The American man charged with killing the head of UnitedHealth appeared in court on Monday
Luigi Mangione has pleaded not guilty to murdering the CEO of health insurance giant UnitedHealth, Brian Thompson, as he was arraigned in a New York court on Monday.
Mangione faces multiple state and federal charges, including first-degree murder committed as an act of terrorism. If found guilty on all charges, he could face the death penalty.
“In its most basic terms, this was a killing that was intended to evoke terror,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said last week.
Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, argued that her client was “being prejudiced by some statements that are being made by government officials.” She accused New York Mayor Eric Adams and the police of using Mangione as “political fodder.”
Thompson was gunned down outside a Manhattan hotel on December 4. The discharged shell casings and bullets found at the scene had the words “deny,”“depose,” and “delay” written on them, apparently in reference to the practice of denying health insurance payouts to clients.
Mangione was detained several days later at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altona, Pennsylvania after a customer recognized the suspect from the images released by police. The NYPD said Mangione had a gun and suppressor “consistent with the weapon used in the murder.”
A manifesto attributed to Mangione and shared by the media criticizes UnitedHealth and the American healthcare system as a whole as rife with “corruption and greed.”
The case has reignited public debate about the predatory practices of health insurers in the US and the toll it takes on patients. Some officials have expressed concerns over the praise and sympathy Mangione has received on social media.
