Luigi Mangione has been indicted in New York for the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the grand jury has upgraded charges to first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
In Pennsylvania, where Mangione remains in custody, he faces charges including allegedly possessing an untraceable ghost gun.
He is expected to waive extradition from Pennsylvania during his next court appearance at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Mangione has hired Karen Friedman Agnifilo as his lawyer in New York. She was a 25-year veteran of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and its second in command for eight years.
Luigi Mangione is led into the Blair County Courthouse for an extradition hearing Dec. 10, 2024, in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania.
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Mangione was apprehended at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 9 after nearly one week on the run. He’s accused of gunning down Thompson outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel on Dec. 4 as the CEO headed to an investors conference.
“Just a cold-blooded, horrible killing,” President-elect Donald Trump said at a news conference Monday.
A New York police officer stands outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan where Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was fatally shot, Dec. 4, 2024, in New York.
Stefan Jeremiah/AP
Thompson’s murder ignited online anger at the health insurance industry. Many people online have celebrated the suspect and some have donated to a defense fund for Mangione.
“It’s really terrible that some people seem to admire him, like him,” Trump said.
“It seems that there’s a certain appetite for him. I don’t get it,” Trump added.
Luigi Mangione, a suspect in the New York City killing of UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson departs after an extradition hearing at Blair County Court House in Hollidaysburg, Pa, Dec. 10, 2024.
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Sources said writings police seized from Mangione suggest he was fixated on UnitedHealthcare for months and gradually developed a plan to kill the CEO.
Among the writings recovered from Mangione was a passage that allegedly said, “What do you do? You whack the CEO at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention,” according to law enforcement officials.
Neither Mangione nor his parents received insurance through UnitedHealthcare, the company said.
Police place bullet casing markers outside of a Hilton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan where United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot on Dec. 4, 2024 in New York City.
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This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.