Luigi Mangione due in court on state murder, terrorism charges in UnitedHealthcare CEO assassination
NEW YORK — Luigi Mangione is due in a New York courtroom Monday to face state charges in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month outside a Manhattan hotel.
State prosecutors allege Mangione was found in possession of the murder weapon, and surveillance videos show a man matching his description before and after the attack, including outside the Hilton where Thompson was shot in the back.
Mangione is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after he appeared in federal court last week.
A key difference between the state and federal charges is that the state argues the shooting was an act of terrorism. Additionally, the federal charges open the possibility of the death penalty.
Luigi Mangione facing both state and federal charges
The 26-year-old was flanked by heavily armed guards as he was extradited from Pennsylvania to New York last Thursday. He then appeared in federal court on stalking and murder charges.
In a statement, his attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo called the federal charges “highly unusual,” saying they raise “serious constitutional and statutory double jeopardy concerns.”
The federal complaint revealed Mangione was found with a notebook containing handwritten pages that “express hostility towards the health insurance industry and wealthy executives in particular.”
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg says his office is working with the federal government and, while the cases are happening simultaneously, the trials will have to happen at different times. Acting U.S. Attorney Edward Kim said he expects the state case to proceed first.
