Mangione pleads guilty to stalking, admits to shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO
Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, admitted to the crime in federal court on Friday, pleading guilty to the crime of stalking.
Thompson was shot in the back on the street in Manhattan as he walked to an investor conference. The incident happened in December 2024.
His family was in attendance as Mangione made his allocution, including that the Maryland native crossed state lines for the express purpose of gunning Thompson down.
“My travel to New York and email to UnitedHealthcare was with the intent to shoot Brian Thompson,” Mangione said in court. “On the morning of Dec. 4, 2024, I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan and he died.”
"I understood that my actions would place him in fear of death or bodily injury. I knew what I was doing was illegal,” he added.
Mangione’s guilty plea was accepted by the judge, though he will not be sentenced until he has a hearing to decide his fate, scheduled for Dec. 18.
All the same, he took a moment to explain that he was motivated to kill Thompson after suffering a back injury that left him in pain and struggling to navigate the American healthcare system.
He did not say he was a UnitedHealthcare member, however, and prosecutors have repeatedly said he had no relationship with the insurer.
$50 billion ‘investment’
During his confession, Mangione revealed new details about the crime, including that he gained more information about the UnitedHealthcare investor conference by posing as a curious wealth manager.
According to Mangione, he emailed leadership at the insurance company, claiming to manage over $50 billion in assets. This was done, Mangione confirmed, to ensure he had access to Thompson if he traveled to New York to shoot him.
While telling his story, the 28-year-old couldn’t help but take a jab at the medical insurance industry, which readily accepted his ruse.
“Unlike my previous interactions with insurers, I received an immediate response within an hour,” Mangione added.
Bullet casings recovered from the crime scene had the words “deny,” “depose” and “defend” on them, providing initial clues to the motivation behind the assassination of Thompson.
The incident led to a nationwide manhunt for the killer, with Mangione being arrested days later at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania.
Until this guilty plea, he had maintained his innocence. Attorneys representing the man had attempted to suppress evidence found in a backpack he was carrying, including a hand-written note explaining his motivations, as well as the gun prosecutors said was used to murder Thompson.
The motion to exclude evidence was only partially successful.
Seeking a dismissal
While the guilty plea puts an end to the federal case against Mangione, he still faces a murder indictment in the state of New York—though not if defense attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo has her way.
In representing Mangione, Agnifilo told reporters waiting outside the courtroom on Friday that she and her team have already filed a motion to have the state charges dismissed, citing double jeopardy.
“It was a single tragic event, yet he's being prosecuted twice for the same conduct,” Agnifilo said, adding that Mangione has now “accepted full responsibility for the death of Brian Thompson.”
She reiterated her client’s claim that he was motivated by “years of severe, debilitating pain” after breaking his back, struggling to get the care he needed.
“He believed that the system had failed him and destroyed his life,” Agnifilo stated.
On the federal conviction alone, Mangione faces the potential of life in prison. If convicted on the second-degree murder charge in New York, the maximum penalty allowed under the law would be the same.
In a statement, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office said it intends to move forward with prosecuting Mangione without delay.
“We are encouraged that Mr. Thompson’s family received a measure of accountability today,” a spokesperson wrote. “The Manhattan D.A.’s Office remains committed to seeking justice for Mr. Thompson and his family.”
A hearing on the dismissal motion has yet to be scheduled.
Chad is an award-winning writer and editor with over 15 years of experience working in media. He has a decade-long professional background in healthcare, working as a writer and in public relations.