Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Suspect in CEO Killing Agrees to Be Extradited to New York
d8a347b41db1ddee634e2d67d08798c102ef09ac
By The New York Times
Published 2 hours ago on
December 19, 2024

Luigi Mangione exits the Blair County courthouse after his extradition hearing in Hollidaysburg, Pa., on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. Mangione, the 26-year-old man accused of murdering a health care executive in Manhattan, agreed on Thursday to be extradited to New York, where he will face a first-degree murder charge. (Rachel Wisniewski/The New York Times)

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. — The 26-year-old man accused of killing a health care executive in New York City agreed Thursday to be extradited to New York, where he will face a first-degree murder charge.

The man, Luigi Mangione, was being held at a prison in Pennsylvania after he was spotted in a McDonald’s in the central part of the state and arrested by local police. The Manhattan district attorney’s office sought to bring him to New York to prosecute him for the death of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. In charging documents, prosecutors have characterized the killing as an “act of terrorism” because it was intended, they say, to influence government policies and intimidate civilians.

After his arrest last week, Mangione initially indicated through his lawyer that he would contest extradition to New York. Mangione has been represented by a lawyer in Pennsylvania, but he has also hired a prominent New York defense lawyer who formerly worked as a top prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

Since he is no longer contesting extradition, Mangione is expected to be transported to a New York City jail to await arraignment, which would most likely take place Friday.

New York City police have said Mangione waited outside a hotel a short walk from Times Square and shot Thompson several times early on the morning of Dec. 4, when the executive was on his way to an investor meeting. The brazen killing prompted a five-day search that ended in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where Mangione was captured while eating breakfast in McDonald’s after he was unable to get a room at a nearby motel.

Mangione Called Health Insurance Industry Workers ‘Parasites’

The authorities said that at the time of his arrest, Mangione had a gun with him that matched the shell casings left at the crime scene. They also said he had a document with him that decried “parasites” — apparently referring to people working in the health insurance industry — and said that he had acted alone.

The targeting of a top health executive has prompted discussion about Americans’ frustrations with the high cost and chronic dysfunction of the country’s health care system, and in particular, the practices and profits of health insurance companies.

In some corners, Mangione was lauded as something of a hero, a characterization that has been denounced by community leaders and law enforcement officials. Jessica Tisch, the commissioner of the New York Police Department, said she was appalled by the “celebration of coldblooded murder.”

Mangione, a computer engineer who grew up in a Baltimore suburb, has not spoken publicly since he was arrested, except for a moment last week when he shouted to reporters as he was being taken into a courthouse by sheriff’s deputies. In that outburst, he said something was “completely out of touch, and an insult to the intelligence of the American people” and made a reference to “lived experience.” It was not clear to what he was referring. (The sheriff of Blair County, whose deputies were escorting Mangione at the time, said Mangione had told him he was upset with the news media.)

Thompson lived in a Minneapolis suburb and had been with UnitedHealthcare for more than 20 years. He became its CEO in 2021. The company made $16 billion in profits last year, and Thompson was paid more than $10 million in total compensation.

United has said that neither Mangione nor his family had health insurance coverage through the company.

Mangione told friends that he suffered from back pain and underwent surgery for the problem in the summer of 2023. He later reported on Reddit that the operation was a success.

Little is known about how Mangione spent the last six months. He lived in Hawaii for some time before going on a trip to Asia, with stops in Thailand and Japan, according to people who knew him. His friends and family tried to contact him during those months but could not reach him.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs/Rachel Wisniewski
c. 2024 The New York Times Company

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Oldest Known Stone Tablet Inscribed With the Ten Commandments Sells for Over $5M

DON'T MISS

Biden Pledges to Cut US Greenhouse Gases by More Than 60% as He Exits the World Stage

DON'T MISS

Amazon Workers Strike at Multiple Facilities as Teamsters Seek Labor Contract

DON'T MISS

Elon Musk Considers Funding Nigel Farage’s Populist Party, a Move That Could Shake Up UK Politics

