Luigi Mangione waived a preliminary hearing on the lesser charges in Pennsylvania and was immediately led out of court, escorted by police. He calmly got into a black SUV, which contrasts with his last appearance in court, when he fought with the police and shouted at journalists.
The SUV drove away, surrounded by law enforcement vehicles, marking the start of Mangione’s journey back to New York.
Blair County Prosecutor Pete Weeks said he wants to turn Mangione over to authorities in New York as soon as possible.
Mangione was charged in New York with murder, classified as a terrorist act, and could be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The 26-year-old Ivy League college graduate is accused of ambushing and shooting Brian Thompson on Dec. 4 outside a Manhattan hotel where the health insurance giant’s boss in the United States was going to an investors conference.
Blair County Prosecutor Pete Weeks said he was prepared to stay charges in Pennsylvania while authorities in New York pursued Mangione for murder.
Mangione is accused in Pennsylvania of giving police a fake New Jersey ID and carrying a gun and a silencer in his bag.
Mangione, 26, of Towson, Maryland, was arrested Dec. 9 in Pennsylvania when police were called to a McDonald’s restaurant on an Altoona shopping street after he was reported as matching the description of the killer.
The shooting was caught on surveillance camera footage, but the suspect escaped police before Mangione was arrested about 280 miles west of New York.
Authorities say Mangione carried the gun used to kill Brian Thompson, a passport, a fake ID and about $10,000 in U.S. and foreign currency. His attorney questioned the evidence for the forgery charge and the legal basis for a gun charge.
Dickey previously indicated that Mangione would contest extradition to New York while he is being held in a Pennsylvania state prison.
Mangione, who had a degree in computer science and came from a wealthy Maryland family, carried a handwritten letter calling health insurance companies “parasites” and complaining about corporate greed, according to a law enforcement bulletin obtained by the Associated Press last week.
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