Luigi Mangione, 26, the suspect in the New York City murder of UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson, is escorted after his extradition hearing at the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, on December 10, 2024. .
Eduardo Munoz | Reuters
A New York grand jury has indicted Luigi Mangione for the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Manhattan District Attorney’s Office he said on Tuesday.
Mangione, 26, is charged with one count of first-degree murder in aid of terrorism and two counts of second-degree murder, including one count of murder as an act of terrorism.
He is also charged in Manhattan Supreme Court with multiple counts of criminal possession of a weapon, a single count of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and possession of a false New Jersey driver’s license.
New York Gov. Cathy Hochul is expected to file papers seeking Mr. Mangione’s extradition from Pennsylvania, where he has been detained since his arrest at a McDonald’s last week.
A person familiar with the situation told NBC News on Tuesday that Mangione plans to waive extradition, which would allow him to be transferred to New York within days.
Mangione, a dual graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and from a prominent Baltimore-area family, faces up to life in prison without parole if convicted.
The suspect is accused of fatally shooting Thompson with a silenced 9mm handgun on December 4 outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan.
Thompson, 50, was heading to a hotel to attend an investor event for his parent company. united health group.
“This was a murder intended to evoke fear,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at a news conference announcing the 11-count indictment. “This was no ordinary murder…this was an anomaly.”
Bragg called the killing “brazen” and “targeted.”
Prosecutors said Mangione arrived in New York City on a Port Authority terminal bus on Nov. 24 with the intention of killing Thompson, and spent the next several days using the name “Mark Rosario” and traveling to the Upper West.・He reportedly stayed at a hostel on the side. Fake ID.
Mr. Mangione left the hostel shortly after 5:30 a.m. on December 4 and headed to Midtown, where he waited approximately six minutes for Mr. Thompson to appear outside the Hilton before crossing the street, pulling out a handgun and firing a shot. I hit the CEO once. Once on my back and once on my legs. said Bragg.
Mangione then fled on an electric bicycle and then took a taxi to Washington Heights in upper Manhattan.
He also said there are “indications” that Mangione will waive his right to an extradition hearing in Pennsylvania on Thursday and agree to be sent to New York to handle the murder case.
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson (left) and Luigi Mangione (right).
Source: UnitedHealthcare (L) | New York City Police Department (R)
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in the nearly two weeks since Thompson’s murder, “We have witnessed a shocking and gruesome celebration of cold-blooded murder.”
Mr. Tisch said Mr. Mangione had responded to some who praised Mr. Thompson’s killing because of his criticism of the high rate of denials of customer benefit claims by his company, the largest private health insurance company in the United States. He was referring to the fact that he became a folk hero.
“Social media has been an outpouring of praise for this despicable attack. People have posted posters threatening the CEO and other CEOs over Mr. Thompson’s photo, as if they were trophies for the disease. They brutally pasted it on,” Tisch said.
“These are the threats of lawless, violent mobs willing to trade their own vigilance for the rule of law that protects us all.”
“To be clear, there is nothing heroic about Mangione’s actions,” the commissioner said. “This was a senseless act of violence. It was a cold, calculating crime that took lives and put New Yorkers at risk. We do not celebrate murder, and we do not glee in the killing of anyone.”
In a statement to CNBC, UnitedHealth Group said: “This is an important step forward in seeking justice for the murder of our colleague Brian Thompson. We are working with law enforcement to help Brian’s family, friends and colleagues find closure. I intend to do so.” ”
Mangione was arrested on December 9th at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after police responded to a report of a suspicious person.
The suspect allegedly gave the officer a fake New Jersey ID that appeared to be the same one he used to check into a Manhattan hostel in late November.
Police found a gun, silencer and 9mm ammunition in his backpack. Police said the gun matched three shell casings found outside the shooting scene in Manhattan, and Mangione’s fingerprints matched those found on a water bottle and snack bar left near the scene.
Prosecutors said shell casings found at the scene had the words “rejected” and “discarded” written on them, while unfired bullets had the words “delayed” written on them. This term matches the term used to describe tactics used by health insurance companies and other insurance companies to deny customers’ claims.
Hours after Mangione’s arrest, Manhattan prosecutors filed criminal charges against him for second-degree murder, criminal possession of a loaded firearm, possession of a silencer and possession of a counterfeit instrument.
A grand jury indictment filed Tuesday supersedes that complaint.
Mangione is being held without bail in a Pennsylvania state prison on firearms and forgery charges and is scheduled to appear in Blair County Court on Thursday morning for two separate hearings.
The first session will be a preliminary hearing on state criminal charges there. At the second hearing, a new judge will be appointed and extradition proceedings will begin.
On Friday, Mangione was visited at the Huntingdon prison by New York state criminal defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo and her husband and law partner Mark Agnifilo.
—CNBC’s Bertha Coombs contributed to this report.
