Suspect in Murder of Health Care CEO Arrives Back in NYC, Faces New Fed Charges That Could Lead to Death Penalty

Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the murder of a healthcare CEO arrived back in New York City on Dec. 19 and learned he is now facing federal murder and terrorism charges that could lead to the death penalty.

He was picked up in Altoona, PA on Dec. 9 after he was identified as the suspect in the murder on Dec. 4 outside the Hilton Hotel of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. He was the subject of a five-day nationwide manhunt that ended when he was spotted in a McDonald’s by a customer, who notified an employee who called police.

Mangione, 26, a former high school valedictorian and Ivy League college graduated had already been formally indicted by a grand jury in Manhattan which was unsealed Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg on Dec. 17 on state charges that included one count of murder in the first degree, and two counts of murder in the second degree and two of the counts carrying terrorism charges. He also faced seven gun charges and one count of using a forged instrument.

Karen Friedman Agnifilo, a former federal prosecutor in New York who worked under Cyrus Vance Jr., agreed to drop the fight against extradition on Dec. 19 and he was flown by NYPD jet to a Long Island airport and then via police helicopter to downtown Manhattan. But in a move that caught Friedman Agnifilo off guard, he was instead whisked to federal court to face the additional federal charges that could carry a death penalty if convicted.

Friedman Agnifilo, said it’s a “highly unusual situation” for a defendant to face simultaneous state and federal cases.

NYS does not have a death penalty. Bragg said the two cases could proceed in parallel. “As alleged, this defendant brazenly shot Mr Thompson point blank on a Manhattan sidewalk,” Bragg said in a statement.

At the press conference of Dec. 17 announcing the state charges, Bragg said if convicted of the terrorism charge on the murder counts it would carry a possible sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

“The intent was to sow terror,” Bragg said.

In the federal charges, it unveiled more details from the notebook he kept which authorities recovered when they arrested him in Altoona, Pa. Mangione railed against the health care system in the United States, although it turned out he was he was not a customer of United Healthcare, the nation’s biggest healthcare provider.

Cops had already found two of the discharged shell casings on the day of Thompson’s murder that had the words “DENY,” “DELAY” and “DEPOSE” written on them.

NYPD detectives probably unearthed the single most important piece in the investigation when the located a photo of him with his mask off as he flirted with a receptionist in the H1 Hostel on Amsterdam Ave. on the UWS where he stayed for ten days before he allegedly murder Thompson.

Following his arrival in NYC on Nov. 24, he was said to have paid for everything with cash and used a fake New Jersey driver’s license under the name Mark Rosano that authorities said he had with him when he was captured.

On the day of the shooting, Mangione allegedly arrived outside the Hilton Hotel and gunned down Thompson at 6:45 a.m. as the 50-year-old CEO and father of two made his way to an investment conference. The alleged suspect used a ghost gun with a silencer that authorities learned was made on a 3D printer, firing a number of 9mm rounds that struck Thompson once in the back and once in the right calf. Mangione e-biked into Central Park and then made his getaway out of the state by boarding a bus at the Port Authority Bus Terminal near the George Washington Bridge at W. 178th St.

In a sick twist, some had begun labeling him a folk hero and a publicity campaign had raised over $140,000 on his behalf, reportedly via deposits into his commissary account.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch blasted such behavior following the unsealing of Mangione’s indictment on Dec. 17.

”In the nearly two weeks since Mr. Thompson’s killing we have seen a shocking and appalling celebration of cold-blooded murder,” Tisch said. “There is no heroism in what Mangione did,” she said of the alleged murder suspect. “This was a senseless act of violence. It was a cold and calculated murder.”

”We don’t lionize the killing of anyone,” Tisch said.

It was eventually learned that Mangione was from a prominent Baltimore family and had graduated as valedictorian at Gilman School, a private all boys high school in Baltimore before attending and graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, an Ivy League college, where he earned a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in engineering, computer and information science.

Mangione eluded capture for five days until he was spotted by a McDonald’s customer on Dec. 9 eating hash browns with his ever-present mask momentarily down. The customer notified a McDonald’s employee who called police.

Bragg had initially only filed charges of second degree murder and possession of a weapon last week. When the grand jury indictment was unsealed on Dec. 17, the 11 count indictment had been upgraded to first degree murder with terrorism charges attached.

At presstime, it was not clear if federal prosecutors will pursue the death penalty. It would be up to the discretion of the US Attorneys office in New York and a decision will likely not happen until after Donald Trump is sworn into office on Jan. 20.

Trump has nominated former Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi to be the new Attorney General of the United States. She had been a big proponent of the death penalty as a Florida prosecutor.