Luigi Mangione indicted for first-degree murder in CEO death

Luigi Mangione was indicted in New York on first-degree murder charges for the fatal shooting of UnitedHealth Group Inc. executive Brian Thompson in a shocking case that prosecutors said amounted to an act of terrorism.

Prosecutors elevated the case to first-degree murder, a charge reserved for "the most abhorrent conduct," like killing a police officer, serial killing or terrorism, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Tuesday. If convicted, Mangione faces life in prison without parole.

Mangione, 26, waited outside a midtown Manhattan hotel before shooting Thompson on Dec. 4 with a 9-millimeter, 3D-printed ghost gun with a silencer, Bragg said. He then fled Manhattan, touching off a five-day manhunt that ended with his arrest in western Pennsylvania.

"This was a frightening, well-planned targeted murder, that was intended to cause shock" and intimidation, Bragg said at a news conference. "It occurred in one of the most bustling parts of our city, threatening the safety of local residents and tourists alike."

Bragg announced the indictment hours after court officials scheduled a pair of court hearings Thursday for Mangione in Blair County, Pennsylvania, which could determine how quickly he returns to New York. Mangione said at a hearing last week that he would contest his extradition to New York.

Bragg said his office has indications that Mangione may now drop his objection to extradition, allowing the former software engineer to be moved to New York as soon as this week.

Mangione was indicted on one count of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder, seven counts of criminal possession of a weapon, and one count of possessing a forged driver's license.

Last week, Mangione hired former veteran Manhattan prosecutor Karen Friedman Agnifilo to defend him. Friedman Agnifilo declined to comment on the indictment.

Once he arrives in New York, Mangione will be arraigned in state court and enter a plea to the indictment, beginning a process that could lead to his trial.

The indictment expanded on earlier charges, used to obtain an arrest warrant, which accused Mangione of second-degree murder. A grand jury heard testimony in secret from witnesses, saw evidence offered by prosecutors and voted to charge Mangione.

Thompson, the 50-year-old chief executive officer of UnitedHealth's insurance division, was shot in the back and leg around 6:45 a.m. outside of the New York Hilton Midtown. The murder uncovered a deep anger among Americans who say the health insurance industry has too often failed to cover large medical bills and stood in the way of necessary care.

"Since Mr. Thompson's killing, we have seen a shocking and appalling celebration of cold-blooded murder," New York Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said at the news conference. "Social media has erupted with praise for this cowardly attack. People ghoulishly plastered posters, threatening the CEOs, other CEOs, with an X over Mr. Thompson's picture, as though he was some sort of a sick trophy."

Manifesto

At the time of his arrest, Mangione was carrying a manifesto decrying the health-care industry and a notebook discussing the targeted killing of a CEO, authorities said.

A survey of Mangione's online presence shows that the suspect "- who earned two degrees at the University of Pennsylvania "- praised the manifesto of another Ivy League graduate known for violent acts aimed at corporate targets, the Unabomber, calling his insights "prescient" on the book-review website Goodreads.

Gary Galperin, who spent 40 years as a prosecutor in the Manhattan District Attorney's office, said second-degree murder can be elevated if there is evidence the defendant intended to terrorize a wide group of people and not just his victim.

"If Mangione was looking to influence the way the health care industry handles claims or if he wanted to scare, threaten, intimidate or coerce a civilian population, that could qualify," said Galperin, who is now an adjunct professor at Cardozo School of Law in New York.

Prosecutors offered a summary of the evidence against Mangione that police had unspooled in recent days. Mangione, Bragg said, arrived in New York by bus on Nov. 24 "to murder Brian Thompson." He checked into a hostel on the Upper West Side of Manhattan using a fake New Jersey driver's license under the name Mark Rosario.

On the morning of the shooting, he said, Mangione rode to midtown Manhattan on an e-bike and walked near the Hilton Hotel where Thompson was supposed to appear. For six minutes, Mangione stood against a wall "fully masked with his hood up," prosecutors said.

Shell casings and a bullet found at the scene had the words "Deny," "Depose," and "Delay," prosecutors said, an apparent reference to health insurers.

Mangione was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 9, based on tips from a patron and employee. He is being held without bail near there on local charges including forgery, possession of an unlicensed firearm, and a fake ID.

Mangione's attorney in Pennsylvania, Thomas Dickey, didn't respond Tuesday to a request for comment before the new charges were disclosed. At a hearing last week, Dickey said Mangione will fight any attempt to send him to New York.