Accused Health Insurance CEO Killer Pleads Not Guilty Following Extradition

By Molly Crane-Newman and John Annese

Source New York Daily News

NEW YORK — Luigi Mangione pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and terror offenses in Manhattan Supreme Court Monday stemming from the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Wearing a burgundy sweater, white collared shirt, and khaki pants, a handcuffed Mangione, 26, entered his first formal plea to charges linked to the high-profile hit before state Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro.

He pleaded not guilty to all allegations in the 11-count indictment brought last week by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office — first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, second-degree murder as a crime of terrorism, an additional count of murder and eight other counts.

If convicted of the top counts, he faces a potential sentence of life without parole.

Following his Thursday extradition to New York from Pennsylvania — where he was arrested at a McDonald’s on Dec. 9 after a nationwide five-day manhunt —Mangione was taken into federal authorities’ custody and charged with murder with the use of a firearm, stalking, and a firearm offense.

The maximum potential sentence in Mangione’s federal case is the death penalty, though it’s not clear prosecutors would pursue that punishment. State and federal authorities have said the cases will proceed in parallel.

Mangione was detained on the eighth floor of the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after appearing in federal court in Manhattan. His continued detention there or transfer to a city jail facility is expected to be discussed at Monday’s arraignment.

The Ivy League computer science graduate who comes from a prominent family in Towson, Md., is accused of fatally shooting Thompson in the back and leg on Dec. 4 as the health care executive arrived at the Hilton Hotel in Midtown for an annual investor conference.

When he was spotted at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa., on Dec. 9, police took him into custody and recovered on his person a 3D-printed ghost gun, silencer, and ammunition matching that which was recovered at the scene, according to state and federal authorities.

He was also in possession of fake IDs and writings critical of the health care industry, according to court docs, and sketched-out plans documented months before the killing to “wack” a CEO at the conference.

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