UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting suspect charged with first-degree murder
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Luigi Mangione was indicted on 11 counts, including first-degree murder and murder as a crime of terrorism.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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NEW YORK - Luigi Mangione sought to “sow terror” by shooting dead UnitedHealth Group executive Brian Thompson on a Manhattan street in December, a New York prosecutor said on Dec 17 in announcing that Mangione had been indicted for murder.
A grand jury indicted Mangione on 11 counts, including first-degree murder and murder as a crime of terrorism, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told reporters.
Mangione, 26, could face a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted on all counts.
“This was a frightening, well-planned, targeted murder that was intended to cause shock and attention and intimidation,” Mr Bragg told reporters. “The intent was to sow terror.”
Mangione’s defence lawyer in New York, Ms Karen Friedman Agnifilo, declined to comment.
Ivy League-educated Mangione was charged with murder on Dec 9 for the killing of Mr Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel
Mangione is currently being held on gun charges in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested last week.
Mr Bragg said he had indications that Mangione may waive his right to contest his extradition to New York.
A hearing over the extradition is scheduled for Dec 18 in Pennsylvania.
The killing of Mr Thompson has ignited an outpouring of anger from Americans struggling to receive and pay for medical care.
Americans pay more for healthcare than any other country, with spending on insurance premiums, out-of-pocket co-payments, pharmaceuticals and hospital services on the rise in recent years, government data shows.
The words “deny”, “defend” and “depose” were carved into shell casings found at Mr Thompson’s murder scene, several news outlets reported, evoking the title of a book critical of the insurance industry.
Mangione has been celebrated in some circles, and more than a thousand donations have poured into an online fund-raiser for his legal defence.
New York police commissioner Jessica Tisch said that any attempt to rationalise Mangione’s alleged actions was “vile”.
“There is no heroism in what Mangione did,” Ms Tisch told reporters. “We don’t celebrate murders and we don’t lionise the killing of anyone.”
The indictment accused Mangione of murdering Mr Thompson with the intent to “influence the policy of a unit of government by intimidation or coercion”.
Mangione suffered from chronic back pain that affected his daily life, according to friends and social media posts, though it is unclear whether his own health played a role in the shooting.
UnitedHealth Group said last week that Mangione was not a customer of the health insurer. REUTERS
