The man accused of killing a UnitedHealthcare CEO last year appeared in a New York court on Friday.
According to Reuters, Luigi Mangione’s attorney, Karen Agnifilo, said there were “serious search and seizure issues” with Mangione’s arrest in Pennsylvania. Without providing specifics, Agnifilo also suggested there was evidence being suppressed in this case.
Friday’s hearing was a status hearing in the state’s case against Mangione, 26. Photos from inside the courtroom show Mangione wearing a bulletproof vest and in shackles.
READ: Luigi Mangione Accepts $300K in Donations as UHC Murder Trial Looms
Judge Gregory Carro implemented an April 9 deadline for the defense’s motions, and prosecutors have until May 14 to respond. A trial date has not been set.
On the state level, Mangione is charged in New York with first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, second-degree murder as an act of terrorism, and criminal possession of a weapon. He is facing firearm charges in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested days after Brian Thompson’s shooting death in New York.
On the federal level, Mangione is charged in New York with murder through the use of a firearm, stalking, and a firearms offense. He potentially faces the death penalty if convicted.
Agnifilo said federal prosecutors are still considering whether to pursue the death penalty against Mangione. She claimed this decision had been delayed by the discovery process in the state case, according to Reuters.
Mangione was apprehended at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days after Thompson was shot near a Hilton hotel in Manhattan, New York, on December 4, 2024. Thompson, UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, was attending his company’s annual investor meeting when he was killed.
Authorities said fingerprints recovered from the water bottle and a KIND snack bar matched Mangione’s prints.
In addition to allegedly having a gun with a silencer and fake IDs, Mangione reportedly also had a 262-word “manifesto” that decried the healthcare industry as “parasites.” Shortly after Mangione’s arrest, New York officials held a press coverage 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.”
[Feature Photo: AP Photo/Seth Wenig]
