Accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione, now in New York, facing federal death-penalty eligible charges

Luigi Mangione was hit with new federal charges that carry a potential death penalty after arriving in New York Thursday stemming from the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, with authorities saying he counted down his plan for months.

Mangione was charged with murder through the use of a firearm, a firearm offense, and two counts of stalking covering the 10 days preceding Thompson’s killing, according to a copy of the federal complaint.

Federal authorities referenced writings of Mangione’s laying out a months long plan to kill Thompson, including an entry in his notebook from Oct. 22 appearing to count down the days.

“1.5 months. This investor conference is a true windfall . . . and – most importantly – the message becomes self evident,” Mangione wrote, according to the complaint, which said it later described an intent to “‘wack’ the CEO of one of the insurance companies at its investor conference.”

After appearing earlier Thursday in Pennsylvania, Mangione was transferred to New York authorities’ custody and flown to Long Island’s MacArthur Airport, then expected to be transported to the Wall Street heliport and from there Manhattan Federal Court by car to appear before a judge, two law enforcement sources told the Daily News earlier Thursday.

The 26-year-old Maryland man, who arrived at the Blair County, Pa., courthouse in an orange jumpsuit around 7:30 a.m., also faces an 11-count indictment brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg that was handed up Tuesday, including charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, an additional murder count, multiple firearm charges and forgery. He was initially expected to appear in Manhattan Criminal Court at 100 Centre St. on those charges.

On the federal level, Mangione could be eligible for the death penalty under federal law, which is not an option under New York state law.

Reached for comment earlier Thursday amid news of potential federal charges, Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Agnifilo, said, “The federal government’s reported decision to pile on top of an already overcharged first-degree murder and state terror 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.”

Nicholas Biase, a spokesman for the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office, declined comment.

A spokeswoman for Bragg said a federal case would proceed in parallel to the state case.

“As alleged, this defendant brazenly shot Mr. Thompson point blank on a Manhattan sidewalk,” Danielle Filson added. “The Manhattan D.A.’s Office, working with our partners at the NYPD, is dedicated to securing justice for this heinous murder with charges of Murder in the first degree.”

Mangione is accused in Pennsylvania of carrying a firearm without a license, forgery, and giving cops a fake ID after he was identified at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa., on Dec. 9. He’s not expected to be tried on those charges before his New York matters conclude.

The University of Pennsylvania graduate is accused of gunning down Thompson, 50, on W. 54th St. near Sixth Ave. as the CEO arrived for an annual investor conference at the Midtown Hilton early on Dec. 4.

In court filings in the DA’s case, prosecutors said two discharged shell casings bore the words “deny” and “depose,” and a bullet featured the word “delay,” in an apparent reference to the health insurance industry routinely denying medical care to maximize profits.

The cops have also alleged Mangione had a “manifesto” laying out his reasons for the killing. He allegedly wrote that insurers had “simply gotten too powerful,” continuing to “abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has [allowed] them to get away with it.”

Mangione’s apparent anger toward the health insurance industry has touched off support and sympathy for him online, with an online crowdfunding effort raising more than $140,000 toward his legal defense. The DA and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, at a press conference earlier this week, decried the support, with Tisch saying authorities had tracked a “shocking and appalling celebration of cold-blooded murder.”

Authorities say Mangione’s mother reported him missing to the San Francisco police department in November and that an officer handling the missing person case recognized him in widely-circulated surveillance images after the shooting and contacted the FBI.

NYPD officials on Tuesday said they made contact with Mangione’s mother on Dec. 7, who said she didn’t know if it was him in the pictures but that the shooting “might be something that she could see him doing.”

Within 48 hours, the McDonald’s patron recognized him more than 200 miles from the scene, prompting a worker to call 911, according to police.

This developing story will be updated. 

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