What is Next For Luigi? The FedsTalk Death Sentence and Terrorism

Luigi Mangione appears in Manhattan Supreme Court in New York on Monday.Curtis Means / AFP - Getty Images

 

He faces 11 counts in New York, including a terrorism offense -- but the one that could come with the death penalty is one of four filed by the feds

By Michael R. Sisak l The Associated Press • Published 16 mins ago • Updated 16 mins ago

 NBC Universal, Inc.

Luigi Mangione spoke inside a New York court room for the first time Monday, pleading not guilty to charges in the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Mangione swapped an orange jumpsuit for a sweater and slacks to face a judge on charges that include murder and terrorism, on top of the federal charges against him. NBC New York’s Sarah Wallace reports.

A triptych of criminal charges paints a searing, sometimes disparate portrait of the man accused of ambushing and killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO Brian Thompson as the executive arrived at a Manhattan hotel for his company’s annual investor conference.

Filed separately in state courts in New York and Pennsylvania, and a federal court in Manhattan, and totaling 20 counts, the charges brand Luigi Mangione as both a terrorist and a stalker, accuse him of carrying a ghost gun and a fake ID, and enable prosecutors to seek life in state prison and the federal death penalty.

On Monday, in the last of three court appearances in five days, the 26-year-old Ivy League graduate pleaded not guilty in New York state court to an indictment charging him with 11 counts in connection with the Dec. 4 killing, including murder as a crime of terrorism.

Mangione’s state court arraignment followed back-to-back hearings last Thursday in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested Dec. 9, and in federal court in Manhattan, where a judge ordered him jailed without bail on murder, gun and stalking charges.

Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, has argued that the terrorism allegations in the state case and stalking charges in the federal complaint appear to be at odds. Prosecutors are treating him "like a human ping-pong ball and "some sort of spectacle,” she said in court Monday. 

Mangione’s state court indictment alleges he killed Thompson to "intimidate or coerce" a group of people and influence government policy “by intimidation or coercion.”

It includes three counts of murder, alleging Mangione killed “in furtherance of terrorism,” as an act of terrorism and with intent, and carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office is prosecuting the case, said last week that the midtown Manhattan ambush “was a killing that was intended to evoke terror.”

The indictment also charges Mangione with seven gun-related counts and one count related to a fake New Jersey driver’s license that prosecutors said he used to check into a Manhattan hostel when he arrived in the city 10 days before the killing.

Prosecutors say they anticipate the state case will be the first to go to trial.

After his arraignment Monday, Mangione was returned to a federal jail in Brooklyn while state and federal authorities sort out where he'll be detained while the state case plays out.

 

A day after Bragg announced Mangione’s state indictment, federal prosecutors upped the ante with a four-count criminal complaint that could bring the death penalty if he is convicted.

The complaint charges two counts of stalking and one count each of murder through use of a firearm, and a firearms offense. Murder through use of a firearm carries the possibility of the death penalty, though prosecutors have not said if they will seek it.

Mangione made an initial appearance on the charges before a federal magistrate judge last Thursday but was not required to enter a plea. The U.S. attorney's office in Manhattan has until mid-January to secure an indictment from a federal grand jury.

According to the federal complaint, Mangione had a spiral notebook in which he expressed hostility toward the health insurance industry and wealthy executives. UnitedHealthcare is the largest health insurer in the U.S., though the company said Mangione was never a client.

Among the entries, the complaint said, was one from August that said “the target is insurance” because “it checks every box” and one from October that describes an intent to “wack” an insurance company CEO.

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - DECEMBER 23:  Luigi Mangione arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court on December 23, 2024 in New York City. Mangione, 26, is set to appear for his arraignment on state murder charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan street on December 4. 

(Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images

Luigi Mangione arrives at Manhattan Criminal Court on December 23, 2024 in New York City. Mangione, 26, is set to appear for his arraignment on state murder charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan street on December 4. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

Pennsylvania: 5 counts, including gun possession and false ID

Mangione was arrested on Dec. 9 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles west of New York City, and initially charged there with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police.

Blair County Peter Weeks said last week that he intends to keep the case active and plans to revisit it once Mangione’s murder charges are adjudicated.

Mangione was arrested while eating breakfast at an Altoona McDonald’s after a customer noticed that he looked like the person in surveillance photos that police were circulating of Thompson’s killer.

Officers found a gun that matched the one used in the shooting, a fake ID and writings that expressed hostility toward the health insurance industry, prosecutors said.

Hours later, the Manhattan DA’s office filed paperwork for a warrant for Mangione’s arrest on a murder charge. Mangione, who was held without bail in Pennsylvania, headed off a protracted extradition fight by agreeing to be flown to New York last Thursday.

New York: 11 counts including a terrorism offense

Mangione’s state court indictment alleges he killed Thompson to "intimidate or coerce" a group of people and influence government policy “by intimidation or coercion.”

It includes three counts of murder, alleging Mangione killed “in furtherance of terrorism,” as an act of terrorism and with intent, and carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office is prosecuting the case, said last week that the midtown Manhattan ambush “was a killing that was intended to evoke terror.”

The indictment also charges Mangione with seven gun-related counts and one count related to a fake New Jersey driver’s license that prosecutors said he used to check into a Manhattan hostel when he arrived in the city 10 days before the killing.

Prosecutors say they anticipate the state case will be the first to go to trial.

After his arraignment Monday, Mangione was returned to a federal jail in Brooklyn while state and federal authorities sort out where he'll be detained while the state case plays out.