New Charges Against Luigi Mangione Include Murder and Terrorism in ‘Well-Thought-Out’ Killing of CEO
Luigi Mangione, who is suspected of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month, has received new murder charges in New York, as announced by officials on Tuesday.
Mangione, 26, has been charged with one count of first-degree murder related to terrorism and two counts of second-degree murder, one of which is categorized as murder with intent to instill fear.
These charges were brought forth by a grand jury and relate to the “brazen, targeted, and premeditated shooting of Brian Thompson,” according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who spoke at a news conference.
Bragg stated that the act was fundamentally an attempt to instill terror.
“While we cannot change the tragedy of a lost life, we recognize that this was a horrifying, meticulously planned act intended to shock and intimidate,” Bragg remarked.
Thompson was shot dead on the morning of December 4 in Midtown Manhattan, resulting in a week-long manhunt that concluded in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where Mangione was identified at a McDonald’s.
Bragg noted that Mangione could face a life sentence for the first-degree murder charge and 25 years to life for the second-degree charges, alongside various weapons charges.
He is scheduled to be in court on Thursday morning in Pennsylvania for a preliminary hearing on these charges, followed by an extradition hearing, Bragg mentioned.
Mangione, who graduated from an Ivy League university, has hired well-known New York attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo, a former member of the Manhattan District Attorney’s office. She has not yet responded to requests for comments.