UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's murder suspect has been charged with federal murder and stalking offenses, along with state murder and terrorism charges previously announced by New York prosecutors, according to a court document filed Thursday.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are charging Luigi Mangione, 26, with a federal felony count of murder with a firearm, two counts of stalking and a count of using an illegal firearm silencer, according to the complaint.
The complaint accused Mangione of spending months planning an attack out of 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 now faces terrorism charges in New York for what prosecutors say was the “brazen, targeted and premeditated shooting” of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
According to the federal complaint, a notebook found by Altoona police in Mangione's possession contained several handwritten pages that “express hostility toward the health insurance industry and wealthy executives in particular.” The October 22 notebook described an intention to “defraud” the CEO of an insurance company at an investor conference.
“This investor conference is a real treat,” one notebook entry says, according to the complaint. “Most importantly, the message becomes obvious.”
According to the complaint, police also found in the suspect's possession a letter addressed “To the feds” that said: “I have not cooperated with anyone.”
“It was quite trivial: a little basic social engineering, CAD basics, a lot of patience,” the letter said, using an acronym for computer-aided design.
The lawyer claims Mangione was “overburdened.”
Earlier this week, a New York grand jury 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 made any statements. His New York defense attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said Mangione had been “overcharged” 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 called a premeditated murder.
Although 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 ability of insurance companies to refuse to pay for some medical treatments.
The federal charges potentially allow prosecutors to pursue the death penalty, which has been abolished in New York for decades.
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch called any attempts to rationalize Luigi Mangione's alleged actions “despicable” and “reckless.” Her comments came Tuesday at a press conference announcing Mangione's murder indictment in connection with the killing of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson.
Prosecutors say Mangione was “traveling interstate for commercial purposes,” taking a bus from Atlanta to New York before Thompson's murder, and used his cellphone and the Internet to plan and carry out the attack, and therefore has jurisdiction.
Mangione is scheduled to make his first court appearance on the federal charges before U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker in Manhattan on Thursday afternoon.
“The federal government's reported decision to add to an already overloaded first-degree murder and state terrorism case is highly unusual and raises serious constitutional and statutory double jeopardy concerns,” Mangione's lawyer, Friedman Agnifilo, said in a statement. “We are prepared to fight these charges in any court that comes before them.”
Fans crowd the courthouse
In Pennsylvania, police said Mangione had a self-assembled 9 mm handgun and a homemade silencer in his backpack when he was arrested after being spotted at a McDonald's restaurant. The gun resembled the gun used to kill Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the largest U.S. health insurer.
Mangione, a Maryland resident who lived in Hawaii, also had multiple false IDs, including a fake New Jersey ID that was used to check into a Manhattan hostel days before Thompson's shooting, police said.
In Pennsylvania, Mangione was charged with forgery and illegal possession of a firearm without a license.
On Thursday morning at the Blair County Courthouse, Mangione, dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, had a preliminary hearing on the Pennsylvania charges, followed immediately by a second hearing on New York's extradition request. A small crowd of supporters stood outside the courthouse waving signs condemning the health insurance industry.
Pennsylvania prosecutors told the court they agreed to stay the proceedings in Pennsylvania until the criminal proceedings in New York are completed.
Former Manhattan prosecutor Matthew Gulluzzo says Luigi Mangione's federal charges are “pretty unusual” because the suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson already faces state charges. Gulluzzo explains that a federal case could result in the death penalty, but it could be a year-long trial.
Mangione spoke only briefly during the extradition hearing, insisting he understood his rights and to Judge David Consiglio that he had agreed to surrender to the New York Police Department.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office is charging Mangione with an act of terrorism under New York law because Thompson's killing was intended to intimidate or coerce civilians or “to influence the policy of a governmental entity.”