Accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione facing possible death penalty after New York extradition
Luigi Mangione has fronted a New York court for the first time as a newly unsealed federal indictment reveals more details of the alleged killer’s notebook.
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Accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione could face the death penalty after he agreed to be extradited to New York, as a newly unsealed federal indictment reveals more details of his notebook police say they found when he was arrested.
Mr Mangione, 26, arrived in the city on Thursday, US time, after appearing before a Pennsylvanian court where he waived his right to an extradition hearing.
Among the state charges facing the Ivy League graduate in New York is one count of murder in the second degree as “an act of terrorism”.
He faced a New York court this morning, Australian time, sitting calmly between his lawyers as magistrate judge Katharine Parker read out to him four new federal charges laid against him overnight.
She asked if he understood what he was being accused of, to which Mr Mangione replied “yes”, the New York Post reports.
Police allege he assassinated UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson on a Manhattan street on December 4, in a shooting that rocked the US.
After his hearing in Hollidaysburg, Mr Mangione was handed over to a dozen New York Police Department officers who led him to a plane bound for Long Island.
He then was flown to a Wall St heliport, before appearing before a Manhattan court on federal charges including two counts of stalking and one count each of murder through use of a firearm and a firearms offence.
One of those federal charges, murder by firearm, carries the possibility of the death penalty if he is convicted.
Federal investigators allege Mr Mangione methodically plotted out the killing, surveilling the chief executive and taking measures to mask his identity before and after the shooting, according to a criminal complaint.
Court documents allege the alleged gunman arrived in New York On November 24 with the “the purpose of stalking and killing Brian Thompson”.
After performing surveillance on his target for several days, the FBI alleges, Mr Mangione waited outside the Mid Town Hilton for an hour for the insurance boss to leave before shooting multiple times.
“The target is insurance” because “it checks every box,” an entry dated August 15 in Mangione’s notebook said, according to the complaint.
He allegedly wrote about plans to “wack” an insurance company boss, and stated “the details are finally coming together … I’m glad in a way that I’ve procrastinated, bc [because] it allowed me to learn more about [a company]”.
The notebook also had an entry stating that the investor conference that Mr Thompson was heading to when he was killed was a “true windfall”, according to the complaint.
Documents seen by news.com.au reveal Mr Mangione also allegedly wrote a letter “To The Feds” in which he stated “I wasn’t working with anyone”.
“This was fairly trivial: Some elementary social engineering, basic CAD, a lot of patience.
“P.S. you can check serial numbers to verify this is all self-funded. My own ATM withdrawals.”
The unsealed court documents also reveal the federal gun charge relates to the use of a silencer or suppressor during the shooting.
In a statement to the New York Times, Mr Mangione’s lead lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo said the federal government’s decision to “pile on top of” state first degree murder and terror charges was “highly unusual and raises serious constitutional and statutory double jeopardy concerns”.
“We are ready to fight these charges in whatever court they are brought,” the statement said.
The highest penalty Mr Mangione faces on the state charges is life in prison without parole.
Mr Mangione was detained to next appear in court on January 18.
Highlighting the intense media attention the case has garnered, multiple television networks covered his trip from Pennsylvania to New York live.
Dressed in an orange prison jumpsuit and appearing calm, Mangione left the courthouse in a black SUV, escorted by several police vehicles.
After being flown by plane to an airport outside New York City, he boarded a helicopter to Manhattan, where television footage showed over a dozen officers, some in tactical gear, waiting to retrieve him.
Video posted to X shows Mr Mangione wearing a prison-issued jumpsuit surrounded by officers as he was escorted by from the helicopter.
The alleged assassin had originally been expected to fight the extradition warrant.
“He is now in their custody. He will go forth with New York to await trial or prosecution for his homicide and related charges in New York,” Pennsylvania attorney Pete Weeks.
Mr Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on December 9, five days after the shooting.
Mr Thompson’s murder brought into focus widespread public anger against the US health care system and many social media users have since lionised Mangione.
Mr Mangione made two brief court appearances in Pennsylvania Thursday, according to US media. He waived a preliminary hearing on firearms and forgery charges and then agreed to be sent back to New York.
“Everything we did today was in his best interest,” his lawyer Thomas Dickey told reporters.
“We’re ready now to … move forward and start defending these charges in New York and Pennsylvania.”
Outside the court protesters rallied in Mr Mangione’s defence, holding posters that read, “Free Luigi” and “Health insurance practices terrorise people!”
Police say a “life-changing, life-altering” back injury may have motivated Mr Mangione, although they added that there was “no indication” that he was ever a client of UnitedHealthcare.
Mr Mangione was arrested following a tip from staff at the McDonald’s, where he was found wearing a mask and a beanie while using a laptop, and gave officers a fake ID, charging documents show.
When he was arrested, Mr Mangione had a three-page handwritten text criticising the US health care system.
As officers led him away, he shouted about an “insult to the American people.”
Police have alleged that Mr Mangione’s fingerprints matched those found near the crime scene, and that shell casings match the gun found on him when he was arrested.
Reports that the casings of the bullets allegedly fired by Mr Mangione had the words “depose, deny, delay” inscribed on them prompted horror stories on social media about health insurers who use those very tactics to get out of paying for medical tests or cancer treatment.
Originally published as Accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione facing possible death penalty after New York extradition
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