Luigi Mangione has been indicted on a murder charge as an “act of terrorism” for the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, New York prosecutors revealed on Tuesday.
The indictment was announced during an afternoon press conference. It comes days before the suspect is set to appear in Pennsylvania court for a preliminary hearing on gun charges. He was arrested in the Commonwealth after a nearly week-long manhunt.
The 26-year-old is accused of shooting dead the healthcare exec on the streets of Manhattan on the morning of December 4 and then eluding police before he was arrested at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania.
The suspected shooter has retained high-profile attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo to defend him. Agnifilo previously worked at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, serving as the chief assistant district attorney for seven years, before moving to private practice in 2021.
Mangione’s supporters continue to donate thousands of dollars for his “defense” fund. The anonymous fund “December 4th Legal Committee” has amassed more than $140,000 in donations on the crowdfunding website GiveSendGo.
Bragg condemns ‘brazen, targeted and premeditated shooting’ intended to cause ‘intimidation’
The shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was a “brazen, targeted and premeditated shooting” that was a “frightening, well-planned, targeted murder” intended to cause “shock” and “intimidation,” according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
“This type of premeditated, targeted gun violence cannot and will not be tolerated, and my office has been working day in and day out to bring the defendant to justice,” Bragg said.
Alex Woodward17 December 2024 20:48
The full list of charges against Luigi Mangione in New York
A grand jury indictment in New York charges Luigi Mangione with the following:
- two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree
- four counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree
- one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree
- one count of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree
Alex Woodward17 December 2024 20:47
Now: Manhattan DA announces charges against Luigi Mangione
Mangione has been charged with first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder as an act of terrorism, and mulitple weapons counts, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
He could face life imprisonment without possibility of parole
Alex Woodward17 December 2024 20:42
Suspect indicted on murder charge
New York Prosecutors have secured a murder indictment against Luigi Mangione, it was announced Tuesday.
According to the Associated Press, the charge is as an “act of terrorism.” Mangione had already faced murder accusations, and the indictment is just a formal step in the process.
He remains in a Pennsylvania jail after being arrested there. He is fighting extradition to New York.
Alex Lang17 December 2024 20:29
Everything we know about UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
Brian Thompson was laid to rest at a private funeral service in his Minnesota hometown on December 9.
That same day, Luigi Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania and charged with murder in connection to the UnitedHealthcare CEO’s death.
The 26-year-old suspect was taken into custody in Altoona and is now being held without bond in Pennsylvania as he faces charges in two states. Mangione appeared for a hearing on Tuesday in Pennsylvania, where he fought extradition to New York to face charges.
Katie Hawkinson, Madeline Sherratt and James Liddell have more.
James Liddell17 December 2024 17:31
Watch: Luigi Mangione’s mugshot emblazoned on stickers and t-shirts after murder charge
James Liddell17 December 2024 16:33
Luigi Mangione’s business-savvy Baltimore family
Following Luigi Mangione’s arrest, his family released a statement saying they were “shocked.”
“Unfortunately, we cannot comment on news reports regarding Luigi Mangione,” said the family in a statement posted on X by Luigi’s cousin Nino Mangione, a Republican member of the lower house of Maryland’s state legislature. “We only know what we have read in the media.”
Mangione’s family couldn’t merely afford medical care.
They could afford to donate more than $1 million of their own money to healthcare.
Io Dodds explores the wealthy family history of the man charged with murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson:
James Liddell17 December 2024 15:35
Who is Karen Friedman Agnifilo? Top New York attorney Luigi Mangione retained for legal defense
Luigi Mangione has retained a top New York attorney for his legal defense in connection with the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
The Independent understands that Karen Friedman Agnifilo has been officially retained to represent Mangione, 26, in New York, after the executive, 50, was gunned down outside the New York Hilton in Midtown Manhattan on 4 December.
Following a massive week-long manhunt, the shooting suspect was arrested after being seen eating a meal inside a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday morning, with an employee calling the tip into police.
Tara Cobham has the full story.
James Liddell17 December 2024 14:00
Luigi Mangione documentary already in the works from Spotlight producers
A documentary about Luigi Mangione, the alleged killer of the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is reportedly already in the works.
The film is being put together by Oscar-winning Taxi to the Dark Side director Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions and Anonymous Content, who were behind the Oscar-winning journalism drama Spotlight and the Leonardo DiCaprio-starring The Revenant (both 2015).
Variety reports that the documentary will go beyond a retelling of the high-profile December 4 murder in Manhattan to examine “how killers are created, what this killing says about our society and the values we place on who lives and who dies.”
James Liddell17 December 2024 13:08