The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is charged with federal murder and felony stalking, along with federal murder and terrorism charges previously announced by the New York Attorney General's Office, according to a court document filed Thursday.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged 26-year-old Luigi Mangione with the federal crime of murder with a firearm, two counts of stalking and one count of using an illegal gun silencer, according to a criminal complaint.
The complaint accused Mangione of planning an attack for months that stemmed from his contempt for the health insurance industry and wealthy corporate executives.
Mangione was transferred to the custody of the New York Police Department on Thursday after waiving his right to extradition proceedings at a court hearing in Pennsylvania, the state where he was arrested after a five-day manhunt.
Luigi Mangione is now also facing terrorism charges in New York for, according to prosecutors, the “brazen, targeted and premeditated shooting” of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
According to the federal complaint, a notebook that Altoona police found in Mangione's possession contained several handwritten pages that “expressed hostility toward the health insurance industry and particularly wealthy executives.” An Oct. 22 notebook entry described an intention to “beat up” the CEO of an insurance company at its investor conference.
“This investor conference is a real godsend,” an entry in the notebook reads, the complaint says. “The most important thing is that the message becomes self-evident.”
Police also found in the suspect's possession a letter addressed “To the FBI” that said, “I have not worked with anyone,” the complaint states.
“This was pretty trivial: some basic social engineering, basic CAD, a lot of patience,” the letter says, using an acronym for computer-aided design.
Mangione was “overcharged,” the lawyer says
Earlier this week, a grand jury in New York indicted Mangione on 11 counts of violating state law, including first-degree murder and murder as an act of terrorism. Mangione has been in custody since his arrest and has not yet entered a plea. His New York defense attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said Mangione had been “overreached” and that he would fight the charges in court.
Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 9, five days after Thompson was fatally shot outside a Manhattan hotel before a corporate conference in what law enforcement officials described as a premeditated assassination.
While Thompson's killing was widely condemned, Mangione has been hailed as a folk hero by some Americans who decry the high cost of health care and the power that insurance companies have to refuse to pay for some medical treatments.
Federal charges may allow prosecutors to pursue the death penalty, which has been abolished in New York for decades.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch called any attempt to rationalize Luigi Mangione's alleged actions “despicable” and “reckless.” Her comments came at a news conference Tuesday where Mangione was charged with the murder of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson.
Prosecutors say Mangione “traveled in interstate commerce” by taking a bus from Atlanta to New York before Thompson's murder, and also used his cell phone and the Internet to plan and carry out his attack, and therefore was responsible.
Mangione is scheduled to appear in court on the federal charges Thursday afternoon in Manhattan before U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker.
“The federal government’s reported decision to pursue an already inflated first-degree murder and state terrorism case is highly unusual and raises serious constitutional and statutory double jeopardy concerns,” Mangione’s attorney, Friedman Agnifilo, said in a statement. “We stand ready to fight these allegations in any court in which they are made.”
Supporters crowd the courthouse
In Pennsylvania, police said Mangione had a homemade 9mm handgun in his backpack and a homemade silencer when he was arrested after being seen at a McDonald's restaurant. The pistol was similar to the weapon used to kill Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the largest U.S. health insurer.
Mangione, a Maryland native who had been living in Hawaii, also had several fake identification documents, including a fake New Jersey ID that was used to check into a Manhattan hostel just days before Thompson's shooting, police said.
In Pennsylvania, Mangione was charged with forgery and illegal possession of an unlicensed weapon.
At the Blair County Courthouse Thursday morning, Mangione, who appeared in an orange jail jumpsuit, had a preliminary hearing on the Pennsylvania charges, immediately followed by a second hearing on the New York extradition request. A small group of supporters stood outside the courthouse waving signs condemning the health insurance industry.
Pennsylvania prosecutors told the court that they had agreed to stay the proceedings in Pennsylvania pending the completion of the prosecution in New York.
The alleged murderer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Luigi Mangione has been receiving a surprising amount of online praise lately. David Gilbert, a reporter at Wired, talks about what he's seen online and why some glorify Mangione.
Mangione spoke only briefly at the extradition hearing, saying he understood his rights and telling Judge David Consiglio that he agreed to turn himself in to the New York Police Department.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office charged Mangione with an act of terrorism under New York law, saying Thompson's killing was intended to intimidate or coerce civilians or “influence the policy of a government entity.”
