Luigi Mangione charged with healthcare CEO’s murder
Luigi Mangione has been charged with first-degree murder in the death of health care CEO Brian Thompson, the New York district attorney said Tuesday.
Bragg said Mangione faces multiple charges, including first-degree murder and two counts of second-degree murder, one of which describes the killing as an act of “terrorism.”
District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the “purpose was to spread terror” and called the shooting a “horrifying, well-planned, targeted murder.”
Mr. Mangione is scheduled to attend a court hearing on December 19 to discuss whether he will be extradited to New York on related charges, although Bragg suggested the suspect may not oppose extradition.
“We have indications that the defendant may waive the hearing,” Bragg said.
Extradition proceedings are scheduled for the same day as Mr. Mangione’s preliminary hearing in Pennsylvania on gun-related charges.
At a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, Bragg and New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch both lambasted the public for praising Mr. Mangione after the Dec. 4 shooting.
“Nearly two weeks after Mr. Thompson was killed, we witnessed a shocking and appalling celebration of cold-blooded murder,” Tisch said. “We do not celebrate murder, nor do we worship the killing of anyone.”
Five days after UnitedHealthcare CEO Thompson was fatally shot, Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa., with a fake ID and a so-called “ghost gun,” police said.
His attorney, Thomas Dickey, said he had not seen evidence linking Mr. Mangione’s gun to the crime.
New York prosecutors last week began sharing evidence in the case against Mr. Mangione with a grand jury.
If extradited, the 26-year-old could be held at Rikers Island or another prison in New York.
The evidence against Mr Mangione included positive match Commissioner Tisch said his fingerprints matched those found at the crime scene.
In addition to a ghost gun – a gun assembled from untraceable parts – and a fake ID, police said a passport and a document indicating “motivation and state of mind” were found on Mangione when he was arrested. ” handwritten document.
He was formally charged in Pennsylvania with forgery, carrying a firearm without a license, tampering with records or identification, possession of criminal tools and providing false identification to police.
While Mr. Mangione awaits his fate in the New York court system, he remains in maximum security at the Huntington State Correctional Facility in Huntington County, Pennsylvania.
He has been refused bail.
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