By MES Dispatch Staff
The Briefing
- Luigi Mangione, 28, pleaded guilty Friday in Manhattan federal court to stalking charges connected to the December 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
- Mangione admitted he trailed Thompson to a New York investor conference and shot him on a Manhattan street.
- Federal prosecutors say they will seek a life prison sentence at Mangione’s sentencing, scheduled for Dec. 18.
- Mangione still faces a separate New York state murder prosecution; his defense is seeking to have that case dismissed on double jeopardy grounds.
- The case drew national attention over the state of the U.S. health insurance industry and became a flashpoint in public debate.
NEW YORK — Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty Friday to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, admitting in Manhattan federal court that he shot and killed the executive on a New York City street in December 2024.
Mangione, 28, told U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett that he built a firearm using a 3D printer, traveled to New York, and posed as an investor to obtain details about a company conference Thompson was attending. “On the morning of Dec. 4, 2024, I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan, and he died,” Mangione told the court.
Federal prosecutors said they plan to seek a life sentence when Mangione is sentenced Dec. 18. Garnett confirmed with Mangione that he understood he could spend the rest of his life in prison; he answered, “Yes.” Prosecutors and defense attorneys said no plea deal or incentive was offered. A potential death sentence had already been removed from consideration earlier this year when a federal murder charge was dismissed.
Following the plea, Mangione’s attorneys moved to dismiss the related New York state murder case on double jeopardy grounds, arguing he should not face two prosecutions for what defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo called “a single tragic event.” The Manhattan district attorney’s office said it remains committed to pursuing the state case, which had been heading toward a September trial.
Surveillance footage showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson, 50, from behind; investigators said ammunition at the scene bore the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose,” a phrase associated with insurance claim denials. Authorities have said Mangione was never a UnitedHealthcare customer. Evidence in the case includes a 3D-printed pistol and a notebook investigators say outlined his intent to kill an insurance executive, both ruled admissible by the court.
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch addressed public reaction to the case outside court Friday: “Violence is not a cause. Murder is not a message. And a killer is certainly not a hero.” U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald added that “there can be no celebrity in assassination.” In a statement, Thompson’s family called the guilty plea “an important step toward justice.”