Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty Friday in a Manhattan federal court to the murder of Brian Thompson, UnitedHealthcare CEO, who was shot dead in December 2024. He faces life imprisonment.
"I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan and he died." With these words, Luigi Mangione admitted to the facts in Manhattan federal court, sealing a guilty plea to criminal harassment charges related to the death of the UnitedHealthcare CEO.
Brian Thompson was shot three times in the back on December 4, 2024, while walking to UnitedHealth Group's annual investor conference at a hotel in Midtown Manhattan. Prosecutors allege that Mangione traveled to New York specifically to commit the murder.
The judge accepted the plea and set the sentencing date for December. On the two harassment charges, Mangione faces life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Manhattan federal prosecutor Jamie McDonald has already announced that he will seek the maximum sentence. "There can be no celebrity in murder," he told reporters.
Mangione initially pleaded not guilty to murder, illegal possession of a firearm, and harassment. Earlier this year, the judge dismissed the murder and firearm charges on procedural grounds, retaining only the harassment charges and thereby eliminating any possibility of a federal death penalty.
In court, the defendant justified his actions by citing "years of intense pain due to a spinal fracture" and the difficulties he encountered with the American healthcare system. He specified that he had manufactured part of the weapon used with a 3D printer.
His lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, immediately spoke outside the courthouse, demanding the dismissal of the parallel charges brought by the State of New York, where Mangione still faces charges of murder, weapons possession, and forgery. She invoked the principle of double jeopardy, which prohibits a defendant from being tried twice for the same offense.
The case has sparked mixed reactions in the United States. While Mangione's supporters attended each of his court appearances and some portrayed him as a symbol of anger against the American healthcare system, conservative voices, including that of President Donald Trump , called for a severe punishment. Outside the courthouse, a man shouted "America loves Luigi!" at Thompson's family and friends as they left in a convoy of black SUVs.
Brian Thompson's family reacted in a statement, calling the plea "an important step toward justice" while demanding that the sentence be "commensurate with the gravity of the crime." The CEO's wife, Paulette Thompson, was in tears throughout the hearing.
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