NewzMangione told the court: “I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan and he died”. NEW YORK (AP) — Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty on Friday to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, admitting matter-of-factly that he trailed the executive to an investor conference in 2024 and gunned him down on a New York City street.Mangione, 28, said he even used a ruse to glean information about the event, contacting the health insurance company ahead of time under the guise of being an investor at a multibillion-dollar firm."On the morning of Dec.
Thompson in Manhattan, and he died,” Mangione told the court as Thompson's wife, Paulette, took several deep breaths and repeatedly wiped tears from her eyes. A supporter put an arm around the wife and held her tight.Mangione is set for sentencing Dec. Garnett asked whether he understood that he could spend the rest of his life in prison, Mangione answered neutrally: “Yes.”Mangione entered the plea at a hastily scheduled hearing in Manhattan federal court, resolving one of two cases against him in connection with Thompson’s death.
Mangione's lawyers could now seek to have his separate New York state murder case thrown out on double jeopardy grounds.Surveillance video of the ambush showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson, 50, from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims. That detail — and revelations that Mangione's private writings lambasted health insurers as greedy, according to authorities — made the case a fulcrum for debate about the industry and made Mangione a cause célèbre for some of its critics.Mangione told the court Friday that he pursued Thompson “after years of enduring severe pain from a broken back and navigating the obstacles of the health insurance system.”Mangione never was a UnitedHealthcare customer, according to police and the company.
A University of Pennsylvania graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, he was arrested five days after the shooting, when he was spotted at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania. It's about 230 miles (370 kilometers) west of Manhattan.Thompson led one of the United States' largest health insurers, but he wasn't well known outside the industry. Trained as an accountant, he had worked at parent company UnitedHealth Group Inc.
With this guilty plea, his lawyers could seek to have the state case thrown out on double jeopardy grounds.Mangione was charged by both federal and state prosecutors with ambushing Thompson, 50, outside a New York City hotel on Dec. 4, 2024, as the insurance executive walked to his company's annual investor conference.Surveillance video of the killing showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson from behind. for 20 years and became CEO of its insurance arm, UnitedHealthcare, in 2021.A trial on state murder charges is scheduled to start next month.
It is unclear whether that trial would go forward if Mangione pleaded guilty in the federal case.The federal charges accuse Mangione of stalking Thompson to cause his death. Both the federal and state cases could lead to a life prison sentence. A federal judge earlier this year tossed out additional charges that could have exposed Mangione to a potential death penalty.Mangione had complained about the prospect of two trials, telling a judge in February: “It’s the same trial twice.
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