Mangione pleads not guilty in NY court
26-year-old also faces federal murder charges
By: John Bacon
and Claire Thornton
USA Today
NEW YORK - The men accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a busy Manhattan street pleaded not guilty Monday [12/23/2024] to state murder charges just days after a dramatic return to the city to face federal counts in the case.
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Luigi Mangione, 26, was arraigned at a brief hearing on 11 state criminal charges, including one count of first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism and two counts of second-degree murder, one as an act of terrorism. if convicted of the state charges, he could face life in prison without parole.
..... Dozens of demonstrators gathered outside the state criminal court in Lower Manhattan on Monday [12/23/2024] morning. One demonstrator played a trumpet and another shouted messages through a bullhorn in support of Mangione as commuters walked past, navigating the crowd amid cold temperatures.
..... The federal charges announced Thursday [12/19/2024] means Mangione could receive a death sentence if found guilty of murder in federal court. those charges, unsealed Thursday, [12/19/2024] include murder suing a firearm, two counts of stalking and an additional firearms offense. Preliminary hearing on the federal charges was scheduled for January 18. [2025]
..... Mangione also faces weapons and related charges in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested at a McDonald's restaurant following a five-day manhunt.
..... On Thursday, [12/19/2024] Mangione appeared in a Blair County courtroom, waived his right to an extradition hearing and was mediately swept back to New York via plane, helicopter and SUV for his federal arraignment hours later. He arrived to dozens of heavily armed offices, a swarm of media members and New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
.... Other state charges include two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree; four counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree; one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree; and one count of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree.
..... Mangione's attorney, Karen Fredman Agnifilo, said the federal charges were an attempt to "pile on top of an already overcharged" state case. She said she thought even state prosecutors were surprised by the move."
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"Over three decades of prosecuting and defending, criminal cases in New York, frankly, I've never seen anything like that what is happening here," Friedman Agnifilo said in court, also calling it "very confusing, highly unusual."
..... Entries in a handwritten notebook seized from Mangione when he was arrested reflected his :hostility toward the health insure industry and wealthy executives in particular," according to the federal criminal complaint. Mangione methodically planned the killing for months in an attempt to spark debate over insurance industry practices, federal prosecutors said in a statement. Mangione has attracted some supporters.
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Andera Aye said she traveled form northern Ohio to the Pennsylvania courthouse for his hearing there.
..... "We feel is anger, his frustration," Aye said. "It has definitely woke people up. We hear him."
..... Thompson, 50, was raised on a farm in Iowa and graduated from South Hamilton High School in 1993. He departed for the University of Iowa and began working for UnitedHealthcare in 2004. He ascended through the ranks to head the Minneapolis-based health insurance company, one of the largest in the nation, and was named CEO in April 2021.
..... "He was one of the smartest kids, if not the smartest, and I would say the smartest person I've ever known," childhood friend Taylor Hill said. "He was probably smarter than half our teachers. And the thing with our teachers is they knew it, too."
..... He had multiple leadership positions at UnitedHealthcare over the years having last held the title of chief executive officer of government programs, including overseeing the company's Medicare and retirement and community and state businesses.
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"Brian was a highly respected colleague and friend to all who worked with him,: UnitedHealthcare Group, the parent company of United Healthcare,s aid in a statement.
..... Contributing: Jeanine Santucci, USA today' Judy Ellich, Somerset (Pennsylvania) Daily American.