Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty Friday to federal stalking charges in connection with the December 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Magione said in court that he posed as a potential investor to learn the location of an investors’ conference in New York where Thompson was scheduled to speak.
“On the morning of Dec. 4, 2024, I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan, and he died,” Mangione told the court. Thompson’s widow was in the courtroom and repeatedly wiped tears from her eyes, The Associated Press reported.
Mangione said his experience with the healthcare system motivated him to kill Thompson. He said he suffered “years of enduring severe pain from a broken back and navigating the obstacles of the health insurance system.” Why he chose specifically to kill Thompson, 50, remains a mystery; Mangione was never a customer of UnitedHealthcare, the company has said.
Download the Straight Arrow app today to get the stories that matter free from manipulation, bias or agenda.™
Point phone camera here
Mangione, 28, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 18.
Former Attorney General Pam Bondi previously told federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty, but a judge blocked that attempt in January.
What happens to the state case?
Mangione still faces a separate state murder charge, and is scheduled to go on trial next month.
Mangione pleaded not guilty to eight felony charges in that case, including second-degree murder and several counts related to criminal possession of a weapon.
After his federal guilty plea Friday, NBC News reported that his lawyers are expected to seek dismissal of some or all of the state charges, arguing that another prosecution would violate double jeopardy protections.
“Mr. Mangione has accepted full responsibility for the death of Brian Thompson,” defense lawyer Karen Friedman said outside the courthouse. She said Mangione should not be prosecuted twice for “a single tragic event.”
State prosecutors are expected to fight any attempt to dismiss charges, arguing that the federal stalking charges and the state murder case address different crimes.
Mangione’s case has drawn national attention since his arrest, including from a vocal group of supporters who regularly attend Mangione’s court appearances.
Round out your reading
- All your questions about napping, answered.
- Trump’s $5,000 promise echoes past payouts that never materialized.
- Inside the effort to make data centers pay their share of electricity costs.
- Why did the Feds seize the ’largest Martian meteorite on Earth’?
- Photos and video show exactly where and when Trump visited Ground Zero after 9/11.
