NEW YORK (AP) — Luigi Mangione pleaded not guilty Friday to a federal murder charge in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as prosecutors formally declared their intent to seek the death penalty and the judge warned the Justice Department to stop making public comments that could spoil the case.
Mangione, 26, stood with his lawyers as he entered the plea, leaning forward toward a microphone on the defense table as U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett asked him if understood the indictment, which charges him with stalking and shooting Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel last December.
Mangione said, “yes.” Asked how he wished to plead, he said simply, “not guilty” and sat down.
A cause célèbre for people upset with the health insurance industry, Mangione’s arraignment attracted several dozen people to the Manhattan federal courthouse, including former Army intelligence analyst Chelsea Manning, who served prison time for stealing classified diplomatic cables.
Mangione, held in a federal jail in Brooklyn since his arrest, arrived to court in a mustard-colored jail suit and chatted with one of his lawyers, death penalty counsel Avi Moskowitz, as they waited for the arraignment to begin.
Late Thursday night, federal prosecutors filed a required notice of their intent to seek the death penalty.
Because of the many legal issues involved in capital cases, Mangione’s case will move much slower that non-death penalty prosecutions. He is due back in federal court on Dec. 5, a day after the one-year anniversary of Thompson’s death. No trial date has been set in either the federal or his parallel state murder case.
That came weeks after U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced that she would be directing federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for what she called “an act of political violence” and a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”
It was the first time the Justice Department said it was pursuing capital punishment since President Donald Trump returned to office Jan. 20 with a vow to resume federal executions after they were halted under the previous administration.
Mangione’s lawyers argue that Bondi’s announcement — which she followed with posts on Instagram account and a TV appearance — was a “political stunt” that violated long-established Justice Department protocols, corrupted the grand jury process and deprived him of his constitutional right to due process.
After Mangione’s lawyers raised the issue again on Friday, Garnett instructed Manhattan federal prosecutors to convey to Bondi and other Justice Department officials that court rules prohibit any pretrial publicity that could interfere with a defendant’s right to a fair trial.
Mangione’s federal indictment includes a charge of murder through use of a firearm, which carries the possibility of the death penalty. The indictment, which mirrors a criminal complaint brought after Mangione’s arrest also charges him with stalking and a gun offense.
Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland real estate family, faces separate federal and state murder charges after authorities say he gunned down Thompson, 50, outside the New York Hilton Midtown on Dec. 4 as the executive arrived for UnitedHealthcare’s annual investor conference.
The state murder charges carry a maximum punishment of life in prison.
Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson from behind. Police say the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were scrawled on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase commonly used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
The killing and ensuing five-day search leading to Mangione’s arrest rattled the business community, with some health insurers deleting photos of executives from their websites and switching to online shareholder meetings. At the same time, some health insurance critics have rallied around Mangione as a stand-in for frustrations over coverage denials and hefty medical bills.
Prosecutors have said the two cases will proceed on parallel tracks, with the state case expected to go to trial first, but Mangione lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo said his defense team would seek to have the federal case take precedent because it involves the death penalty.
Mangione was arrested Dec. 9 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of New York City and whisked to Manhattan by plane and helicopter.
Police said Mangione had a 9mm handgun that matched the one used in the shooting and other items including a notebook in which they say he expressed hostility toward the health insurance industry and wealthy executives.
Among the entries, prosecutors said, was one from August 2024 that said “the target is insurance” because “it checks every box” and one from October that describes an intent to “wack” an insurance company CEO. UnitedHealthcare, the largest U.S. health insurer, has said Mangione was never a client.
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