Luigi Mangione, 26, has been indicted on charges of murdering UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson, Manhattan District Attorney’s office said Tuesday. Mangione, a double University of Pennsylvania graduate, faces a maximum possible sentence of life in prison without parole if convicted.
According to the indictment, Mangione is charged with one count of first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism and two counts of second-degree murder, one of which is charged as killing as an act of terrorism. He is also charged with multiple counts of criminal possession of a weapon, possession of a forged New Jersey driver’s license, and possession of a forged New Jersey ID.
Mangione was arrested on December 9 at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after police responded to a call of a suspicious person at the restaurant. He allegedly gave officers a fake New Jersey ID and was found with a gun, a silencer, and 9 mm ammunition in his backpack.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s office said that Mangione arrived in New York City on a bus at the Port Authority terminal on November 24 with the intent of murdering Thompson and spent the following days staying at a hostel on the Upper West Side using the name “Mark Rosario” with a fake ID.
Mangione allegedly waited for Thompson to appear outside the Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan on December 4 and then crossed the street, pulled out a handgun equipped with a silencer, and fired, hitting the CEO once in the back and once in the leg. He then fled on an e-bike and later a taxi.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch described the killing as “shocking and appalling” and said that some people had celebrated the attack on social media, calling it “cowardly” and saying that there was no heroism in what Mangione did.
The grand jury indictment supersedes a criminal complaint filed against Mangione hours after his arrest, charging him with second-degree murder, criminal possession of a loaded firearm, possession of a silencer, and possession of a forged instrument. Mangione is due to appear Thursday morning in Blair County Court for two separate hearings, one on state criminal charges and one on extradition proceedings.