DON'T MISS

Bills QB Josh Allen Credits Fiancee Hailee Steinfeld for His His MVP-Caliber Season

DON'T MISS

Chargers Host Broncos on Thursday With Both Teams Closing in on Playoff Spots

DON'T MISS

Wisconsin School Shooter Had 2 Guns and Got Messages From Man Accused of Plotting His Own Attack

DON'T MISS

Wake Forest Hires Washington State’s Jake Dickert as Football Coach

DON'T MISS

Appeals Court Removes Prosecutor Fani Willis From Georgia Election Case Against Trump and Others

DON'T MISS

49ers Move Closer to Shutting Down Trent Williams for Rest of the Season

UP NEXT

Biden Pledges to Cut US Greenhouse Gases by More Than 60% as He Exits the World Stage

UP NEXT

Amazon Workers Strike at Multiple Facilities as Teamsters Seek Labor Contract

UP NEXT

Elon Musk Considers Funding Nigel Farage’s Populist Party, a Move That Could Shake Up UK Politics

UP NEXT

Bills QB Josh Allen Credits Fiancee Hailee Steinfeld for His His MVP-Caliber Season

UP NEXT

Chargers Host Broncos on Thursday With Both Teams Closing in on Playoff Spots

UP NEXT

Wisconsin School Shooter Had 2 Guns and Got Messages From Man Accused of Plotting His Own Attack

UP NEXT

Wake Forest Hires Washington State’s Jake Dickert as Football Coach

UP NEXT

Appeals Court Removes Prosecutor Fani Willis From Georgia Election Case Against Trump and Others

UP NEXT

49ers Move Closer to Shutting Down Trent Williams for Rest of the Season

UP NEXT

Tulare County Mother, Accomplice Charged in Amber Alert Kidnap

Elon Musk Considers Funding Nigel Farage’s Populist Party, a Move That Could Shake Up UK Politics

53 minutes ago

Bills QB Josh Allen Credits Fiancee Hailee Steinfeld for His His MVP-Caliber Season

55 minutes ago

Chargers Host Broncos on Thursday With Both Teams Closing in on Playoff Spots

57 minutes ago

Wisconsin School Shooter Had 2 Guns and Got Messages From Man Accused of Plotting His Own Attack

57 minutes ago

Wake Forest Hires Washington State’s Jake Dickert as Football Coach

1 hour ago

Appeals Court Removes Prosecutor Fani Willis From Georgia Election Case Against Trump and Others

1 hour ago

49ers Move Closer to Shutting Down Trent Williams for Rest of the Season

1 hour ago

Tulare County Mother, Accomplice Charged in Amber Alert Kidnap

1 hour ago

FBI Raids Home of LA Deputy Mayor Following City Hall Bomb Threat Probe

1 hour ago

FUSD Trustees Take Oath of Office, Then Everyone Got Cake

1 hour ago

Oldest Known Stone Tablet Inscribed With the Ten Commandments Sells for Over $5M

NEW YORK — The oldest known stone tablet inscribed with the Ten Commandments sold for more than $5 million at an auction on Wednesday. Sothe...

41 minutes ago

41 minutes ago

Oldest Known Stone Tablet Inscribed With the Ten Commandments Sells for Over $5M

44 minutes ago

Biden Pledges to Cut US Greenhouse Gases by More Than 60% as He Exits the World Stage

49 minutes ago

Amazon Workers Strike at Multiple Facilities as Teamsters Seek Labor Contract

53 minutes ago

Elon Musk Considers Funding Nigel Farage’s Populist Party, a Move That Could Shake Up UK Politics

55 minutes ago

Bills QB Josh Allen Credits Fiancee Hailee Steinfeld for His His MVP-Caliber Season

57 minutes ago

Chargers Host Broncos on Thursday With Both Teams Closing in on Playoff Spots

57 minutes ago

Wisconsin School Shooter Had 2 Guns and Got Messages From Man Accused of Plotting His Own Attack

1 hour ago

Wake Forest Hires Washington State’s Jake Dickert as Football Coach

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend