Luigi Mangione charged with murder of healthcare CEO

Luigi Mangione has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the killing of health care CEO Brian Thompson, the New York district attorney said Tuesday.

Mr. Mangione faces various charges, including first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder, one of which describes the killing as a “terrorist act,” Bragg said.

“The intent was to sow terror,” New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg said, calling the shooting a “horrifying, well-planned and targeted murder.”

Mr. Mangione is scheduled to appear on Dec. 19 for a court hearing on whether he will be extradited to New York on the charges, although Bragg has suggested the suspect may not fight extradition.

“We have indications that the defendant may waive this hearing,” Bragg said.

The extradition hearing is scheduled for the same day as Mr. Mangione’s preliminary hearing on weapons charges in Pennsylvania.

At a press conference Tuesday afternoon, both Bragg and New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch lambasted the public for praising Mr. Mangione after the Dec. 4 shooting.

“In the nearly two weeks since Mr. Thompson’s murder, we have witnessed a shocking and horrific celebration of cold-blooded murder,” Tisch said. “We do not celebrate murders or glorify the killing of anyone.”

In addition to murder, the suspect is also accused of forging weapons and documents. If convicted of the most serious charges against him – first-degree murder and second-degree murder as an act of terrorism – Mr. Mangione could face life in prison without the possibility of parole.

When asked about the specific terrorism charges, Bragg responded that it was “basically a murder intended to cause terror.”

Five days after Mr. Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare CEO, was shot, Mr. Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, with a fake ID and a so-called “ghost gun,” police said.

His lawyer, Thomas Dickey, said he had seen no evidence linking Mr. Mangione’s gun to the crime.

New York prosecutors began sharing evidence in their case against Mr. Mangione with a grand jury last week.

If extradited, the 26-year-old will likely be held at Riker’s Island or another New York prison.

The evidence against Mr Mangione includes: a positive game Inspector Tisch said he was comparing his fingerprints with those found at the crime scene.

According to District Attorney Bragg, the suspect arrived in New York City on November 24 and stayed in a Manhattan hostel using a fake ID before carrying out the attack on Mr. Thompson 10 days later.

In addition to the ghost gun – a weapon assembled from untraceable parts – and a fake ID, a passport and a handwritten document indicating “motivation and attitude” were also found on Mr. Mangione when he was arrested, police said.

He was formally charged in Pennsylvania with forgery, carrying firearms without a license, tampering with records or identification, possession of instruments of crime and presenting a false ID to police.

While Mr. Mangione awaits his fate in the New York court system, he remains under maximum security at the Huntingdon State Correctional Institution in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania.

He was denied bail.

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