UnitedHealthcare CEO killing latest: Luigi Mangione faces federal charges including stalking, murder

Luigi Mangione traveled from Georgia to allegedly stalk and kill UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, saying he targeted the health care industry because “it checked every box” — one of a series of entries in a notebook in which the suspect discussed the plot in weeks before the brazen crime, according to a federal criminal complaint.

Mangione was hit with four federal charges Thursday, including stalking, a weapons offense involving a silencer and murder by use of a firearm, a charge that makes him eligible for the death penalty.

The federal complaint includes previously unreleased excerpts from the notebook police said they seized from Mangione. Authorities said the writings “express hostility toward the health insurance industry and especially wealthy executives.”

A special edition of “20/20” airing on December 19 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC, looks at the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the manhunt that led to the arrest of Luigi Mangione, who went from Ivy League to alleged killer.

According to the complaint, a post marked Aug. 15, 2024, said “the details are finally coming together,” and “I’m glad — sort of — that I’ve delayed, e.g. [because] it gave me the opportunity to learn more about [acronym for Company-1].”

In a post tagged October 22, 2024, the scriptures said: “1.5 months. This investor conference is a true windfall … and – most importantly – the message is becoming self-evident.”

Later in the post, the pages describe an intent to “wake up” the CEO of one of the insurance companies at its investor conference, the complaint states.

Mangione waived extradition Thursday morning and was transported by plane and helicopter from Pennsylvania to New York.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch were waiting when Mangione arrived in Manhattan.

He is expected to make his first appearance in federal court in lower Manhattan Thursday afternoon.

Mangione will be held in custody at MDC Brooklyn, the same federal lockup where Sean “Diddy” Combs is currently incarcerated.

Mangione agreed to be extradited during a court appearance in Blair County, Pennsylvania, Thursday morning.

Mangione stood as the judge read him his rights. The Ivy League graduate said “yes” when asked if he understood and said “yes” when asked if he would waive extradition.

Onlookers gathered outside the courthouse as Mangione was taken inside.

One person held a sign that read “Deny, Defend, Depart,” echoing the words written on shell casings and a bullet at the scene of the murder.

Adam Giesseman, who held a sign that read “Free Luigi” and “Murder for Profit is Terrorism,” told ABC News, “Our country is broken.”

Another bystander, who gave only her first name, Natalie, expressed frustration that the insurance system is “set for profit over people’s health.”

“It’s unfortunate that this happened, and I’m not glorifying it in any way — but it has brought attention to the issue that affects all Americans,” she said.

The federal charges could make Mangione eligible for the death penalty. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted of the state charges.

Mangione’s New York attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said in a statement: “The federal government’s reported decision to pile on top of an already overburdened first-degree murder and state terrorism case is highly unusual and raises serious constitutional and statutory double jeopardy concerns .”

“We are ready to fight these charges in whatever court they are brought,” Agnifilo added.

Danielle Filson, a spokeswoman for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, said, “The state case will proceed in parallel with any federal case.”

Mangione, 26, is accused of gunning down Thompson outside a Hilton hotel on Dec. 4 as the UnitedHealthcare CEO was on his way to an investor conference. Prosecutors alleged that Mangione waited nearly an hour for Thompson to arrive.

A Manhattan grand jury upgraded charges against Mangione to include first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, prosecutors announced Tuesday.

The killing in the heart of Midtown Manhattan was “intended to induce terror,” Bragg said.

In New York, Mangione is also charged with two counts of second-degree murder, one of which is charged with murder as an act of terrorism; two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree; four counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree; one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree; and one count of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree.

In Pennsylvania, where Mangione was arrested Dec. 9 after nearly a week on the run, he faces charges including allegedly possessing an untraceable ghost gun. Mangione had a 9mm handgun with a 3D-printed receiver, a homemade silencer, two ammunition magazines and live cartridges when he was apprehended, prosecutors said.

Mangione’s case in Pennsylvania will be kept active; at the end of his trial in New York, prosecutors would decide how to proceed, Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks said Thursday.

Mangione’s next hearing in Pennsylvania is scheduled for February 24. That hearing may be postponed or conducted as an external Zoom appearance due to the impracticality of returning Mangione to Pennsylvania for an in-person hearing, Weeks said.

This is a development story. Please check back for updates.