Luigi Mangionethe man accused of shooting to death the CEO of UnitedHealthcarewill be arraigned Monday in a Manhattan court for charges of murder and terrorism in a state case that will run parallel to his federal prosecution.
Glutton, 26, was indicted last week by the Manhattan district attorney for multiple counts of murder, including murder as an act of terrorism. His initial appearance in New York State Supreme Court was anticipated because federal prosecutors filed their own charges in the shooting.
The federal charges could carry the possibility of the death penalty, while the maximum penalty for the state charges is life in prison without parole.. Prosecutors have said the two cases will be pursued on parallel tracks and the state charges are expected to go to trial first.
The authorities say that Eaten mató a tiras a Brian Thompson as he walked to an investor conference in midtown Manhattan on the morning of December 4.
Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania after a five-day search, carrying a gun that matched the one used in the shooting and a fake ID, police said. He also carried a notebook in which he expressed hostility toward the health insurance industry and especially toward wealthy executives, according to federal prosecutors.
At a news conference announcing the state charges Tuesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said anti-terrorism law enforcement reflected the seriousness of a “terrifying, well-planned and selective murder that was intended to cause shock, attention and intimidation”.
“In basic terms, it was a murder that intended to cause terror”he added. “And we’ve seen that reaction.”
Karen Friedman Agnifilo, Mangione’s attorney, has accused federal and state prosecutors of proposing conflicting legal theories. In federal court last week, he called their approach “very confusing” and “highly unusual.”
Mangione is being held in a federal jail in Brooklyn along with other high-profile defendants, including Sean “Diddy” Combs and Sam Bankman-Fried.
He was extradited from Pennsylvania on Thursday and quickly flown to New York City, where he was seen wearing an orange jumpsuit while being removed from a helicopter by heavily armed police officers and New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
Adams said he hoped to send a message to the suspect: “I wanted to look him in the eye and tell him that he carried out this terrorist act in my city, the city that New Yorkers love,” the mayor told a local television station. “I wanted to be there to show the symbolism of that.”
Mangione, a graduate of a prestigious Maryland family, seemed to have become disconnected from his family and friends in recent months. He frequently posted on online forums about his problems with back pain. He was never a UnitedHealthcare customer, according to the insurer.
Thompson, a married father of two high school students, had worked at the giant UnitedHealth Group for 20 years and became CEO of its insurance division in 2021.
The murder has caused some to express their resentment against American health insurers, and Mangione has served as a proxy for frustrations over coverage denials and high medical bills. It has also sent shockwaves through the business world, worrying executives who say they have received an increase in threats.
(with information from AP)
