Luigi Mangione to be arraigned on murder, terrorism charges Monday, Manhattan DA's office says
NEW YORK -- Luigi Mangione is expected to be arraigned Monday in New York City on an 11-count indictment that includes state charges of first-degree murder and terrorism in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office said Friday it is coordinating with federal authorities for the arraignment.
The 26-year-old murder suspect faced a federal judge last Thursday afternoon on four counts, including murder, stalking and firearms offenses.
The two cases are quite different. One is based on terrorism, and the other is based on stalking. Legal experts say one case isn't necessarily more severe than the other, except if the federal government decides to seek the death penalty.
What's in the federal complaint
The complaint includes photos that allegedly show Mangione riding a bike toward the Hilton Midtown hotel on Sixth Avenue, where Thompson was killed on Dec. 4, and then leaving after the murder.
The complaint also describes a notebook that investigators say Mangione had with pages expressing "hostility towards the health insurance industry and wealthy executives in particular." It describes an entry from Aug. 18, 2024 that reads, "the details are finally coming together... the target is insurance... it checks every box."
Additionally, the complaint includes a photo of what investigators say is a loaded 9mm pistol and silencer, consistent with the weapon used in the shooting.
Federal charges open possibility of death penalty
Mangione's attorney declined to comment on the new charges outside court Thursday, but later said she had concerns about double jeopardy given the parallel indictments.
"We're going to, respectfully, decline to make any comment at this time. Mr. Mangione appreciates everyone's support," defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo said.
Inside court, his attorney sounded surprised by the federal complaint, calling it "highly unusual." She asked the judge, "Is there one case? Two cases? Two investigations? Is it a joint investigation?"
"We've had state prosecutions and federal prosecutions proceed as parallel matters, and we're in conversations with our law enforcement counterparts," Bragg told reporters.
While New York does not impose the death penalty, the federal government does. So the new charges raise the possibility, if prosecutors choose to seek it.
"It is quite rare for us to see this," New York Law School Professor Anna Cominsky said. "Both cases can proceed... what we won't see are two trials occurring at the exact same time."
Mangione held at Metropolitan Detention Center
Mangione is in federal custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center Brooklyn after he was extradited from Pennsylvania to face murder charges. He is separated from the general inmate population. Law enforcement sources say he will likely be assigned a roommate and have daily visits from medical and psychological services.
Mangione flew into MacArthur Airport on Long Island and was escorted by NYPD helicopter to Lower Manhattan, flanked by armed law enforcement officers and Mayor Eric Adams.
"This act of terrorism and the violence will not be tolerated in the city," said Adams, who happens to be facing his own federal indictment from the same U.S. district attorney's office.
MDC Brooklyn no stranger to notable cases
MDC Brooklyn is the only federal jail in New York City since MCC New York, where Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide, was closed in 2021. It houses 1,200 people, mainly those awaiting federal trial in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
The jail has a long history with high-profile cases, and complaints. Sean "Diddy" Combs is also being held there after he was repeatedly denied bail on sex trafficking charges.
R. Kelly sued the jail for wrongly putting him on suicide watch after his sentencing in 2022, and Sam Bankman-Fried's attorney said he survived on bread, water and peanut butter after the jail failed to provide vegan food while he was there last year.
Ja Rule also stayed at MDC Brooklyn for a brief time on gun charges, and Rev. Al Sharpton went on a hunger strike there in 2001 while serving a 90-day sentence for protesting the U.S. Navy bombing of the island of Vieques, in Puerto Rico.
