NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� 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 and in 2024.
Mangione, 28, said he made a gun with the aid of a 3D printer, traveled to New York and used a ruse 鈥� posing as an investor at a multibillion-dollar firm 鈥� to contact the company for details on the event.
“On the morning of Dec. 4, 2024, I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan, and he died,鈥� Mangione told the Manhattan federal court, which he entered shackled at the feet but not handcuffed in his beige jail uniform.
Listening in the audience, Thompson’s wife, Paulette, took several deep breaths and repeatedly wiped tears from her eyes.
Prosecutors plan to seek a life prison term at Mangione’s sentencing, set for Dec. 18. When U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett asked whether he understood that he could spend the rest of his life behind bars, Mangione answered neutrally: 鈥淵es.鈥�
In a statement, Thompson鈥檚 family called the plea 鈥渁n important step toward justice鈥� and noted that Mangione still faces other cases, including a New York state murder prosecution. It carries the potential for a separate long sentence.
Mangione still faces a state murder case
Federal prosecutors didn鈥檛 give Mangione any deal or incentive to plead guilty, they and his lawyers said. Nor did Mangione plead guilty to avoid a potential death sentence. That possibility was taken off the table when a this winter.
But after Mangione entered the plea at Friday’s hastily scheduled hearing, his lawyers quickly sought to have the New York case thrown out on double jeopardy grounds. The state鈥檚 double jeopardy protections can kick in if a prior prosecution ends in a guilty plea.
鈥淢r. Mangione has accepted full responsibility for the death of Brian Thompson,鈥� defense lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo said outside court, arguing that her client shouldn鈥檛 face two prosecutions over a 鈥渟ingle tragic event.鈥�
The Manhattan district attorney鈥檚 office, which is handling the state prosecution, said it remains committed to its case and would contest the defense鈥檚 efforts to shut it down.
Mangione alludes to back pain in explaining his actions
Surveillance video of the ambush showed shooting Thompson, 50, from behind. Police say were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
That detail 鈥� and revelations that Mangione’s private writings lambasted health insurers as greedy, according to authorities 鈥� made the case a fulcrum for debate about the industry and made Mangione a for some of its critics.
A University of Pennsylvania graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, Mangione told the court Friday that he pursued Thompson 鈥渁fter years of enduring severe pain from a broken back, navigating the obstacles of the health insurance system and witnessing similar experiences of countless others.鈥�
Friedman Agnifilo later said her client 鈥渂elieved that the system had failed him and destroyed his life.鈥�
Authorities say Mangione’s grievances are no excuse for killing
Mangione , according to police and the company.
鈥淭o those who idolize Luigi Mangione, I say this. Violence is not a cause. Murder is not a message. And a killer is certainly not a hero,鈥� New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said outside court Friday.
U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald, whose office handled the federal case, added: 鈥淭here can be no celebrity in assassination.”
Thompson led one of the United States’ largest health insurers, but he . Trained as an accountant, he worked at parent company UnitedHealth Group Inc. for 20 years and became CEO of its insurance arm, UnitedHealthcare, in 2021. He and his wife had two sons, who were in high school when their father was killed.
Thompson’s violent death 鈥渄evastated everyone who knew and loved him,鈥� the company said in a statement Friday, thanking law enforcement for bringing Mangione to justice.
His defense had lost some disputes over evidence
Mangione , when he was spotted at a McDonald鈥檚 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (370 kilometers) west of Manhattan. Police had of the suspected shooter, including one showing his face as he checked into a hostel.
Although his lawyers got the federal murder charge dismissed, Garnett also delivered some setbacks to the defense, ruling in January that prosecutors could use items collected from Mangione鈥檚 backpack during his arrest as evidence against him. They included a 3D-printed pistol that investigators said matched the one used to kill Thompson and in which authorities say Mangione described his intent to kill an insurance executive.
Similarly, the judge in the state case against Mangione but . The case has been heading toward a September trial, but his lawyers’ new bid to dismiss it could complicate the timeline.
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Associated Press writers Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, and Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington contributed.
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