CEO shooting suspect Luigi Mangione to be arraigned on state murder charges Monday
Luigi Mangione is set to appear in court in New York on Monday for arraignment on state murder charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
The Manhattan District Attorney's office said it was coordinating with federal authorities, who are currently holding the 26-year-old shooting suspect at a detention center in Brooklyn. A time for the arraignment was not yet announced.
Mangione had been expected to face arraignment on the state charges Thursday, but the proceedings were postponed after federal authorities announced they were also bringing charges, and he was whisked to a federal courthouse instead in a move that appeared to shock Mangione's defense team.
"In over three decades of prosecuting and defending criminal cases in New York, frankly, I've never seen anything like that what is happening here," Mangione's attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said in court, also calling it "very confusing, highly unusual."
Authorities accused Mangione of shooting Thompson the morning of Dec. 4 in Midtown Manhattan in an act that was targeted and premeditated. A nearly weeklong manhunt ended in Altoona, Pennsylvania, when Mangione was spotted at a McDonald's and arrested. Police say he was carrying the same fake ID the shooter used to check into a hostel in New York and a ghost gun that police said matched bullet casings found at the scene of Thompson's killing.
The crime "in its most basic terms, was a killing that was intended to evoke terror," District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a news conference announcing the state charges earlier this week.
What charges is Mangione facing?
Mangione is facing charges in federal court, Pennsylvania state court, and New York state court.
In the New York case, a grand jury indicted Mangione on charges of first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, two counts of second-degree murder, including one as an act of terrorism, and a slew of weapons charges.
In New York, first-degree murder is reserved for cases with certain aggravating factors, including terrorism. Terrorism is considered an act that is intended to: intimidate or coerce a civilian population; influence the policy of a unit of government by intimidation or coercion; or affect the conduct of a unit of government by murder, assassination, or kidnapping.
In Pennsylvania, he was charged with of forgery and illegally possessing an unlicensed gun.
More: Is CEO shooting suspect Luigi Mangione a terrorist? Charges may 'send a message.'
Federal authorities unsealed a criminal complaint against Mangione that included four separate charges: murder using a firearm, two counts of interstate stalking and a firearms count.
Federal charges bring chance of death penalty
The death penalty was abolished in New York state, but the federal charges could bring a death sentence if Mangione is convicted.
The charge of murder using a firearm carries a maximum possible sentence of death or life in prison. The other federal charges have maximum sentences of life in prison, and the firearms charge has a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years.
Notebook shows Mangione's intent, feds say
A handwritten notebook authorities say Mangione had with him when he was arrested shows he put months of planning into a targeted attack, FBI Special Agent Gary Cobb wrote in the federal criminal complaint.
On a page marked with the date "8/15," the notebook said that "the details are finally coming together," Cobb wrote. The full entries were not included in the complaint. Another excerpt said: "I’m glad – in a way – that I’ve procrastinated, bc it allowed me to learn more about (acronym for Company-1).”
The same entry said that "the target is insurance" because "it checks every box," Cobb wrote.
In another entry marked "10/22," the notebook described an intent to "wack" an insurance CEO, the criminal complaint said.
Brian Thompson remembered
"He was one of the smartest kids, if not the smartest, and I would say the smartest person I've ever known," childhood friend Taylor Hill said. "He was probably smarter than half our teachers. And the thing with our teachers is they knew it, too."
Thompson, 50, was raised on a farm between the small town of Jewell, Iowa, and the even tinier town of Stanhope and graduated from the communities' shared South Hamilton High School in 1993. He departed for the University of Iowa and began working for UnitedHealthcare in 2004. He ascended through the ranks to head the Minneapolis-based health insurance company, one of the largest in the nation and was named CEO in April 2021.
He had multiple leadership positions at UnitedHealthcare over the years, having last held the title of chief executive officer of government programs, including overseeing the company's Medicare and retirement and community and state businesses.
"Brian was a highly respected colleague and friend to all who worked with him," UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of United Healthcare, said in a statement.
What happens next in the case?
Officials have said that they expect the state's trial to proceed before the federal case.
"I’ll let the Southern District of New York speak for itself about their plans, but I do want to note that speaking generally, we’ve had state prosecutions and federal prosecutions proceed as parallel matters, and we are in conversations with our law enforcement partners," Bragg, the Manhattan DA, said Thursday.
Mangione is expected in New York State Supreme Court on Monday for his arraignment. There is also a preliminary hearing in the federal case scheduled for Jan. 18.
Contributing: John Bacon, USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Luigi Mangione charges: New York arraignment scheduled Monday