Accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione expected to appear at extradition hearing today, officials say
Alleged CEO killer Luigi Mangione is taken into the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pa., on Tuesday, Dec. 10. Credit: AP/Benjamin B. Braun
Suspected UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione is scheduled to appear in a Pennsylvania courtroom today for an extradition hearing to determine when he may return to New York City to face first-degree murder and other charges, officials said.
The hearing in Blair County, Pennsylvania could result in Mangione's almost-immediate extradition to New York, after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said last week that Mangione might waive extradition after initially fighting a transfer to New York in the fatal shooting of CEO Brian Thompson.
Mangione, 26, was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Dec. 9 after a McDonald's worker called 911 to report that Mangione appeared to resemble an NYPD person-of-interest in the killing NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch called a "brazen targeted attack." His capture happened as a massive hunt for him was entering a 6th day, as the suspect had apparently fled New York City almost immediately after the shooting.
On Tuesday, authorities in New York City announced Mangione had been indicted on first- and second-degree murder charges as an "act of terrorism" in Thompson's shooting, saying the killing that was done to "sow terror."
The indictment unsealed Tuesday charges Mangione with one count of first-degree murder, as an act of terrorism; and two counts of second-degree murder, one as an act of terrorism and the other as an intentional killing, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.
Altoona police arrested Mangione on charges of forgery and weapons possession. Police said Mangione was found in possession of an illegal ghost gun — which the NYPD later said was a match to shell casings found at the scene of Thompson's killing — and multiple fake IDs, including a New Jersey driver's license that was used to rent a room at an Upper West Side hostel before the killing.
Blair County District Attorney Peter J. Weeks said in a statement Tuesday that Mangione's Pennsylvania charges will be the subject of a preliminary hearing Thursday morning. The extradition hearing will immediately follow, Weeks said.
"We will have no further comment at this time regarding what may occur at these appearances or whether evidence may be presented during the
hearings as those are decisions that rest exclusively with Mr. Mangione and the rights afforded to him," Weeks said.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said last week that "indications are that the defendant may waive [extradition], but that waiver is not complete until a court proceeding.
The NYPD has also said it linked Mangione to the killing through fingerprints found on a water bottle an Kind bar wrapper found near the scene of the killing outside the New York Hilton on Sixth Avenue.
Investigators are trying to establish whether Mangione's alleged negative feelings about the health care insurance industry served as a motive in Thompson's fatal shooting.
The three shell casings found at the scene had the words "delay" "deny" and "depose" printed on them, which police have said could have a nexus to language used in the health insurance industry.
Mangione was found with a "manifesto," according to police, which detailed "ill-will" toward corporate America.
Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.
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