Luigi Mangione pleads not guilty to federal murder charges in killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO

LAST UPDATE | 21 hrs ago

LUIGI MANGIONE, THE 26-year-old who is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges. 

Mangione pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan federal court to the four-count indictment, which is the first case in which the US Justice Department is seeking the death penalty since Donald Trump returned to the White House. 

The charges included murder with a firearm, stalking, and a firearms offence.

Mangione has been charged in both New York state and federal court for killing Thompson in a case that has stirred debate about political violence and the state of the healthcare system in the United States.

In the state case, Mangione has also pleaded not guilty and could face life imprisonment with no parole, if convicted.

In justifying their decision, prosecutors said that Mangione “presents a future danger because he expressed an intent to target an entire industry, and rally political and social opposition to that industry, by engaging in an act of lethal violence.”

Past hearings has drawn crowds in green calling for his release. A legal defence fund has raised over $900,000 for Mangione as of yesterday.

The hearing is the first since Mangione became eligible for the death penalty.

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Earlier this month, US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that the Justice Department intended to pursue capital punishment for Mangione.

Bondi labelled the fatal shooting a “cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”

Acourt filing submitted yesterday by the Manhattan US Attorney’s office formally confirmed prosecutors’ plan to seek the death penalty. 

Mangione also faces state charges in New York and Pennsylvania related to the shooting and ensuing weeklong manhunt.

The 26-year-old was arrested on 9 December in Pennsylvania, more than 270 miles from the the scene of the shooting.

He was allegedly carrying the fake ID linked to the suspect, the firearm believed to have been used, and a handwritten note claiming responsibility, according to authorities.

Though he was not insured by UnitedHealthcare, a federal complaint says he had a notebook expressing hostility toward the health insurance industry and wealthy executives.

Investigators also reported that three 9mm shell casings recovered at the scene were marked with the words “delay,” “deny,” and “depose”, a reference to a 2010 book critical of insurance company practices.

With reporting from © AFP 2025

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