New York authorities said they had built a strong case against Mangione. The evidence includes video recordings of his movements, fingerprints linking him to the crime, bullet casings on the ghost gun he was carrying when he was arrested, a manifesto denouncing the healthcare industry, and a notebook about the targeted assassination of a CEO.
Friedman Agnifilo declined an interview request. Before she was hired, she hinted at what a possible defensive strategy might be for Mangione.
“It looks to me like there's a not guilty by reason of insanity defense that they're going to think about because the evidence is going to be so overwhelming that he did what he did,” she told CNN .
Friedman Agnifilo could argue that Mangione suffered from a “mental illness or defect,” meaning that he did not understand the nature and consequences of shooting Thompson, or that he was wrong to do so.
Such a defense, if a judge allows it, would require an evaluation of Mangione by an independent psychiatrist to determine whether he is fit to stand trial.
Mangione was arrested after a major manhunt involving the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The New York FBI office said Friday it received several tips about the suspect's possible identity even before he was discovered at McDonald's. One of them came from the San Francisco Police Department and was referred to the New York Police Department.
“The extensive sharing of the photos by law enforcement led to the identification of a citizen and subsequent arrest by the Altoona Police Department,” the FBI said.
According to the San Francisco Standard, Mangione's mother reported him missing to the San Francisco police in November.
New York authorities charged Mangione with murder and weapons offenses in an unsealed arrest warrant. Separately, officials in Pennsylvania, where Mangione is being held, have separately charged him with carrying an unlicensed weapon and a fake ID at the time of his arrest.
In a court hearing Tuesday in Pennsylvania, Mangione denied any request to move him to New York, potentially prolonging an extradition process that would ultimately result in him being turned over to authorities in Manhattan.
But on Friday, Bragg said Mangione may change his mind and now agree to forego extradition to face charges in New York.
“There are indications that the defendant may waive it, but that waiver will not be complete until a trial is commenced, which my understanding from court officials in Pennsylvania cannot occur before Tuesday,” Bragg said, adding that the Prosecutors will continue to build their case whether it fights extradition or not.
Mangione's attorney in Pennsylvania, Thomas Dickey, did not respond to a request for comment. A spokesman for Pennsylvania courts said no extradition hearings were scheduled until Friday.
Friedman Agnifilo, a graduate of the University of California, Los Angeles and Georgetown University Law Center, first joined the Manhattan district attorney's office in 1992. She worked there as a prosecutor until 2006 and worked in the mayor's office for four years before returning as head of the litigation department and then Vance's chief assistant.
She “oversaw all complex and high-profile matters in the office and led a team of 1,500 employees with a budget of $120 million, giving her the experience and judgment to manage complex, high-risk cases,” it says their biography.
In 2021, she opened her private practice and recently joined the law firm founded by her husband Marc Agnifilo earlier this year. She has also worked as a television commentator, host of a weekly law podcast, and legal counsel on the popular television show Law and Order.
