Luigi Mangione was indicted Thursday on a federal murder charge in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a required step as prosecutors work to make good on the Trump administration’s order to hunt the loss of life penalty for what it referred to as a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”
Mangione’s indictment, returned by a federal grand jury in Manhattan, features a charge of murder via use of a firearm, which carries the chance of the loss of life penalty. The indictment, which mirrors a prison grievance introduced after Mangione’s arrest final December, additionally expenses him with stalking and a gun offence.
His attorneys have argued that U.S. Lawyer Common Pam Bondi’s announcement this month ordering prosecutors to hunt the loss of life penalty was a “political stunt” that corrupted the grand jury course of and disadvantaged him of his constitutional proper to due course of.
The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate from a outstanding Maryland actual property household faces separate federal and state murder expenses after authorities say he gunned down Thompson, 50, outdoors a Manhattan resort on Dec. 4 as the manager arrived for UnitedHealthcare’s annual investor convention.
Surveillance video confirmed a masked gunman capturing Thompson from behind. Police say the phrases “delay,” “deny” and “depose” have been scrawled on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase generally used to explain how insurers keep away from paying claims.
The killing and ensuing five-day search resulting in Mangione’s arrest rattled the enterprise neighborhood, with some well being insurers deleting photographs of executives from their websites and switching to on-line shareholder conferences. On the similar time, some medical insurance critics have rallied round Mangione as a stand-in for frustrations over protection denials and hefty medical payments.
Quick-approaching deadline
Mangione’s federal indictment got here simply earlier than a deadline Friday for prosecutors to both file one or search a delay. It was not instantly clear when he might be dropped at federal courtroom in Manhattan for an arraignment.
A crowd of folks, many supporters, flocked to a New York Metropolis courthouse, the place Luigi Mangione pleaded not responsible to expenses of first-degree murder and terrorism in the loss of life of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
A message searching for remark was left for a spokesperson for Mangione’s defence crew.
Bondi introduced April 1 that she was directing federal prosecutors in Manhattan to hunt the loss of life penalty towards Mangione. It was the primary time the Justice Division mentioned it was pursuing capital punishment since President Donald Trump returned to workplace Jan. 20 with a vow to renew federal executions after they have been halted underneath the earlier administration.
In her announcement, Bondi described Thompson’s killing as “an act of political violence.”
Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, countered in a subsequent courtroom submitting that “america authorities intends to kill Mr. Mangione as a political stunt.” She desires prosecutors blocked from searching for the loss of life penalty.
Friedman Agnifilo and her co-counsel argued that Bondi’s announcement — which was adopted by posts to her Instagram account and a tv look — violated long-established Justice Division protocols and “indelibly prejudiced” the grand jury course of that finally led to his indictment.
Mangione stays locked up at a federal jail in Brooklyn. His state expenses carry a most punishment of life in jail.
Prosecutors have mentioned the 2 instances will proceed on parallel tracks, with the state case anticipated to go to trial first.
It wasn’t instantly clear if Mangione’s indictment Thursday will change the order.
Mangione was arrested Dec. 9 in Altoona, Penn., about 370 kilometres west of New York Metropolis and whisked to Manhattan by aircraft and helicopter.
Police mentioned Mangione had a handgun that matched the one used in the capturing and different objects together with a pocket book in which they are saying he expressed hostility towards the medical insurance business and rich executives.
Among the many entries, prosecutors mentioned, was one from August 2024 that mentioned “the goal is insurance coverage” as a result of “it checks each field” and one from October that describes an intent to “wack” an insurance coverage firm CEO. UnitedHealthcare, the biggest U.S. well being insurer, has mentioned Mangione was by no means a shopper.
Friedman Agnifilo has mentioned she would search to suppress some of the proof.
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