Luigi Mangione has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, according to the New York district attorney on Tuesday.
Mr. Mangione faces several charges, including first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder, one described as an act of “terrorism,” according to Bragg.
“The intent was to sow terror,” stated New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, labeling the incident a “frightening, well-planned, and targeted murder.”
Mr. Mangione is set for a court hearing on December 19 to determine if he will be extradited to New York to face these charges, with Bragg hinting that the suspect might not contest the extradition.
“We have indications that the defendant may waive that hearing,” Bragg noted.
The extradition hearing is set for the same day as Mr. Mangione’s initial hearing on gun-related charges in Pennsylvania.
At a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, both Bragg and New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch condemned the public’s praise of Mr. Mangione following the December 4 shooting.
“In the nearly two weeks since Mr. Thompson’s death, we have seen a shocking and appalling celebration of this cold-blooded murder,” Tisch said. “We don’t celebrate murders, and we don’t glorify the killing of anyone.”
Besides murder, the suspect also faces charges related to weapons and forgery. Conviction on the most severe charges, such as first-degree murder and second-degree murder as an act of terrorism, could lead to a life sentence without parole for Mr. Mangione.
When asked about the specific terrorism charges, Bragg explained that “in its most basic terms, this was a killing intended to evoke terror.”
Five days after the shooting of Mr. Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Mr. Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, carrying a fake ID and an untraceable “ghost gun,” according to the police.
His attorney, Thomas Dickey, has stated that he has yet to see evidence linking Mr. Mangione’s gun to the crime.
New York prosecutors recently presented evidence in their case against Mr. Mangione to a grand jury.
If extradited, the 26-year-old is likely to be detained at Riker’s Island or another New York prison.
Evidence implicating Mr. Mangione includes a positive match of his fingerprints found at the crime scene, Commissioner Tisch reported.
District Attorney Bragg noted that the suspect arrived in New York City on November 24, staying at a Manhattan hostel under a false identity before the attack on Mr. Thompson ten days later.
In addition to the ghost gun and fake ID, police found a passport and a handwritten document on Mr. Mangione at his arrest, which detailed his “motivation and mindset.”
During Tuesday’s press briefing on the New York charges, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny also mentioned a conversation with the suspect’s mother, who had filed a missing person report for her son in San Francisco in November.
After the manhunt began, the report was flagged to authorities, who then contacted Mr. Mangione’s mother. Detective Kenny relayed that his mother didn’t identify her son as the suspect but remarked, “it might be something that she could see him doing.”
Mr. Mangione was formally charged in Pennsylvania with forgery, illegal firearm possession, record or identification tampering, possessing crime instruments, and providing false identification to the police.
While Mr. Mangione awaits his fate in the New York judicial system, he is held under maximum security at the Huntingdon State Correctional Institution in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania. He has been denied bail.
