Mangione expected to plead guilty in federal case over CEO killing

Luigi Mangione is scheduled to appear in federal court on Friday for a hearing where he is expected to enter a guilty plea related to the December 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The hearing was requested jointly by prosecutors and defense lawyers earlier this week, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Mangione, 28, faces two federal charges alleging he stalked Thompson to cause his death. The 50-year-old executive was shot from behind outside a New York City hotel on December 4, 2024, while walking to an investor conference. Surveillance footage showed a masked gunman firing at Thompson, and ammunition found at the scene bore the words "delay," "deny," and "depose" — a phrase critics use to describe insurance industry tactics for avoiding claims.

A federal judge earlier this year dismissed additional charges that could have carried the death penalty. Both the federal and state cases could result in life imprisonment. Mangione was also charged by state prosecutors, and a trial on those murder charges is scheduled to begin next month. It remains unclear whether that trial would proceed if Mangione pleads guilty in the federal case.

Under New York law, a state prosecution could potentially be barred if the federal case is resolved first. State double jeopardy protections apply once a jury is sworn in a prior prosecution or if that prosecution ends in a guilty plea. State prosecutors objected last month to the possibility that a federal guilty plea could wipe out the state case.

Mangione has previously complained about facing two trials, telling a judge in February, "It's the same trial twice. One plus one is two. Double jeopardy by any commonsense definition."

In June, Mangione's lawyers briefly indicated they would pursue a psychiatric defense in the state case but reversed course a day later. That defense, based on claims of extreme emotional disturbance, is not available in federal court.

U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett has ruled against the defense on several matters, including allowing evidence collected from Mangione's backpack at the time of his arrest. That evidence included a 3D-printed pistol that investigators said matched the murder weapon and a notebook in which Mangione allegedly described his intent to kill an insurance executive.

Mangione, a University of Pennsylvania graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days after the killing at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, roughly 230 miles west of Manhattan. He has become a figure of sympathy for some people frustrated with the health insurance industry.