NEW YORK (AP) — The man accused of murdering the CEO of UnitedHealthcare pleaded not guilty Monday to murder and terrorism charges in a state case that will run parallel to his federal prosecution.
Luigi Mangione, 26, was handcuffed and seated in a Manhattan courtroom when he leaned into a microphone to give his statement. The Manhattan district attorney indicted him last week on multiple counts of murder, including murder as an act of terrorism.
His first appearance in New York state court was anticipated by federal prosecutors who filed their own charges in the shooting. Federal charges could carry the death penalty, while the maximum sentence for 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.
Authorities say Mangione shot and killed Brian Thompson as he walked to an investor conference in midtown Manhattan on the morning of December 4.
Mangione was arrested at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s after a five-day search, carrying a gun that matched the one used in the shooting and a fake ID, according to police. He also kept a notebook in which he expressed hostility toward the health insurance industry and especially toward wealthy executives, according to federal prosecutors.
At a news conference announcing the state charges last Tuesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said terrorism law enforcement reflected the severity of a “terrifying, well-planned and directed murder that was intended to cause shock, attention and intimidation.”
“In its most basic terms, this was a murder that was intended to evoke terror,” he added. “And we’ve seen that reaction.”
Karen Friedman Agnifilo, Mangione’s attorney, has accused federal and state prosecutors of advancing conflicting legal theories. In federal court last week, he called prosecutors’ approach “very confusing” and “highly unusual.”
Mangione is being held in a federal jail in Brooklyn alongside other famous inmates, including Sean “Diddy” Combs and Sam Bankman-Fried.
Mangione was extradited from Pennsylvania on Thursday and quickly flown to New York City, where he wore an orange prison uniform while being escorted by heavily armed police officers and New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
Adams said he wanted to send a message to the suspect: “I wanted to look him in the eye and tell him that he carried out this terrorist act in my city, the city that the people of New York love,” the mayor told a local television station. “I wanted to be there to show the symbolism of that.”
Mangiona, from a prominent Maryland family and graduate of a prestigious university, appeared to have distanced himself from his family and friends in recent months. He frequently posted on online forums about his back pain. He was never a UnitedHealthcare customer, according to the insurer.
Thompson, a married father of two high school students, had worked at the giant UnitedHealth Group for 20 years and became CEO of its insurance arm in 2021.
The murder has led some to express resentment toward America’s health insurers, with Mangione serving as a representative of frustrations over coverage denials and high medical bills. It has also shaken the corporate world, disturbing executives who say they have received threats.
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This story was translated from English by an AP editor with the help of a generative artificial intelligence tool.
This article was published by MICHAEL R. SISAK on 2024-12-23 14:51:00
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