Luigi Mangione pleads guilty in killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO: ‘I shot Mr. Thompson’

NEW YORK — Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty in federal court Friday to federal stalking charges in the 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, admitting matter-of-factly that he trailed the executive to an investor conference in 2024 and gunned him down on a New York City street.

Mangione, 28, was charged by both federal and state prosecutors with ambushing Thompson, 50, outside a New York City hotel on Dec. 4, 2024, as the insurance executive walked to UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference.

During Friday’s court appearance, Mangione was wearing a beige prison jumpsuit and shackles on his ankles as he agreed to plead guilty and answered the judge’s questions about his education, mental and physical health and understanding the deal and his rights.

Mangione, 28, said he even used a ruse to glean information about the event, contacting the health insurance company ahead of time under the guise of being an investor at a multibillion-dollar firm.

“On the morning of Dec. 4, 2024, I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan, and he died,” Mangione told the court as Thompson’s wife, Paulette, took several deep breaths and repeatedly wiped tears from her eyes. A supporter put an arm around the wife and held her tight.

Mangione is set for sentencing Dec. 18. When U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett asked whether he understood that he could spend the rest of his life in prison, Mangione answered neutrally: “Yes.”

Mangione entered the plea at a hastily scheduled hearing in Manhattan federal court, resolving one of two cases against him in connection with Thompson’s death. Mangione’s lawyers could now seek to have his separate New York state murder case thrown out on double jeopardy grounds.

Surveillance video of the ambush showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson, 50, from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims. That detail — and revelations that Mangione’s private writings lambasted health insurers as greedy, according to authorities — made the case a fulcrum for debate about the industry and made Mangione a cause célèbre for some of its critics.

Mangione told the court Friday that he pursued Thompson “after years of enduring severe pain from a broken back and navigating the obstacles of the health insurance system.”

His lawyers spoke outside the courthouse Friday after the plea deal defending Mangione and his struggle with pain issues and the healthcare system. They also continued their push for having the state charges dismissed.

“Mr. Mangione has accepted full responsibility for the death of Brian Thompson,” defense lawyer Karen Friedman said outside court, arguing that her client shouldn’t face two prosecutions over a “single tragic event.”

The prosecutors then took the podium outside the courthouse highlighting the horror of Mangione’s crime.

What’s next for Mangione?

A trial on state murder charges is scheduled to start next month. It is unclear whether that trial would go forward if Mangione pleaded guilty in the federal case.

Mangione faces two federal charges that he stalked Thompson to cause his death. Both the federal and state cases could lead to a life prison sentence. A federal judge earlier this year tossed out additional charges that could have exposed Mangione to a potential death penalty.

Mangione had complained about the prospect of two trials, telling a judge in February: “It’s the same trial twice. One plus one is two. Double jeopardy by any commonsense definition.”

Under New York law, a state prosecution could potentially be barred if the federal case is resolved first. The state’s double jeopardy protections kick in if a jury has been sworn in a prior prosecution, such as a federal case, or if that prosecution ends in a guilty plea. Mangione’s cases involve different charges arising from the same course of conduct.

In a letter last month, state prosecutors objected to the possibility of a guilty plea in the federal case wiping out the state case.

U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett has delivered some setbacks to the defense, including ruling in January that prosecutors could use items collected from Mangione’s backpack during his arrest as evidence against him.

They included a 3D-printed pistol that investigators said matched the one used to kill Thompson and a notebook in which authorities say Mangione described his intent to kill an insurance executive.

In June, Mangione’s lawyers said they would pursue a psychiatric defense in the state case but reversed course a day later. The defense, involving claims that he was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the killing, isn’t allowed in federal court.

Surveillance video of the killing showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.

Mangione, a University of Pennsylvania graduate from a wealthy Maryland family in Baltimore County, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles west of Manhattan.

Associated Press writer Alanna Durkin Richer contributed to this story.