New York (AFP) – Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down a top US health insurance boss in a Manhattan street, told a federal judge Friday he was willing to plead guilty to stalking charges. In a crime that shook corporate America and gripped the country, 28-year-old Mangione is alleged to have shot dead chief executive of UnitedHealthcare Brian Thompson, 50, on December 2024 to protest the US insurance system. He had been facing the stalking charges in the federal system, alongside murder charges in the state system.
Mangione’s lawyers are expected to argue that the guilty plea on federal charges should now prevent a separate trial on state murder charges under New York state’s “double jeopardy” rules. But the stalking charges and the murder charges could both lead to life sentences. Two other federal charges that carried the death penalty were thrown out by a judge earlier this year. The case has sharply divided already polarized public opinion, with conservatives led by US President Donald Trump calling for an example to be made of Mangione. Ardent supporters of Mangione flocked to the Manhattan courthouse to show their support amid heavy security as a helicopter hovered overhead.
Thompson’s murder unsurfaced deep public frustration with the lucrative US commercial health care system, with some social media users painting Mangione as a hero. Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on December 9 following a tip from staff at a McDonald’s restaurant, after a days-long manhunt. He had traveled to New York by bus from Atlanta about 10 days before the crime, US prosecutors said. After checking into a Manhattan hostel with false identification, he allegedly performed reconnaissance near the victim’s hotel and the conference venue where the shooting took place.
Following his arrest, officers strip-searched him and went through property that included a handgun, a silencer, and a jar of Skippy peanut butter. A checklist also found on Mangione contained entries including “intel check in” and reminders to purchase a camera from Best Buy. Defendants in the United States can be tried at both the state and federal level for the same crime, although the charges tend to differ — as they do for Mangione.
© 2024 AFP
