NEW YORK — Luigi Mangione was indicted Tuesday by the Manhattan district legal professional in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Mangione was hit with eleven counts, together with homicide within the first diploma and homicide as a criminal offense of terrorism.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch spoke concerning the indictment at a Tuesday afternoon information convention.
“This was a daunting, well-planned, focused homicide that was supposed to trigger shock, consideration and intimidation,” Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg stated. “It occurred in some of the bustling elements of our metropolis, threatening the security of native residents and vacationers alike, commuters and enterprise individuals simply beginning out on their day.”
Bragg addressed how his workplace can show terrorism.
“This was a killing that it was supposed to evoke terror, and we have seen that response,” Bragg stated. “You know, the statutory components we will go into, however its most simple time period, that is what that is. This was not an abnormal killing. Not to recommend that any killing is abnormal, however this was extraordinary, and the New York State Legislature has set out each the paths that we talked about, each the homicide one and homicide two, and this, we allege, is definitely squarely inside these statutes which speak about desiring to do.”
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Bragg stated the utmost penalty for homicide within the first diploma and homicide within the second diploma as an act of terrorism is life with out parole, and a conviction for homicide within the second diploma will carry a sentence of 25 years to life.
Mangione was additionally charged with a number of counts of prison possession of a weapon and prison possession of a cast instrument for the pretend ID that investigators allege Mangione used to verify right into a Manhattan hostel earlier than the capturing on Dec. 4.
“The unsealing of as we speak’s indictment brings us one step nearer to securing justice for Brian Thompson and his household, and affirming the primacy of the rule of legislation within the metropolis of New York,” Tisch stated.
Mangione will subsequent seem in court docket in Pennsylvania associated to fees stemming from his arrest on Dec. 9. His extradition continuing will observe. Bragg stated the 26-year-old suspect had been considering waiving his extradition after previously fighting it, however added his workplace might be ready whatever the suspect’s determination.
Mangione is at present being held in a Pennsylvania state jail on charges related to possession of a gun and a fake ID.
Here’s what the Manhattan DA’s workplace alleges
Bragg outlined the suspect’s actions earlier than and after the killing of Thompson, alleging:
- Mangione arrived on the Port Authority on a bus on Nov. 24, and checked into the HI New York City Hostel on the Upper West Side, the place he used a pretend New Jersey ID below the identify Mark Rosario. The suspect prolonged his keep on the Hostel a number of instances.
- Mangione left the hostel at 5:34 a.m. on the morning of Dec. 4 and travelled to Midtown utilizing an e-bike. Between 5:52 a.m. and 6:45 a.m., he walked close to and across the Hilton Hotel. At roughly 6:15 a.m., he bought a water bottle and granola bars on the Starbucks at 1290 Sixth Ave.
- Between roughly 6:38 a.m. and 6:44 a.m., Mangione stood towards a wall on the north facet of West 54th Street throughout from the Hilton, absolutely masked along with his hood up.
- Mangione crossed the road to the Hilton Hotel at 6:45 a.m. and, armed with a 9mm 3D-printed ghost gun geared up with a silencer, approached Thompson from behind and shot him as soon as within the again and as soon as within the leg.
- Mangione then fled northeast on 54th Street and took an e-bike uptown. He finally bought right into a taxi and was dropped off at West 178th Street and Amsterdam Avenue after which fled the state.
“NYPD detectives labored tirelessly to piece this case collectively, and alongside the best way, the Manhattan DA’s workplace made positive we had each authorized instrument accessible to us,” Tisch stated.
The police commissioner cited “the relentless assortment and evaluation of surveillance video” by detectives that in the end produced a transparent picture of the suspect that was unfold by the information media and the general public, resulting in his eventual arrest.
“This consequence is at all times why we emphasize the essential function of the general public in our public security mission,” Tisch stated. “So, once more, I wish to thank everybody that noticed one thing, stated one thing, and did one thing. That is why we’ve got a suspect in custody as we speak.”
NYPD commissioner blasts celebration of suspect on-line
“Let me be completely clear. In the practically two weeks since Mr. Thompson’s killing, we’ve got seen a stunning and appalling celebration of cold-blooded homicide. Social media has erupted with reward for this cowardly assault. People ghoulishly plastered posters threatening different CEOs with an ‘X’ over Mr. Thompson’s image, as if he was some type of a sick trophy,” Tisch stated.
She additionally spoke a couple of report within the New York Post about excessive activists circulating a deck of playing cards that includes different CEOs that must be focused for assassination.
“These are the threats of a lawless, violent mob who would commerce in their very own vigilanteism for the rule of legislation that protects us all,” Tisch stated. “Let me say this plainly. There is not any heroism in what Mangione did. This was a mindless act of violence. It was a chilly and calculated crime that stole a life and put New Yorkers in danger. We do not rejoice murders and we do not lionize the killing of anybody.
“Any try and rationalize that is vile, reckless and offensive to our deeply-held ideas of justice,” she added.
Luigi Mangione’s arrest in Pennsylvania
Mangione was arrested on Dec. 9 after a buyer at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, noticed him consuming breakfast and observed a resemblance to the individual being sought by police within the killing of Thompson in Manhattan 5 days earlier.
Police stated Mangione was discovered with a gun, masks and writings linking him to the ambush outdoors the New York Hilton Midtown, the place Thompson was arriving for his firm’s annual investor convention.
The NYPD instructed CBS News that there aren’t any indications that Mangione was a UnitedHealthcare buyer.
Hours after Mangione’s arrest in Pennsylvania, Bragg’s workplace in Manhattan filed paperwork charging him with 5 counts, together with intentional homicide, prison possession of a weapon, and prison possession of a cast instrument.
Suspect provides high-power lawyer to protection
Mangione has added prominent defense lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo to his legal team. Agnifilo was a high-ranking deputy within the Manhattan DA’s workplace for years earlier than getting into non-public follow. Friedman Agnifilo’s legislation agency, Agnifilo Intrater LLP, confirmed in a press release to CBS News on Saturday that she had been retained to signify Mangione.
The agency stated Agnifilo, a longtime veteran of the Manhattan DA’s workplace, served because the second-in-command for seven years below DA Cyrus Vance, along with serving for 4 years because the Chief of the Office’s Trial Division.
