The suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, Luigi Mangione, was flown from Pennsylvania to New York Thursday afternoon to face federal charges after he renounced his right to an extradition hearing.
Mangione, 26, was arrested by the New York City Police Department after appearing Thursday morning in Blair County, Pennsylvania, for a preliminary hearing and waiving extradition.
New federal accusations against the suspect were also unveiled on Thursday, including two counts of stalking, murder by firearm, and firearms offense.
A neat cut Mangione wore a white shirt underneath a black V-neck and beige trousers when she appeared in federal court in lower Manhattan on Thursday afternoon. Mangione picked up the charging sheet and seemed to read it attentively before the hearing began.
Judge Katharine H. Parker read the four federal accusations against Mangione that had been unsealed earlier Thursday during the hearing. Mangione said, “Yes,” when the judge asked if he understood the charges against him.
Mangione will remain in custody until his subsequent hearing in mid-January, the judge decided.
Mangione is currently facing federal charges from New York, eleven state charges from New York related to Thompson’s ambush shooting, and charges from Pennsylvania.
On December 4, Thompson was shot and killed while he was speaking at an investor meeting for UnitedHealth Group in front of a hotel in Midtown Manhattan.
Federal charges
According to the federal stalking charges, Mangione crossed state lines from Georgia to New York with the intention of killing, injuring, harassing, intimidating, and surveilling Thompson. He also allegedly used the internet, interstate highways, and electric communications to stalk, shoot, and kill Brian Thompson.
The FBI special agent who wrote the complaint provided further insight on the notebook that Mangione was found to have when he was taken into custody on December 9 in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
According to the federal complaint, there were other handwritten pages in that notebook that expressed animosity for the health insurance sector and affluent CEOs in particular.
The specifics are finally coming together, according to an entry dated August 15, 2024, which also indicated that the aim is insurance because it meets all requirements.
On October 22, 2024, an entry stated: 1.5 months. According to the lawsuit, this investor meeting is a real boon. At the investor presentation, that entry later revealed a plan to slap the CEO of one of the insurance companies. That date coincided with the investor meeting for UnitedHealth Group and was six weeks prior to the murder on December 4.
According to the complaint, Mangione allegedly stated, “I wasn’t working with anyone,” and claimed that his acts were self-funded in a letter to the Feds.
Extradited from Pennsylvania to New York
During his morning hearing in Pennsylvania, Mangione paid close attention and seemed to be smiling with his lawyer during the one-hour session.
Following the conclusion of the hearing, the suspect—who was wearing an orange jumpsuit—was led from the courthouse and put into a black SUV.
Mangione was loaded onto a tiny plane to proceed to New York, and at around 10:40 a.m., a convoy of Pennsylvania state police and New York City police were spotted at Altoona-Blair County Airport. After roughly ten minutes, the flight took off. Shortly after noon, he reached Long Island’s MacArthur Airport.
Our actions today were all done with his best interests in mind. On Thursday, Thomas Dickey, his lawyer, stated outside the Blair County courthouse that the team is now prepared to defend, proceed, and begin defending these accusations in New York and Pennsylvania.
Peter Weeks, the district attorney for Blair County, said reporters following the court that he will accompany New York to New York to await trial or prosecution for his homicide and associated allegations. When the defendant is available for prosecution in Blair County, we plan to essentially reexamine the case and keep it open.
Earlier Thursday morning, Mangione supporters were spotted outside the courthouse, some of them holding posters that read “Free Luigi.”
Murder indictment
On Tuesday, New York authorities indicted Mangione on 11 counts related to Thompson’s death.
After a five-day manhunt, the Ivy League graduate was taken into custody at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania. In Pennsylvania, he faced minor charges of using false identification and felony charges of forgery and carrying a handgun without a license.
Given that UnitedHealthcare is one of the biggest private health insurers in the nation, New York police have speculated that Mangione may have singled out Thompson. According to his writings and social media presence, Mangione had a horrible back ailment that changed his life and has gripped over the healthcare system and corporate America.
According to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s statement, he is charged with eleven counts in the New York indictment, including first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder, one of which is related to killing in the act of terrorism, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, four counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, one count of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and one count of second-degree criminal possession of a forged form.
Dickey, Mangione’s lawyer in Pennsylvania, has stated that he will enter a not guilty plea in both the New York and Pennsylvania cases.
One of the lawyers defending Mangione on the New York allegations, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, stated Wednesday evening that they are prepared to fight these charges in any court where they are filed.
“It is extremely unusual and raises serious constitutional and statutory double jeopardy concerns that the federal government would decide to add charges to an already overcharged first-degree murder and state terror case,” she said.
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