John Jefferson
Luigi Mangione, the suspect accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Dec. 4 in Manhattan, is set to appear in court Thursday for two court proceedings in Pennsylvania, including an extradition hearing.
Mangione, 26, faces murder charges in New York, where officials are working to extradite him as soon as possible from the Pennsylvania prison where he is currently incarcerated on other charges.
The Blar County Court will cover an extradition hearing for Mangione, as well as a preliminary hearing for his other firearms and fraudulent ID-related charges in Pennsylvania on Thursday beginning at 8:30 a.m.
New York prosecutors say Mangione plotted to travel to New York; find Thompson, a Minnesota resident in town for UnitedHealthcare’s annual shareholder conference; and kill him. Mangione allegedly shot Thompson from behind with a 3D-printed ghost gun and suppressor.
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Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Tuesday announced that a grand jury indicted Mangione on one count of first-degree murder, in furtherance of terrorism; two counts of second-degree murder; two counts of second-degree criminal weapons possession; four counts of third-degree criminal weapons possession; one count of fourth-degree criminal weapons possession; and one count of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument.
Prosecutors say Mangione fled New York City within an hour after the crime and traveled to Altoona, Pennsylvania.
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Altoona police arrested Mangione in a McDonald’s five days later on Dec. 9 after receiving a tip from an employee. The suspect allegedly presented local police with a fake ID and appeared to start shaking when they asked if he had been in New York recently.
Police said the suspect took a bus from New York City to Philadelphia, and then from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and on to Altoona — a rust-belt town nestled between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg.
Officials also found a handwritten manifesto condemning the health care industry, as NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny previously told Fox News. The manifesto specifically mentioned UnitedHealthcare.
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While officials have not commented on an official motive, the public has speculated that the suspect had strong grievances with both the health care insurance industry.
The 26-year-old suspect is originally from Maryland and has recently lived in California and Hawaii. Mangione graduated valedictorian from the Gilman School, a private, all-boys high school in Baltimore, in 2016. He went on to receive his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania in 2020.
The day after his arrest in Altoona, on Dec. 10, Mangione announced that he would not waive extradition.
“We did not waive extradition and we’re contesting extradition. We are going to fight this along the rules and with the constitutional protections that my client has,” Magione’s attorney, Thomas Dickey, told reporters outside the Blair County Courthouse on Dec. 10.
Sources told Fox News on Tuesday, though, that Mangione plans to give up that fight and waive extradition, clearing the way for his return to New York City.
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New York officials, meanwhile, say they are doing everything they can to get Mangione back to Manhattan.
“Now that [DA Bragg] has filed an indictment for the murder of Brian Thompson, New York stands ready to do whatever it takes to hold the killer accountable,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul wrote on X Wednesday. “We’ve heard reports that the defendant will waive his extradition rights. If not, I am prepared to request a governor’s warrant as soon as possible to ensure he is held and tried in New York.”
Fox News’ Alexis McAdams contributed to this report.
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