Luigi Mangione pleads not guilty in fatal shooting of UnitedHealth exec

Mangione, 26, is charged with stalking and shooting Brian Thompson outside a hotel in Manhattan on December 4

By Bob Van Voris

 

Luigi Mangione pleaded not guilty to federal murder charges that carry a possible death sentence in the shooting of a UnitedHealth Group Inc. executive.

 

Mangione, 26, is charged with stalking and shooting Brian Thompson outside a hotel in Manhattan on Dec. 4. Wearing a tan prison outfit, he entered the plea at a hearing in Manhattan Friday.

 

While Mangione has already pleaded not guilty to state murder charges, federal prosecutors filed separate charges that carry the death penalty. Friday’s arraignment follows the formal filing of an indictment against Mangione last week.

 

US Attorney General Pam Bondi this month instructed federal prosecutors in New York to pursue the death penalty against Mangione, calling Thompson’s shooting “a pre­med­i­tat­ed, cold­-blood­ed assassination.”

 

At the hearing, Mangione’s lawyers said the potential death sentence required that the federal trial take precedence over the state case, which had been expected to go first. US Judge Margaret M. Garnett said she would schedule the federal trial “as if it were the only case” and address any scheduling conflicts as they arise.

 

Mangione is accused of shooting Thompson on a Manhattan sidewalk last December before fleeing and touching off a manhunt that ended with his arrest at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Mangione has become a folk hero to many who believe he expressed their rage at the healthcare system.

 

The brazen shooting of Thompson, the chief executive of UnitedHealth’s insurance unit, drew national attention. A security video captured the shooter before sunrise, wearing a backpack and hooded jacket, approaching Thompson from behind, firing a 3-D printed ghost gun and then leaving the scene. The executive was scheduled to speak at a UnitedHealth investor day at the Hilton Midtown hotel in New York.

 

Police who arrested Mangione in Altoona found a manifesto decrying the health-care industry and a notebook discussing killing a CEO, according to authorities.