Luigi Mangione, 26, was formally charged last week by the Manhattan District Attorney with multiple counts of murder, including murder as an act of terrorism. His initial appearance in New York State Supreme Court was preempted by federal charges filed following the shooting.
The federal charges carry the death penalty, while the maximum penalty for the state charges is life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors said the two cases would run in parallel, with the state's charges to go to trial first.
Authorities say Mangione shot and killed Brian Thompson on his way to an investors conference in midtown Manhattan on the morning of December 4.
Mangione was arrested at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania after a five-day search. He was carrying a gun that matched the one used in the shooting and a fake ID, police said. According to federal prosecutors, he also carried a notebook expressing hostility toward the health insurance industry and particularly wealthy executives.
At a news conference announcing the state's charges Tuesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the application of the terrorism law reflected the seriousness of a “frightening, well-planned and aimed at shocking, attracting attention and intimidating.
“Simply put, this is a killing intended to incite terror.”
– Alvin Bragg, Manhattan District Attorney
Karen Friedman Agnifilo, Mangione's attorney, accused federal and state prosecutors of advancing conflicting legal theories. Last week, in federal court, she called their approach “very confusing” and “very unusual.”
Mr. Mangione is being held in a federal prison in Brooklyn alongside several other high-profile defendants, including Sean “Diddy” Combs and Sam Bankman-Fried.
He was extradited from Pennsylvania on Thursday and quickly traveled to New York, where he was seen wearing an orange jumpsuit as he was taken from a helicopter by heavily armed police and the mayor of New York. York, Eric Adams.
Mr. Adams said he hoped to send a message to the suspect: “I wanted to look him in the eye and tell him that you committed this terrorist act in my city, the city that the people of New York love,” said the mayor to a local television station. “I wanted to be there to show the symbolism of it.”
An Ivy League college graduate from a prominent Maryland family, Mr. Mangione appeared to have cut himself off from family and friends in recent months. He frequently posted messages on online forums regarding his problems with back pain. He was never a UnitedHealthcare customer, according to the insurer.
Mr. Thompson, married and the father of two high school students, had worked for 20 years for the giant UnitedHealth Group and became CEO of its insurance arm in 2021.
The assassination prompted some to express resentment toward U.S. health insurers, with Mangione serving as a surrogate for frustrations over coverage denials and hefty medical bills. It also sent shockwaves through the business world, shaking executives who say they have received a wave of threats.
