Suspect in killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO will face federal charges, sources tell AP
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) — The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO was expected to face new federal charges Thursday once he arrives in New York, according to multiple people aware of the arrangements being made for an afternoon court appearance.
Luigi Mangione agreed to return to New York to face a state murder charge Thursday at a morning court appearance in Pennsylvania where he was arrested last week after five days on the run.
He was immediately turned over to at least a dozen New York Police Department officers who were in the courtroom and quickly led him to a waiting SUV.
He then boarded a small plane used by the NYPD and was bound for the New York area.
The federal charges against Mangione remained sealed, but several people familiar with the matter said the case would be made public in the afternoon. The people spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release information publicly.
A courtroom had been set aside in a Manhattan federal courthouse for Mangione’s appearance and an overflow courtroom was designated as a location for people to watch the proceeding on video in the event there are more people than can fit in the courtroom.
Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks had said he wanted to turn Mangione over to New York authorities as soon as possible. Weeks said he was willing to put the Pennsylvania charges on hold.
“He is now in their custody. He will go forth with New York to await trial or prosecution for his homicide and related charges in New York,” Weeks said.
The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate is accused of ambushing and shooting Brian Thompson on Dec. 4 outside a Manhattan hotel where the head of the United States’ largest medical insurance company was walking to an investor conference.
Authorities have said Mangione was carrying the gun used to kill Thompson, a passport, fake IDs and about $10,000 when he was arrested while eating breakfast on Dec. 9 at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Mangione, who initially fought attempts to extradite him, made two brief court appearances Thursday, first waiving a preliminary hearing on forgery and firearms charges before agreeing to be sent back to New York.
There he has been charged with murder as an act of terrorism and could face life in prison without parole if he’s convicted.
Investigators believe Mangione was motivated by anger toward the U.S. health care system and corporate greed. But he was never a UnitedHealthcare client, according to the insurer.
The killing ignited an outpouring of stories about resentment toward U.S. health insurance companies while also shaking corporate America after some social media users called the shooting payback.
Video of the attack showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson, 50, from behind and then firing several more shots. The suspect eluded police despite authorities widely circulating photos of his unmasked face until Mangione was captured in Altoona, about 277 miles (446 kilometers) west of New York.
Mangione, a computer science graduate from a prominent Maryland family, was carrying a handwritten letter that called health insurance companies “parasitic” and complained about corporate greed, according to a law enforcement bulletin obtained by The Associated Press last week.
One of his lawyers has cautioned the public against prejudging the case.
Mangione repeatedly posted on social media about how spinal surgery last year had eased his chronic back pain, encouraging people with similar conditions to speak up for themselves if told they just had to live with it.
In a Reddit post in late April, he advised someone with a back problem to seek additional opinions from surgeons and, if necessary, say the pain made it impossible to work.
“We live in a capitalist society,” Mangione wrote. “I’ve found that the medical industry responds to these key words far more urgently than you describing unbearable pain and how it’s impacting your quality of life.”
He apparently cut himself off from his family and close friends in recent months. His family reported him missing in San Francisco in November. His relatives have said in a statement that they were “shocked and devastated” by his arrest.
Thompson, who grew up on a farm in Iowa, was trained as an accountant. A married father of two high-schoolers, he had worked at the giant UnitedHealth Group for 20 years and became CEO of its insurance arm in 2021.
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Sisak reported from New York. Associated Press writers Mike Rubinkam in Allentown, Pennsylvania; and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; contributed.
