C.E.O. Killing Suspect Faces Hearing on Extradition to New York
The New York Times
Luigi Mangione, who is currently jailed in Pennsylvania, was charged in New York this week with first-degree murder in what prosecutors said was part of an “act of terrorism.”
The 26-year-old man charged with murdering a health care executive in Manhattan is scheduled to appear in a Pennsylvania courtroom on Thursday morning for a hearing over his extradition to New York.
The man, Luigi Mangione, is currently being held at a prison in Pennsylvania after he was spotted in a McDonald’s in the central part of the state and arrested by the local police. The Manhattan district attorney’s office wants to move him to New York to prosecute him for the death of Brian Thompson, the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, a killing that they have called an “act of terrorism” because it was intended to influence government policies and intimidate civilians.
After his arrest last week, Mr. Mangione indicated through his lawyer that he would contest extradition to New York. But the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin Bragg, said this week that Mr. Mangione may concede to being extradited. Mr. Mangione has been represented by a lawyer in Pennsylvania but has also since hired a prominent New York defense lawyer who worked as a top prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
If he does end his challenge to the extradition, Mr. Mangione would be brought to New York and taken to jail ahead of an arraignment, which would most likely take place on Friday.
The police have said that Mr. Mangione waited outside of a hotel a short walk from Times Square and shot Mr. Thompson multiple times early in the morning on Dec. 4, while the executive was on his way to an investor meeting. The brazen killing prompted a five-day manhunt that ended in Altoona, Pa., where Mr. Mangione was captured in a McDonald’s while he was eating breakfast, after he was unable to get a room at a nearby motel.
The authorities said that, at the time of his arrest, Mr. Mangione had a gun with him that matched the shell casings left at the crime scene. And they also said he had a document with him that decried “parasites” — apparently referring to those working in the health insurance industry — and said he had acted alone.
