Mangione pleads guilty to two federal stalking charges as future of state murder case remains unclear
Ariana Baio in Manhattan federal court & Alex Woodward
Luigi Mangione admitted to fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a stunning courtroom confession as he pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges stemming from the 2024 killing in the middle of a Manhattan street.
In tan prison scrubs, Mangione told a federal judge on Friday that he traveled to New York City after reaching out to UnitedHealthcare by posing as an investor who planned to attend a healthcare conference with Thompson. Mangione said he made the decision “after years of negotiating severe pain in my back.”
“Unlike my previous interactions with insurers, I received an immediate response within an hour,” Mangione told the court about how he learned Thompson’s location from the company.
He said he armed himself with a gun that he manufactured with a 3D printer and affixed with a silencer.
“I shot Mr. Thompson and he died,” Mangione said. “I understood that my actions would place him in fear of death or bodily injury. I knew what I was doing was illegal.”
Members of the Thompson family became visibly upset at the sight of Mangione entering the courtroom before he entered his plea.
A woman sitting next to Paulette Thompson, the widow of Brian Thompson, wrapped a comforting arm around her as she wept. Pat Thompson, the mother of Brian Thompson, held a tissue to her eyes and cried as she listened to Mangione explain that he targeted her son and shot him twice.
Other executives from UnitedHealthcare, seated two rows behind the family, struggled to look at Mangione. Several put their hands on their faces, shaking their heads slowly in disbelief.
Mangione, who maintained a steady and clear voice as he delivered his statement to the court, remained seated throughout the hearing.
He then told District Judge Margaret Garnett that he was pleading guilty to the two remaining federal counts against him.
The federal counts against Mangione — stalking resulting in death — carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. They were the last remaining charges against him after several others were dropped, some of which could have carried the death penalty. His sentencing hearing on the federal stalking charges is scheduled for December 18.
Mangione, a 28-year-old Ivy League graduate, was the subject of a days-long manhunt after Thompson’s killing outside a Manhattan hotel, sparking intense public interest, outrage and polarizing debate over the far-reaching impacts of the nation’s health insurance industry.
Thompson’s family said in a statement that Mangione’s guilty plea “marks an important step toward justice for Brian and for our family.”
“While nothing will ease the pain of losing him, we are grateful that the federal justice system has held the person responsible for this heinous act accountable,” the statement added. “Now we look to the court to ensure the sentencing reflects the severity of this crime.”
The Thompson family issued a statement saying that Mangione’s guilty plea ‘marks an important step toward justice’ (Getty)
“Brian Thompson’s life was cut short by an act of violence that devastated everyone who knew and loved him,” UnitedHealth Group said in a statement. “We are grateful to law enforcement for bringing Brian’s murderer to justice, and our thoughts remain with Brian’s family and loved ones during this difficult time.”
Mangione “has accepted full responsibility for the death of Brian Thompson,” his attorney Karen Agnifilo said Friday in a statement outside federal court.
“As Luigi explained in court today, he endured years of severe, debilitating pain following a broken back, while struggling to navigate our healthcare and health insurance systems,” she added. “Like the thousands of people who have reached out since this tragedy to share their own experiences, he believed that the system had failed him and destroyed his life.”
His plea arrived roughly a month before he is scheduled to go to trial in New York state criminal court on separate charges stemming from Thompson’s killing.
In New York criminal court, Mangione has pleaded not guilty to eight charges, including second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon. The charges carry a possibility of life in prison.
From the start of the cases, Mangione’s defense team has argued that the charges brought in federal and state court amounted to double jeopardy — or the prosecution of a person twice for the same offenses.
“He’s been treated differently from every other defendant charged with this offense in New York,” Agnifilo told reporters.
Agnifilo filed a motion in state court following Friday’s hearing to argue that Mangione cannot face a state trial after pleading guilty to two federal charges.
Mangione’s lawyers had already successfully narrowed the charges against their client.
Federal prosecutors had originally sought to bring the death penalty against Mangione by charging him with using a firearm to commit murder. It was part of a directive by President Donald Trump to renew pushes for capital punishment.
But earlier this year, a federal judge dismissed two charges, including the one carrying the death penalty, against Mangione.
A judge overseeing Mangione’s state case also dismissed two charges brought by state prosecutors: first-degree murder and a state terrorism charge.
Mangione’s lawyers Karen Friedman Agnifilo and Marc Agnifilo arrived in federal court August 14 after unexpectedly requesting a pretrial hearing, where Mangione pleaded guilty to federal charges of stalking resulting in death. They are seeking to block his state trial from moving forward on double jeopardy grounds (Getty)
Mangione graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2020 and was the valedictorian of his 2016 graduating class at the Gilman School in Baltimore.
In the early morning of December 4, 2024, hours before Thompson was slated to attend an annual investors meeting, Mangione fatally shot Thompson, 50, outside of a midtown Manhattan hotel.
Video showed the moment he was ambushed by a masked man and gunned down on a New York City sidewalk.
Law enforcement officials engaged in a multi-state, days-long manhunt for Mangione, capturing the nation’s attention and sparking intense scrutiny into the nation’s for-profit health insurance industry and Mangione’s alleged motive.
He was captured on December 9, 2024, inside a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Bullet casings found after the shooting reportedly had the words “deny,” “delay,” and “depose” written on them, referencing an alleged tactic used by insurance companies to deny claims. Police also discovered a “ghost gun” and a notebook expressing Mangione’s animosity toward the corporate healthcare system.
Mangione’s arrest and the circumstances of the shooting, driven by widespread anger over denied insurance claims and corporate greed, lionized Mangione as a kind of antihero. Fans arrived at his pretrial court hearings with signs and supportive T-shirts.
His supporters also donated more than $1.5 million to a legal defense fund and sent long letters to the jail where he is being held.
