Luigi Mangione accused of the murder of the director general of health

Luigi Mangione has been charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, the New York district attorney said Tuesday.

Mangione faces multiple charges, including first-degree murder, and two counts of second-degree murder, one of which describes the killing as an act of “terrorism,” Bragg said.

“The intent was to sow terror,” said New York District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who called the shooting a “terrifying, well-planned and directed murder.”

Mangione is scheduled to appear in a Dec. 19 court hearing on whether he will be extradited to New York on the charges, although Bragg suggested the suspect would not be able to fight extradition.

“We have indications that the defendant may waive this hearing,” Bragg said.

The extradition proceeding is scheduled for the same day as Mr. Mangione’s preliminary hearing on gun-related charges in Pennsylvania.

At a news conference Tuesday afternoon, both Bragg and New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch blasted the public. to praise Mr. Mangione in the wake of the Dec. 4 shooting.

“In the nearly two weeks since Mr. Thompson’s murder, we have seen a shocking and gruesome celebration of cold-blooded murder,” Tisch said. “We do not celebrate murders or glorify the killing of anyone.”

In addition to murder, the suspect also faces weapons and forgery charges. If convicted of the most serious charges — first-degree murder and second-degree murder as an act of terrorism — Mangione could face life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Asked about the specific terrorism charges, Bragg replied that “in its most basic terms, it was murder with the intent to evoke terror.”

Five days after Mr. Thompson, the chief executive of UnitedHealthcare, was shot and killed, Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, with fake identification and a so-called “phantom gun,” the police said.

His lawyer, Thomas Dickey, has said he has seen no evidence linking Mr Mangione’s gun to the crime.

New York prosecutors began sharing evidence in their case against Mangione with a grand jury last week.

If extradited, the 26-year-old is likely to be held at Riker’s Island or another New York prison.

The evidence against Mr. Mangione includes a positive party of his fingerprints with those found at the crime scene, Commissioner Tisch said.

According to District Attorney Bragg, the suspect arrived in New York City on Nov. 24, staying at a Manhattan hostel with a fake ID before carrying out the attack on Mr. Thompson 10 days later.

As well as the phantom gun, a weapon assembled from untraceable parts, and fake identification, a passport and a handwritten document indicating “motivation and mindset” were also found on Mr Mangione when he was arrested, he said the police

He was charged in Pennsylvania with forgery, carrying firearms without a license, tampering with records or identification, possessing instruments of crime and providing false identification to police.

While Mr. Mangione awaits his fate in the New York court system, he remains in maximum security at the Huntingdon State Correctional Institution in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania.

He has been denied bail.

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