Luigi Mangione, 26, a suspect in the New York City killing of UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson, is escorted after an extradition hearing at Blair County Court House in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 10, 2024.
Eduardo Munoz | Reuters
A New York grand jury indicted Luigi Mangione on charges of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office said Tuesday.
Mangione, 26, is charged with one count of first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism and two counts of second-degree murder, one of which is charged as killing as an act of terrorism.
He is also charged in the Manhattan Supreme Court indictment with multiple counts of criminal possession of a weapon, a single count of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree and possession of a forged New Jersey driver’s license.
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul is expected to file paperwork seeking Mangione’s extradition from Pennsylvania, where he has been held since he was arrested last week at a McDonald’s.
A source familiar with the situation told NBC News on Tuesday that Mangione plans to waive extradition, which would allow him to be transported to New York within days.
Mangione, a double University of Pennsylvania graduate who comes from a prominent Baltimore-area family, faces a maximum possible sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted.
He is accused of fatally shooting Thompson with a 9 mm handgun equipped with a silencer on Dec. 4 outside the Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan.
Thompson, 50, was headed into the hotel for an investor day event for his company’s parent, UnitedHealth Group.
“This was a killing to evoke terror,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said at a news conference to announce the 11-count indictment. “This was not an ordinary killing … this was extraordinary.”
Bragg called the slaying “brazen” and “targeted.”
The DA said Mangione arrived in New York City on a bus at the Port Authority terminal on Nov. 24 with the intent of murdering Thompson and spent the following days staying at a hostel on the Upper West Side using the name “Mark Rosario” with a fake ID.
Mangione left that hostel at just after 5:30 a.m. on Dec. 4 and traveled to midtown, where he waited for Thompson to appear outside the Hilton for about six minutes before crossing the street, pulling out a handgun and firing, hitting the CEO once in the back and once in the leg, Bragg said.
Mangione then fled on an e-bike and later a taxi that took him to Washington Heights in upper Manhattan.
He also said “we have indications” that Mangione will waive his right to an extradition hearing on Thursday in Pennsylvania, and consent to be sent to New York to face the murder case.
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson (L) and Luigi Mangione (R).
Source: UnitedHealthcare (L) | NYPD (R)
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in the nearly two weeks since Thompson’s killing, “we have seen a shocking and appalling celebration of cold-blooded murder.”
Tisch was referencing the fact that Mangione has become a folk hero to some people who praised Thompson’s slaying because of criticism that his company, the largest private health insurer in the U.S., denied benefit claims by customers at a high rate.
“Social media has erupted with praise for this cowardly attack. People ghoulishly plastered posters threatening the CEOs, other CEOs, with an ‘x’ over Mr. Thompson’s picture as though he was some sort of a sick trophy,” Tisch said.
“These are the threats of a lawless, violent mob who would trade in their own vigilantism for the rule of law that protects us all.”
“Let me say this plainly: There is no heroism in what Mangione did,” the commissioner said. “This was a senseless act of violence. It was a cold and calculated crime that stole a life and put New Yorkers at risk. We don’t celebrate murders, and we don’t lionize the killing of anyone.”
In a statement to CNBC, UnitedHealth Group said, “This is an important step forward for seeking justice in the murder of our colleague, Brian Thompson. We will work with law enforcement authorities to help bring closure for Brian’s family, friends, and colleagues.”
Mangione was arrested Dec. 9 at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after police responded to a call of a suspicious person at the restaurant.
He allegedly gave officers a fake New Jersey ID that is believed to be the same one he used to check into a Manhattan hostel in late November.
Police found a gun, a silencer and 9 mm ammunition in his backpack. The gun matched three shell casings found outside the shooting scene in Manhattan, and Mangione’s fingerprints matched ones found on a water bottle and snack bar left near the scene, police said.
The shell casings found at the scene had the words “deny” and “depose” written on them, while an unfired bullet had the word “delay” written on it, the DA’s office said. The words match those used to describe tactics of health insurers and other insurance companies to deny claims by customers.
Prosecutors in Manhattan, hours after Mangione’s arrest, filed a criminal complaint against him charging him with second-degree murder, criminal possession of a loaded firearm, possession of a silencer and possession of a forged instrument.
The grand jury indictment handed up Tuesday supersedes that complaint.
Mangione, who is being held in a Pennsylvania prison without bail on gun and forgery charges, is due to appear Thursday morning in Blair County Court for two separate hearings.
The first session will be a preliminary hearing on the state criminal charges there. The second hearing, with a different judge, will deal with extradition proceedings.
Mangione was visited in the prison in Huntingdon on Friday by his New York criminal defense lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, and her husband and law partner, Marc Agnifilo.
— CNBC’s Bertha Coombs contributed to this report.