Luigi Mangione, suspected of shooting dead the CEO of a major health insurance company in New York, pleaded not guilty in court on Monday to the charge of murder as a “terrorist” act.
“Not guilty,” said the 26-year-old man in court, who entered the Manhattan courtroom handcuffed and escorted by several police officers, an AFP correspondent noted. Mangione is accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan street in early December.
Mangione is accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan street on December 4, and faces both federal and New York state charges.
Last week he had already appeared in federal court.
Maximum sentence
This graduate in engineering and from a wealthy family in the port city of Baltimore (east), arrived exhibiting a calm attitude and wearing a white shirt and burgundy sweater.
If convicted by state justice, he could receive a sentence of life in prison without parole. But because of the federal charges, he could technically be sentenced to the death penalty.
Karen Friedman Agnifilo, Mangione’s lawyer, asked for clarification on how the accusations from these two judicial areas would work simultaneously and described the situation as “very unusual.”
In New York state justice, Luigi Mangione was indicted by a grand jury (a panel of citizens with investigative powers) on 11 counts, including murder committed as a “terrorist” act.
Fugitive for a short time
Mangione was arrested in the state of Pennsylvania on December 9, after several days of police search, and was transferred to New York to face justice.
According to the Justice Department, Mangione traveled to New York City from Atlanta by bus about 10 days before the crime.
He checked into a Manhattan hostel with a false ID and it is believed that he then made a reconnaissance of the vicinity of the hotel where Thompson was staying, as well as the place where the conference in which the senior executive was participating was being organized.
On the morning of December 4, Mangione is believed to have followed Thompson, approached him from behind and shot him several times with a silencer, according to the Department of Justice. He then fled the crime scene on a bicycle.
Five days later, Mangione was recognized in a fast food restaurant in the small town of Altoona, about 500 km west of New York, and shortly afterward he was arrested by local police. FBI agents went to that rural town to interrogate him and transfer him to answer before the New York justice system.
Accusing the system
Much evidence collected by investigators implicates Mangione: his fingerprints were found near the crime scene, as well as shell casings from a weapons kit, including some items made with a 3D printer, which were confiscated from him.
Among his belongings, police also found a three-page manuscript directed against the health insurance industry.
Thompson’s murder precisely highlighted the deep frustration of many citizens in the United States with the lucrative insurance and health care system. Many accuse these companies of privileging profits over patient care.
Many social media users referred to Mangione, with a brilliant student background, as a hero and harshly criticized health insurance companies. This has generated some concern among authorities about the possibility that other people could commit similar acts.
