Mangione has become something of a macabre folk hero on the Internet
Luigi Mangione, suspected in the murder of UnitedHealthCare CEO, pleads not guilty to terrorism and murder charges
by Alaa Elassar, Emma Tucker, Kara Scannell e Chelsea BaileyCNN
Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a street in downtown Manhattan, was escorted to a New York courtroom this Monday, where he pleaded not guilty to murder and terrorism charges.
The hearing marked Mangione’s first opportunity to formally comment on the charges brought by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
The 26-year-old faces 11 charges in New York, including one count of first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder, along with other weapons and forgery charges, according to the indictment.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office confirmed to CNN that it is coordinating with federal authorities to prosecute Mangione in connection with the state charges.
Mangione’s attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, expressed concern during the hearing about her client’s ability to get a fair trial, specifically citing the presence of House Speaker Eric Adams last week in the midst of dozens of heavily armed law enforcement officers when he was extradited from Pennsylvania to lower Manhattan.
“He is a young man and he is being treated like a human ping-pong ball by two jurisdictions at war”, says the lawyer. “They are treating him like a human spectacle.”
Judge Gregory Carro told Agnifilo that his client’s trial will be fair, adding that “we will carefully select the jury.” His next court date has been set for February 21.
Mangione appeared calm after the hearing as officers slowly escorted him down a long hallway in handcuffs. He was dressed in khaki pants and a brown sweater with a shirt underneath.
The audience – including two dozen women and six men – filled four rows of the courtroom to watch the session unfold. Mangione has become something of a macabre folk hero on the Internet after the weeklong hunt for Thompson’s alleged killer ended earlier this month when a customer and employee at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s reported Mangione to police. .
On Thursday, a federal criminal complaint was filed in which Mangione is accused of murder using a firearm, two counts of stalking and a firearms offense.
If you are found guilty of the federal murder charge you could face the death penalty, while the state charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors have not indicated whether they intend to pursue the death penalty and the decision would have to be approved by the US attorney general.
He also faces charges in Pennsylvania related to the 3D-printed firearm and false identification he allegedly had in his possession when he was detained. Now, the state and federal trials “will run in parallel,” according to the Manhattan district attorney’s office, and the state trial will come before the federal trial, prosecutors said.
The impetus for filing federal charges came from the U.S. attorney general’s office, multiple law enforcement sources told CNN. Because the FBI was already involved in the investigation, assisting the NYPD with out-of-town leads, FBI agents were asked to craft the federal complaint based on evidence collected by NYPD detectives working the state charges and the Pennsylvania police who arrested Mangione.
Federal prosecutors claim they have jurisdiction in the case due to Mangione’s “traveling in interstate commerce” – taking a bus from Atlanta to New York before the murder – as well as the “use of interstate means” by allegedly using a cell phone and the Internet “to plan and carry out the chase, shooting and murder” of Thompson in broad daylight on a Manhattan sidewalk.
Mangione’s notebook helped federal prosecutors build their case
Mangione was arrested on December 9 at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania, managing to evade capture for days after Thompson was shot and killed in Midtown Manhattan as he headed to the hotel where the company’s annual investor conference was being held.
Police found “a black 3D-printed handgun” with a loaded Glock magazine and a “black silencer,” also 3D-printed, in Magione’s backpack, according to the records. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters that Mangione was found with a pistol and a suppressor — “both consistent with the weapon used in the crime,” referring to a device designed to muffle the sound of a gun. of fire.
The gun taken from Mangione at the time of his arrest matches three casings found at the scene of the crime and marked “deny”, “defend” and “depose” – words similar to those used to criticize the practices of the insurance industry – they said in last week senior NYPD officials. Mangione’s fingerprints match those of objects he was captured on surveillance video purchasing shortly before the murder and that were found afterward, the police commissioner added.
Mangione was also found with false identification documents and a three-page “manifesto” — which did not indicate specific threats, but merely “ill will toward corporate America,” according to the NYPD’s chief detective. .
Investigators believe Mangione — a graduate of an Ivy League university, born into a wealthy family — appeared to be driven by anger against the health insurance industry and “corporate greed,” according to a New York police intelligence report. York obtained by CNN.
The intelligence report states that Mangione “appeared to view the assassination of the company’s highest-ranking representative as a symbolic act.”
The murder unleashed what some observers describe as Americans’ pent-up anger and frustration against the country’s health insurance industry.
According to authorities, writings in a notebook found in Mangione’s possession helped investigators build the federal case, which they say was a well-planned homicide that involved tracking the movements of Mangione’s alleged victim.
In an entry dated August 15th, and according to the records, we read this “manifesto” from Mangione: “The details are finally coming together. I’m glad — in a way — I procrastinated,” Mangione reportedly wrote, saying it gave him time to learn more about the company he was targeting, whose name was withheld by prosecutors.
According to court documents, the notebook also “contained several handwritten pages that expressed hostility toward the health insurance industry and wealthy executives in particular.”
