Luigi Mangione, accused of shooting and killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, is facing two high-profile charges this year. You will appear in state and provincial court, where the charges are different.
Thompson was shot and killed outside the New York Hilton Midtown hotel in the early hours of Dec. 4, 2024, as he is on his way to an investor conference. Five days later, during a manhunt, Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
The killing of this business executive, recorded by a closed-circuit television camera, has shocked people across the country. It also turned his alleged killer into a cause célèbre and an image of public outrage at the private health insurance industry.
Here’s what you need to know about the two case scenario. Mangione, 27, pleaded not guilty to both charges.
What are the possible charges and penalties?
In the federal case, Mangione faces nine counts, including murder and various gun-related charges.
“This type of organized, targeted gun violence cannot and will not be tolerated, and my office has been working every day to bring the accused to justice,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in December 2024.
New York state prosecutors initially tried to prosecute Mangione on two other charges – first-degree murder in “promotion of terrorism” and second-degree murder as an “act of terrorism” – but a judge dismissed those charges last year, saying they were “legally insufficient.”
State crimes carry the possibility of life in prison. (New York does not have the death penalty after its death penalty law was declared unconstitutional in 2004.)
In the federal case, Mangione faces two counts of stalking, which carries a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
The federal government initially charged Mangione with two other counts — murder with a firearm, which carried the death penalty, and a firearms-related offense — but a judge dismissed those charges in late January.
US District Judge Margaret M. Garnett ruled that the murder charge could only be used in conjunction with “crimes of violence.” He found that Mangione’s allegations that he hid Thompson did not meet that standard, which prevented prosecutors from seeking the death penalty.
Karen Agnifilo, one of Mangione’s attorneys, applauded his decision and told reporters that her defense team was “very relieved.”
What evidence can be used?
In both cases, prosecutors are expected to emphasize evidence taken from Mangione’s wallet on Dec. 9, 2024, when he was arrested at a McDonald’s about 300 miles from the block where Thompson was killed.
Authorities said Mangione’s backpack contained a gun, a tool, a magazine with bullets wrapped in underwear, counterfeit cards, a red notebook and other documents detailing his complaints about America’s private health care system.
Mangione’s attorneys tried to block that testimony in the federal case, saying part of the police who arrested him conducted an illegal investigation. But the prosecution rejected that argument, and Garnett concluded that “the search was reasonable under the facts.”
It remains to be seen whether the items found in Mangione’s backpack will be admissible in the federal case. That is the subject of a pretrial hearing scheduled for May 18.
The prosecution teams in both cases may present evidence from the scene where Thompson was killed. Two spent shells had the words “deny” and “depose” written on them, and a bullet was found with the words “delay” written on it, authorities said.
Where is Mangione kept?
Mangione has been held at the Federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since December 2024. The facility also houses ousted Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and hip-hop artist Tekashi 6ix9ine, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez.
In a strange incident in late January, a Minnesota man was charged with impersonating an FBI agent after he showed up from jail saying he had a court order to release an inmate, identified by a law enforcement source as Mangione.
When do the exams start?
The federal trial is scheduled to begin on June 8. In the national trial, jury selection is scheduled to begin on September 8.
