The Latest: Luigi Mangione appears in federal court in NYC as he faces new charges
By The
Associated Press
The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO faces new federal charges of murder and stalking, escalating the case after his earlier indictment on state charges.
Luigi Mangione agreed to return to New York to face a state murder charge Thursday at a morning court appearance in Pennsylvania where he was arrested after five days on the run.
Here's the latest:
Mangione stood with his hands in front of him at his waist as his lawyers spoke with him. He nodded to one of them as U.S. Marshal deputies took him out a side door.
Again he leaned into the microphone on the defense table and quickly said “yes.”
Mangione did not make a bail application and will remain detained
Mangione looked straight again, stoic as U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine H. Parker talked through his rights as a defendant.
He nodded when the judge said he has a right to a lawyer at all proceedings.
He leaned forward to the microphone and said “yes” when asked if he understands his rights, and again when asked if he’s seen a copy of the complaint against him.
He is wearing a dark quarter zip and khaki-colored pants. He held his uncuffed hands in front of him at his waist before sitting between his attorneys.
He's shackled at the ankles.
The federal complaint contained color photographs of the shooter pointing his gun at the UnitedHealthcare executive’s back just before firing and pictures of a fake New Jersey driver’s license and the widely distributed photograph of his smiling face inside a hostel where he stayed in New York.
Other pictures showed the alleged shooter walking on a city sidewalk with a backpack and riding an electric bicycle down a street on his way to the shooting scene followed by pictures of him after the shooting no longer wearing a backpack as he rode the bicycle and later donning a mask inside a taxi. The complaint also included a post-arrest full-body picture of Mangione and a photo of a weapon authorities say he possessed that was described as “consistent with the weapon” used to kill the executive.
After landing, he was walked up a pier, escorted by people wearing FBI-NYPD task force jackets and officers with assault rifles.
He was then put into a waiting van that left for the courthouse.
Federal prosecutors haven’t said whether they’ll pursue such a punishment. The state charges Mangione faces carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
The newly unsealed complaint quotes some of the writings in a notebook prosecutors say was found on Mangione, expressing “hostility towards the health insurance industry and wealthy executives in particular.”
An entry from Aug. 15 said “the target is insurance” because “it checks every box,” according to the filing, while an Oct. 22 entry “describes an intent to ‘wack’ the CEO of one of the insurance companies at its investor conference.”
“This investor conference is a true windfall ... and — most importantly — the message becomes self evident,” the notebook entry read, according to the complaint.
The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO faces new federal charges of murder, stalking and weapons charges, according to a complaint unsealed Thursday.
Luigi Mangione agreed to return to New York to face a state murder charge Thursday at a morning court appearance in Pennsylvania where he was arrested last week after five days on the run. It was unclear when he would be in court on the federal charges.
The federal charges against Luigi Mangione remain sealed, but several people familiar with the matter say the case will be made public in the afternoon. The people spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to release information publicly.
A courtroom had been set aside in a Manhattan federal courthouse for Mangione’s appearance and an overflow courtroom was designated as a location for people to watch the proceeding on video in the event there are more people than can fit in the courtroom.
— Larry Neumeister and Michael R. Sisak
“Because of the defendant’s reversal today and decision to waive his preliminary hearing as well as his extradition, certainly we believe it’s in the interests of justice to turn him over to the New York City police department and Manhattan district attorney’s office, which we did,” the Blair County district attorney told reporters after the hearing in Pennsylvania. “He is now in their custody. He will go forth with New York to await trial or prosecution for his homicide and related charges in New York. We intend to keep our case active and we intend to essentially revisit the case when the defendant is available for prosecution in Blair County.”
Asked at the news conference if he was aware of any planned federal charges against Mangione, Weeks said: “I have not spoken to any federal officials about Mr. Mangione absent casual conversation with a few FBI agents the Monday he was apprehended, and they certainly didn’t discuss any of that with me.”
“Violence to make your point is never acceptable in our country, in our system of justice,” Weeks said.
He appeared to glance at a TV camera but did not say anything.
The black SUV then drove off.
In court in Pennsylvania, Mangione and his lawyer, Tom Dickey, pored over documents, with Mangione occasionally nodding. He was immediately ushered out of the courtroom at the conclusion of the hearings.
Luigi Mangione has added a prominent defense lawyer to his legal team as Manhattan prosecutors work to return him from Pennsylvania to face a murder charge.
Mangione will be represented by Karen Friedman Agnifilo, who was a high-ranking deputy in the Manhattan district attorney’s office for years before entering private practice.
Friedman Agnifilo’s law firm, Agnifilo Intrater LLP, confirmed in a statement late Friday that she had been retained to represent Mangione. The firm said she will not be commenting on the case at this time.
? Read more about Mangione’s legal defense team
And reporters are waiting in line to get inside the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania.
A few supporters of Mangione are also in line, holding signs that say “Luigi the people hear you,” “Murder for profit is terrorism” and “Free Luigi.” One man said he came from Ohio to attend the hearings
New York prosecutors are using a 9/11-era anti-terrorism law in their case against the man charged with gunning down UnitedHealthcare’s CEO outside a midtown Manhattan hotel.
Luigi Mangione was indicted on charges of murder as an act of terrorism, under a state law that allows for stiffer sentences when a killing is aimed at terrifying civilians or influencing government.
If it sounds like an unusual application of a terrorism law, it’s not the first time the statute has been applied to a case that wasn’t about cross-border extremism or a plot to kill masses of people.
Mangione is jailed on other charges in Pennsylvania, where he is scheduled to appear at an extradition hearing Thursday that could clear the way for him to be brought to New York.
? Read more about the anti-terrorism law and the case surrounding the death of Brian Thompson.
The preliminary hearing on forgery and firearms charges and consideration of a fugitive from justice complaint against Luigi Mangione may not take long.
He is expected to waive extradition, clearing the way for his return to New York, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the case and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.
Court officials said Mangione will attend the early morning proceedings at the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg. If a judge authorizes his extradition, Mangione would then be brought to New York, where he could appear in state court for arraignment Thursday afternoon or Friday.
? Read more about what to expect in Thursday’s Pennsylvania court hearing
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