Luigi Mangione pleads not guilty to state murder, other charges in UnitedHealthcare CEO's death

Accused UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione pleaded not guilty Monday in Manhattan Supreme Court in a case that will be tried in parallel with federal murder and stalking charges filed last week for allegedly gunning down executive Brian Thompson outside a midtown hotel.

A Manhattan grand jury indicted the 26-year-old Ivy League graduate last week on first- and second-degree murder charges as a "crime of terrorism," as well as on weapons and other charges.

"Not guilty," said Mangione, who was led into the courtroom in handcuffs and shackles, wearing a maroon sweater, button-down shirt and khaki pants.

Prosecutors charge that he plotted to kill Thompson, printed a 3D handgun with a silencer and lay in wait for him outside the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Avenue.

Mangione, who comes from an affluent Maryland family, took a bus from Atlanta on Nov. 24, checked into an Upper West Side hostel and began casing the West 54th Street hotel where the health insurance company was holding an investor meeting, according to prosecutors.

On Dec. 4, around 6:45 a.m., Mangione intercepted Thompson outside the hotel and shot him twice, once in the back and once in the leg. A third bullet misfired.

Online statements that the suspect allegedly made show a deep discontent with the health insurance industry.

On the shell casings, police found the words "Deny" and "Depose," with the word "Delay" printed on the misfired bullet. The words are similar to a tell-all book about health insurance tactics titled "Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It."

Mangione fled on a Citi Bike and avoided capture for five days until he was arrested on Dec. 9 after a McDonald’s worker in Altoona, Pennsylvania, recognized him and called the police, prosecutors said.

Investigators found a 3D printed handgun and silencer along with a manifesto in which Mangione appeared to take credit for the killing, according to his criminal complaint. He was also allegedly carrying a fake New Jersey driver’s license.

Last Thursday, Manhattan federal prosecutors unsealed murder charges, two stalking counts and a firearms offense. Although they have not said they would do so, the U.S. Attorney’s office could seek the death penalty.

Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, took issue with the way her client had been treated by the state and federal prosecutors, saying that it jeopardized his right to a fair trial.

"He’s a young man and he’s being treated like a human pingpong ball between two warring jurisdictions," she said.

During Mangione’s extradition from Pennsylvania to Manhattan, he was greeted on a helipad in the Financial District by a large reception of law enforcement with rifles and Mayor Eric Adams.

"What was the New York City mayor doing there," Friedman Agnifilo said. "That was utterly irresponsible."

The defense lawyer pointed out that Adams faces his own public corruption charges in Manhattan federal court.

"Frankly, you honor, the mayor should know more than anyone the presumption of innocence," she said.

She said that statements by the mayor and the public displays with her client have the potential to taint the jury pool.

Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro said he had no jurisdiction over what is said outside his courtroom.

Regardless of the pretrial publicity or statements from the mayor, the defense lawyer said her client would go to trial.

"We’re going to fight these charges whether they be in state or federal court," she said.

Friedman Agnifilo also requested that the evidence against her client be turned over by the prosecutors immediately, but Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Joel Seidemann said prosecutors would have to do it on a rolling basis.

"I have never seen a case with such a volume of evidence," he said, "as well as the quality of the evidence."

Although the state case is expected to proceed before the federal charges, Mangione is still being held in the federal jail in Brooklyn.

The judge asked prosecutors to work with federal authorities to get him to state court appearances.

Mangione will return to court on February 21.