators were able to match the gun Mangione carried with him at the time of his arrest to the weapon used to kill Thompson as well as three spent shell casings found at the scene, Tisch had said at a Dec. 11 news conference.  

The NYPD was also able to match Mangione’s fingerprints to those found on a water bottle and an energy bar wrapper also recovered near the scene, Tisch said.

Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 9, based on tips from a patron and employee. He is being held without bail near there on local charges including forgery, possession of an unlicensed firearm, and a fake ID.

Mangione’s attorney in Pennsylvania, Thomas Dickey, didn’t respond Tuesday to a request for comment before the new charges were disclosed. At a hearing last week, Dickey said Mangione will fight any attempt to send him to New York.

(Adds Tisch quote in ninth paragraph)

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