Luigi Mangione is the 26-year-old Ivy League graduate charged with fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel on December 4, 2024. He faces a New York state murder trial scheduled to begin in September 2026 and a separate federal stalking trial set for January 2027. He has pleaded not guilty in every jurisdiction.
Who He Is
Mangione was born on May 6, 1998, in Towson, Maryland, into a prominent Baltimore family. His grandfather, Nicholas Mangione, built a business that included country clubs, golf courses, an assisted living company, and a radio station.1Britannica. Luigi Mangione He attended the Gilman School, an elite all-boys prep school outside Baltimore, and was valedictorian of the class of 2016. He earned both a bachelor’s and a master’s in computer science from the University of Pennsylvania.2BBC. Luigi Mangione Background
After college, Mangione worked as a data engineer for TrueCar and lived in a coliving space in Hawaii. He had previously worked as a camp counselor at Stanford for gifted high school students.1Britannica. Luigi Mangione He injured his lower back surfing in Hawaii and underwent surgery in July 2023. Family and friends later said he became increasingly isolated in the months before the shooting.
The Shooting of Brian Thompson
Thompson, 50, was walking toward the New York Hilton Midtown for UnitedHealthcare’s annual investor conference when a masked gunman approached from behind and shot him in the back at about 6:44 a.m. on December 4, 2024.3CNN. UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson Fatally Shot The shooter had waited along the building line for about five minutes. After the first shots, he stepped closer and kept firing.4ABC News. Man Shot in Midtown Manhattan by Masked Gunman
The pistol, fitted with a silencer, jammed during the attack. Surveillance video showed the gunman clearing the malfunction before firing again. He fled into an alleyway and left on an electric bicycle toward Central Park.3CNN. UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson Fatally Shot Thompson was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai West at 7:12 a.m.
Detectives recovered three 9mm shell casings inscribed with the words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose,” language investigators described as referencing insurance-industry practices.4ABC News. Man Shot in Midtown Manhattan by Masked Gunman The NYPD called the attack premeditated and targeted.
Thompson had led UnitedHealthcare, the largest private health insurer in the United States, since April 2021. He joined UnitedHealth Group in 2004 after earlier work as a manager at PwC and a business administration degree from the University of Iowa in 1997. He was paid $10.2 million in 2023. He is survived by his wife, Paulette Thompson, and two sons; his widow said he had received threats related to insurance coverage before his death.5BBC. Brian Thompson Background
The Arrest in Altoona
Five days later, on December 9, 2024, a manager at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, called 911 after customers said a man in the back of the restaurant resembled the suspect. He was wearing a medical mask and a beanie pulled low.6CNN. Luigi Mangione Arrest Details Altoona Officer Joseph Detwiler asked the man to lower his mask. “I knew it was him immediately,” Detwiler later testified.7BBC. Luigi Mangione Arrest at McDonald’s Mangione gave a fake name, “Mark Rosario,” and a fraudulent New Jersey driver’s license, but the alias returned no results and officers confirmed his identity.8Fortune. Luigi Mangione Arrest and Court Hearing
A search turned up a 3D-printed 9mm pistol that forensic testing later matched to the shell casings from Midtown.9ABC News. Ghost Guns After Killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Officers also recovered a loaded magazine, a handwritten notebook prosecutors would call a “manifesto,” notes with what appeared to be escape plans, a Faraday bag with a passport and cellphone, and other personal items.8Fortune. Luigi Mangione Arrest and Court Hearing
The Notebook and Alleged Motive
Prosecutors have released portions of the notebook, describing it as a manifesto that lays out planning and motive. The writings express hostility toward the health insurance industry and wealthy executives, and in one passage Mangione allegedly referenced Ted Kaczynski, writing that “normies” dismiss his ideas by categorizing him as “an insane serial killer.”10CBS News. Luigi Mangione Handwritten Notes
A note written while he was in Pennsylvania custody read: “I do apologize for any strife or trauma, but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.”10CBS News. Luigi Mangione Handwritten Notes An earlier August 2024 entry read: “I finally feel confident about what I will do. The details are finally coming together. And I don’t feel any doubt about whether it’s right/justified.”
Mangione also wrote about the weapon, calling the manufacturing process “fairly trivial” and describing it as “some elementary social engineering, basic CAD, and a lot of patience.”9ABC News. Ghost Guns After Killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Firearms experts identified the pistol as an FMDA 19.2, a Glock-style design distributed online by a group called the Gatalog. Only the frame is regulated as the firearm under federal law, so the slide, barrel, and trigger components could be bought without a background check.11Wired. Luigi Mangione Ghost Gun Built and Tested
New York State Charges
A Manhattan grand jury indicted Mangione on December 17, 2024, on 11 counts, including first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, second-degree murder as an act of terrorism, weapons possession, and criminal possession of a forged instrument. The case, brought by District Attorney Alvin Bragg, was assigned to New York Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro.12Manhattan DA. D.A. Bragg Announces Murder Indictment of Luigi Mangione
In September 2025, Justice Carro dismissed the two terrorism counts as “legally insufficient.” He ruled that the targeted killing of one person did not meet New York’s statutory definition of terrorism, which requires intent to intimidate a civilian population or influence government policy. Holding an ideology, he wrote, does not equate to the specific intent the statute demands.13NY Courts. People v. Luigi Mangione, Ind. 75657-24 Nine counts remain, the most serious being intentional second-degree murder, which carries up to 25 years to life.
