The suspect in the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO returns to New York to face murder charges after agreeing to extradition Thursday during a court appearance in Pennsylvania where he was arrested last week after five days on the run.
Luigi Mangione waived his right to an extradition hearing and was immediately turned over to at least a dozen New York Police Department officers who were in the courtroom and quickly led him to a waiting SUV.
Mangione looked back and forth as he was escorted outside to begin his journey to New York, but calmly climbed into the SUV, a contrast to his last court appearance when he argued with deputies and shouted at reporters.
He then boarded a small plane used by the NYPD and was headed to the New York area.
Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks said he wanted to turn Mangione over to New York authorities as quickly as possible. Weeks said he was willing to put the Pennsylvania charges on hold.
“He is now in their custody. He will go to New York to await trial or trial for his murder and related charges in New York,” Weeks said.
The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate is accused of ambushing and shooting Brian Thompson on Dec. 4 outside a Manhattan hotel where the head of the largest U.S. medical insurance company was walking to an investor conference.
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Authorities said Mangione was carrying the gun used to kill Thompson, a passport, fake IDs and about $10,000 when he was arrested while eating breakfast on December 9 at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Mangione, who initially faced attempts to extradite him, appeared twice in court Thursday, first waiving a preliminary hearing on forgery and firearms charges before agreeing to be returned to New York.
There he was charged with murder as an act of terrorism and could face life in prison without parole if convicted.
Investigators believe Mangione was motivated by anger toward the American health care system and corporate greed. But he was never a UnitedHealthcare client, according to the insurer.
The killing ignited a torrent of stories about resentment toward US health insurers, while also rocking corporate America after some social media users described the shooting as retaliation.
A video clip of the attack showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson, 50, from behind and then firing several more shots. The suspect evaded police despite authorities widely circulating photos of his unmasked face until Mangione was arrested in Altoona, about 277 miles (446 kilometers) west of New York.
Mangione, a computer science graduate from a prominent Maryland family, was carrying a handwritten note calling health insurance companies “parasitic” and complaining of corporate greed, according to a law enforcement bulletin obtained by The Associated Press last week.
One of his lawyers warned the public not to prejudge the case.
Mangione has repeatedly posted on social media how last year’s spine surgery helped relieve chronic back pain, and he encouraged people with similar conditions to speak up for themselves if they’re told they have to live with it.
In a Reddit post in late April, he advised someone with a back problem to get additional opinions from surgeons and, if necessary, say the pain makes it impossible to work.
“We live in a capitalist society,” Mangione wrote. “I’ve found that the medical industry responds to these keywords much more urgently than describing unbearable pain and how it affects your quality of life.”
He has clearly isolated himself from his family and close friends in recent months. His family reported him missing in San Francisco in November. His relatives said in a statement that they were “shocked and devastated” by his arrest.
Thompson, who grew up on a farm in Iowa, was trained as an accountant. A married father of two high school seniors, he has worked at conglomerate UnitedHealth Group for 20 years and became CEO of its insurance arm in 2021.
—Sisak reported from New York. Associated Press writers Mike Rubinkam in Allentown, Pennsylvania; John Sewer in Toledo, Ohio; Contribute.
& Edition 2024 The Canadian Press
