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Suspect Questioned In Pennsylvania For United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson Killing

Suspected shooter Luigi Mangione is led into the Blair County Courthouse for an extradition hearing on December 10, 2024 in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania.

Photo by Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

Luigi Mangione Charged With Murder as 'An Act of Terrorism' for Killing of Insurance CEO

The "maximum penalty possible for murder in first degree and murder in the second degree as an act of terrorism is life without parole," said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old suspect arrested last week in connection to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was indicted on charges including murder in the first degree in furtherance of terrorism and murder in the second degree as an act of terrorism, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office announced Tuesday.

Thompson was gunned down outside of a Midtown Manhattan hotel on December 4, prompting a dayslong manhunt to find the shooter. The case also triggered a wave of dark humor and vitriol directed at the for-profit healthcare industry.

The Manhattan District Attorney's Office previously filed paperwork charging Mangione, an Ivy League graduate and Maryland native, with murder, but the terror allegation is new, according to The Associated Press.

A day after Luigi Mangione was arrested and first charged, independent journalist Ken Klippenstein published what he said was Mangione's manifesto, which read in part: "I do apologize for any strife of traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming."

In addition, Mangione has been charged with a second count of murder in the second degree, "pertaining to the fact that the killing was intentional," said District Attorney Alvin Bragg during a press conference on Tuesday.

All told, Mangione is facing an 11-count indictment, which also include two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree, and four counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree. He has also been charged with Pennsylvania gun and forgery offenses and is currently being held in a Pennsylvania jail.

Bragg called Thompson's killing "brazen, targeted, and premeditated shooting" and said the terrorism charges were warranted because the slaying was "intended to evoke terror."

Bragg noted that the "maximum penalty possible for murder in first degree and murder in the second degree as an act of terrorism is life without parole. The maximum penalty for murder in second degree is 25 years to life."

Mangione recently hired Manhattan attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo to represent him.

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