The man charged with fatally shooting a UnitedHealthcare executive last year pleaded not guilty on Friday to federal charges in New York.
Luigi Mangione, 36, is facing the death penalty for murder through the use of a firearm for shooting CEO Brian Thompson, 50. Judge Margaret Garnett discouraged interim U.S. attorney Jay Clayton and other prosecutors — specifically U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi — from making public comments that could further sensationalize and politicize the case, according to The New York Times.
Bondi announced on April 1, weeks before Mangione’s indictment, that New York federal prosecutors would seek the death penalty.
READ: Attorney General Tells Prosecutors to Seek Death Penalty Against Luigi Mangione for UHC CEO Shooting
“After careful consideration, I have directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in this case as we carry out President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and make America safe again,” she said at the time.
Mangione appeared in court on Friday to enter the not guilty plea.
Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days after Thompson was fatally shot in Manhattan, New York, on December 4. Thompson was attending his company’s annual investor meeting when he was killed.
On the federal level, Mangione is charged in New York with murder through the use of a firearm, stalking, and a firearms offense. On the state level, he faces firearm charges in Pennsylvania. In New York, he faces state charges of first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, second-degree murder as an act of terrorism, and criminal possession of a weapon.
Authorities said fingerprints recovered from a water bottle and a KIND snack bar at the scene matched Mangione’s prints.
In addition to allegedly having a gun with a silencer and fake IDs, authorities said Mangione also had a 262-word “manifesto” that decried the healthcare industry as “parasites.” Shortly after Mangione’s arrest, New York officials held a press conference in which they hinted at the motive in Thompson’s murder. NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Mangione, a data engineer with a master’s from the University of Pennsylvania, “has some ill will towards corporate America.”
Mangione remains jailed without bond.
[Feature Photo: AP Topix/Seth Wenig]