Federal Charges and the Death Penalty
Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York charged Mangione on the theory that he crossed state lines to stalk and kill Thompson. The original indictment included murder through use of a firearm, a related firearms count, and two counts of stalking. Prosecutors signaled they would seek the death penalty.14Gothamist. NY Judge Spares Luigi Mangione the Death Penalty
On January 30, 2026, U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett dismissed the federal murder and firearms charges. She held that the predicate offense of stalking does not legally qualify as a “crime of violence” under the relevant statute, calling the result “tortured and strange” but a “committed effort to faithfully apply the dictates of the Supreme Court.”15CBS News. Luigi Mangione Death Penalty Federal Prosecutors The ruling took capital punishment off the table. On February 27, 2026, the Department of Justice said it would not appeal.16ABC News. Federal Prosecutors in Luigi Mangione Case Will Not Appeal Ruling on Death Penalty
Two federal stalking counts remain. Each carries a maximum of life in prison without parole.14Gothamist. NY Judge Spares Luigi Mangione the Death Penalty
Pennsylvania Charges on Hold
Mangione also faces charges in Blair County, Pennsylvania, arising from his arrest: carrying a firearm without a license, forgery, tampering with records, possessing instruments of a crime, and providing false identification to law enforcement. As of late 2025, that case was effectively paused because federal authorities declined to transport him from New York and he refused to appear remotely. A judge ordered updates every 60 days, and the case is not expected to move until New York finishes.17CBS News. Luigi Mangione Pennsylvania Charges on Hold
What the Jury Will See
Mangione initially said he would fight extradition. His Pennsylvania attorney, Tom Dickey, argued prosecutors lacked sufficient evidence to hold him. Mangione reversed course on December 19, 2024, and Blair County Judge David Consiglio ordered him turned over to the NYPD.18PBS. Luigi Mangione Agrees to Be Extradited to New York
A nine-day suppression hearing followed in December 2025 in the state case. Prosecutors called 17 witnesses; the defense called none but cross-examined extensively.19CBS News. Luigi Mangione Evidence Hearing Day 9 The defense argued officers searched his backpack without a warrant and questioned him before reading Miranda rights. Prosecutors argued the search was a lawful warrantless search incident to arrest, followed by a standard inventory search under Pennsylvania law.20Jurist. Day 9 Luigi Mangione Suppression Hearings Conclude
Justice Carro split the evidence in a May 18, 2026 ruling. Items from a second search at the Altoona police station were admitted, including the 3D-printed pistol, the silencer, and the notebook. Most of Mangione’s statements to law enforcement came in as well.21CNN. Luigi Mangione Evidence Ruling Suppressed were items from the initial McDonald’s search, a cellphone, passport, wallet, computer chip, and a loaded magazine wrapped in underwear, along with statements Mangione made to officers there before Miranda warnings.22NBC News. Luigi Mangione Prosecutors Can Use Gun and Notebook as Evidence
The Defense Team and Strategy
Mangione retained Karen Friedman Agnifilo of Agnifilo Intrater LLP as lead counsel in both the state and federal cases. She served as chief assistant district attorney in the Manhattan DA’s office under Cyrus Vance from 2014 to 2021.23ABC 7 NY. Luigi Mangione’s Lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo
The defense has already scored significant victories: the dismissal of the state terrorism counts and the federal charges that made the case death-eligible. Agnifilo has called the parallel prosecutions a “tug of war” and argued that overlapping schedules interfere with Mangione’s right to effective counsel.24NY1. Luigi Mangione’s Lawyers Seek to Delay His State and Federal Trials She has also raised double jeopardy concerns about being tried by both sovereigns for the same act, though Justice Carro denied a motion to stay the state case, citing the dual sovereignty doctrine.13NY Courts. People v. Luigi Mangione, Ind. 75657-24
In June 2026, the defense filed notice of an “extreme emotional disturbance” defense, which could have reduced a murder conviction to manslaughter. One day later, they withdrew it in a single-sentence letter. The reversal came the same day Justice Carro had ordered the defense to turn over medical records supporting the claim. Agnifilo had also argued that presenting psychiatric evidence in the state case would prejudice Mangione in the federal proceeding, where such a defense is not available. By withdrawing the notice, the defense forfeited the ability to call mental health experts or introduce psychiatric records at the state trial.25NBC New York. Luigi Mangione’s Lawyers Reverse Course on Psychiatric Defense
Trial Dates and What He Faces
The state trial is scheduled to begin with jury selection on September 8, 2026, in Manhattan Supreme Court before Justice Carro. The federal trial has been pushed to January 2027, with jury selection on January 5 and opening statements on January 25. Judge Garnett said there was “really no way around taking into account the events in the state case involving the same defendant.”26ABC News. Luigi Mangione Returning to Court, Federal Trial Delayed
If convicted of second-degree murder in New York, Mangione faces a maximum of 25 years to life. If convicted on the remaining federal stalking counts, he faces up to life without parole. He is held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, in a 9-by-7-foot cell in the Special Housing Unit.27NPR. Luigi Mangione Court Hearings and Growing Support
Public Reaction
The case drew an unusual public response. A December 2024 Emerson College poll found that more than 41% of registered voters supported the shooting or were neutral about it. Among voters aged 18 to 29, 67% were supportive or ambivalent.28City Journal. Luigi Mangione and UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson A crowd-sourced legal defense fund reached $1.5 million from more than 42,000 donors by mid-2026.27NPR. Luigi Mangione Court Hearings and Growing Support
UnitedHealthcare’s approval rating fell from 48.4% in January 2025 to 34.8% by April 2025 in YouGov tracking.29Newsweek. UnitedHealthcare Struggling to Recover Senator Elizabeth Warren said, “People can only be pushed so far,” and the White House condemned the violence while also referencing “corporate greed.”28City Journal. Luigi Mangione and UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch responded: “We don’t celebrate murderers, and we don’t lionize the killing of anyone.”