Luigi Mangione declared innocent on Friday of federal accusations of shooting at the health insurance executive Brian Thompson, a day after the prosecutors formally announced their intention to ask for the death penalty.
Mangione, 26, wore a beige t -shirt supplied by prison when led to a court in southern Manhattan. Previously, he had already declared himself innocent of a series of accusations in the state of New York related to the murder of Thompson, former executive president of the UnitedHealth Group and the UnitedHealthcare insurance unit on December 4.
He made the statement at a hearing before federal district judge Margaret Garnett.
Thompson’s shots took place outside a hotel in downtown Manhattan, where the company gathered for an investor conference. The subsequent five-day human hunt captivated the attention of the Americans.
Authorities claim that the words “deny”, “delay” and “dismiss” – a phrase that refers to tactics that some accuse health insurers to use to avoid paying compensation – were found written in bullet cases at the crime scene.
Although public authorities condemned the murder, some Americans applauded Mangione, stating that he drew attention to the high health costs in the US and the power of health insurers to refuse the payment of certain treatments.
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To justify their decision to ask for the death penalty, prosecutors wrote in a court document on Thursday night that Mangione “represents a future danger because she expressed the intention to reach an entire industry and mobilize political and social opposition to this industry through an act of lethal violence.”
US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced earlier this month that the Justice Department would seek the death penalty for Mangione. The document presented to the court on Thursday by the Manhattan Public Prosecution Service formalized the intention of the prosecutors.
Mangione’s lawyers stated that Bondi’s announcement on April 1 was “admittedly political” and violated government protocols for death penalty decisions.
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If Mangione is convicted in the federal case, the jury will determine in a separate phase of the trial whether or not the death penalty is recommended. Any recommendation needs to be unanimous, and the judge must impose it.
Mangione is currently detained at a federal penitentiary in Brooklyn.
