Luigi Mangione, the suspect who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan on Dec. 4, is scheduled to appear in court Thursday for two court proceedings in Pennsylvania, including an extradition hearing.
Mangione, 26, faces murder charges in New York, and authorities are working to have him extradited as soon as possible from a Pennsylvania prison where he is currently being held on unrelated charges.
Buller County Court is scheduled to hold an extradition hearing for Mangione and a preliminary hearing on other firearm and fraudulent identification charges in Pennsylvania starting at 8:30 a.m. Thursday.
New York prosecutors claim Mr. Mangione was planning to fly to New York. Find Thompson, a Minnesota resident who is in town to attend UnitedHealthcare's annual shareholder meeting. and kill him. Mangione allegedly shot Thompson in the back with a 3D-printed ghost gun and suppressor.
United Healthcare CEO Luigi Mangione charged with murder in New York
Luigi Mangione screams while being restrained by police as he arrives for his extradition hearing at the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, December 10, 2024. (David Dee Delgado, Fox News Digital)
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Tuesday that a grand jury indicted Mangione on charges of first-degree murder and inciting terrorism. Two counts of second-degree murder. two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon; four counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon; one count of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon; One count of second-degree criminal possession of a counterfeit instrument.
Prosecutors said Mangione fled New York City within an hour of the crime and traveled to Altoona, Pennsylvania.
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Luigi Mangione, the suspected gunman in the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was seen on surveillance footage flirting with a hostel employee before the Dec. 4 shooting. . (New York City Police Department)
Five days later, on Dec. 9, Altoona police arrested Mangione inside a McDonald's after receiving a tip from an employee. The suspect provided false identification to local police and appeared shaken when asked if he had been in New York recently, police said.
Police said the suspect took a bus from New York City to Philadelphia, then from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh and then to Altoona, a Rust Belt town between Pittsburgh and Harrisburg.
Authorities also found a handwritten manifesto criticizing the medical industry. NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenney He previously told Fox News. The manifesto specifically mentioned United Healthcare.
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The CEO of UnitedHealthcare's parent company mourned the death of Brian Thompson and asked the public to understand that industry executives were doing the best they could with a flawed system. (AP Photo/UnitedHealth Group, via A)
Officials have not commented on an official motive, but the public speculates that the suspect had strong grievances with both sides of the health insurance industry.
The 26-year-old suspect is from Maryland and had recently lived in California and Hawaii. Mr. Mangione graduated as valedictorian from the Gilman School, a private high school for boys in Baltimore, in 2016. He then earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania in 2020.
Luigi Mangione is pictured in a Pennsylvania mugshot after being arrested in connection with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
On Dec. 10, the day after his arrest in Altoona, Mangione announced he would not waive extradition.
“We are not waiving extradition, we are objecting to extradition,” Magione's attorney, Thomas Dickey, told reporters outside the Blair County courthouse on Dec. 10. “And I intend to fight under the constitutional protections my client has.” .
But officials told Fox News on Tuesday that Mangione plans to abandon the fight and waive extradition, paving the way for his return to New York City.
Is there a possibility that United Healthcare CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione will receive the death penalty?
Attorney Tom Dickey addresses the press outside the Blair County Courthouse on Tuesday, December 10, 2024 in Hollidaysville, Pennsylvania. Dickey represented Luigi Mangione, accused of murdering United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, at his extradition hearing. (Dee Delgado, Fox News Digital)
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Meanwhile, New York City officials said they are doing everything in their power to return Mangione to Manhattan.
“Well then [DA Bragg] “While the defendant has been charged with the murder of Brian Thompson, the state of New York stands ready to use all means necessary to hold the perpetrator accountable,” New York Governor Kathy Hochul wrote on Wednesday. Right of delivery. If not, we stand ready to seek a gubernatorial warrant as soon as possible to ensure that he is detained and tried in New York.”
FOX News' Alexis McAdams contributed to this report.
