Luigi Mangione Pleads Not Guilty to NY Charges

Suspect in killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO faces murder and terror charges
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Dec 23, 2024 8:59 AM CST
Luigi Mangione Pleads Not Guilty to NY Charges
Luigi Mangione appears in Manhattan Criminal court for his arraignment on state murder and terror charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, Monday, Dec. 23, 2024, in New York.   (Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP)

The man accused of fatally shooting the CEO of UnitedHealthcare pleaded not guilty on Monday to murder and terror charges in a state case that will run parallel to his federal prosecution. Luigi Mangione, 26, was shackled and seated in a Manhattan court when he leaned over to a microphone to enter his plea, reports the AP. The Manhattan district attorney formally charged him last week with multiple counts of murder, including murder as an act of terrorism. His initial appearance in New York's state's trial court was preempted by federal prosecutors bringing their own charges over the shooting. The federal charges could carry the possibility of the death penalty, while the maximum sentence for the state charges is life in prison without parole.

Prosecutors have said the two cases will proceed on parallel tracks, with the state charges expected to go to trial first. At a news conference announcing the state charges last Tuesday, Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg said the application of the terrorism law reflected the severity of a "frightening, well-planned, targeted murder that was intended to cause shock and attention and intimidation. In its most basic terms, this was a killing that was intended to evoke terror," he added. "And we've seen that reaction." Karen Friedman Agnifilo, an attorney for Mangione, has accused federal and state prosecutors of advancing conflicting legal theories. In federal court last week, she called their approach "very confusing" and "highly unusual."

Mangione is being held in a Brooklyn federal jail alongside several other high-profile defendants, including Sean "Diddy" Combs and Sam Bankman-Fried. Mangione was extradited from Pennsylvania on Thursday and quickly rushed to New York City, where he was led away from a helicopter by heavily armed police officers and New York City Mayor Eric Adams. Adams said he was hoping to send a message to the suspect: "I wanted to look him in the eye and say you carried out this terroristic act in my city—the city that the people of New York love," the mayor told a local TV station. "I wanted to be there to show the symbolism of that." (More Luigi Mangione stories.)

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