Luigi Mangione is not guilty of federal murder in the killing of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson.
Mangione, 26, stood among attorneys and leaned towards desktop microphones when he entered the request of the Manhattan federal court on Friday. When U.S. District Court Judge Margaret Garnett asked him if he understood the allegations he was in Thompson outside a Midtown Hotel in Thompson in December, he replied “yes”.
When asked how he hoped to defend, Mangiang said “not pleaded guilty” and sat down.
Mangione is an Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland real estate family who faces separate murders in federal and state courts, where he faces the greatest punishment for prison.
Prosecutors expect the state case to be tried first, but Mangian’s lawyers said Friday they want a federal case precedent because it involves the death penalty. Due to many legal issues involved in capital cases, Mangione’s federal cases are slower than non-death fines.
Mangione will attend federal court on December 5 in federal court (a day after Thompson’s death). His next appearance in the state case will take place on June 26. In either case, no trial date is set. Read previous reports here and here.
