Asked by the judge how he pleaded to the four-count indictment, Mangione said, “Not guilty.” He was dressed in jail garb and seated with his lawyers at the defence table. He appeared attentive, consulting quietly with his legal team and at least once appearing to write in a notepad.
The case stems from the early morning shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50.
The killing occurred outside a midtown Manhattan hotel where Thompson’s firm was hosting an investors conference. Authorities allege Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland family, was masked and armed with a 9mm, 3D-printed ghost gun equipped with a silencer when he approached Thompson.
Mangione was arrested April 9 at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where authorities allege he was found with a handwritten manifesto condemning the American health care system.
Two discharged shell casings found at the scene of the killing had the words “DENY” and “DEPOSE” written on them, and “DELAY” was written on a bullet also found there, authorities have said.
In addition to the federal charges, Mangione has been indicted by the office of Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, on a count of first-degree murder in furtherance of an act of terrorism, which carries a potential life prison sentence. Mangione has also pleaded not guilty to the state charges.
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Federal prosecutors on Friday filed legal papers giving formal notice that the government was seeking the death penalty against Mangione, and listing factors supporting their decision.
They allege the killing was intentional and involved substantial planning and premeditation, and that Mangione posed a “future danger because he expressed intent to target an entire industry, and rally political and social opposition to that industry, by engaging in an act of lethal violence”.
They also allege he had fled New York to evade law enforcement immediately after the murder.
Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, told Garnett that Mangione’s phone conversations with his lawyers had been inadvertently recorded in jail and provided to the US attorney’s office. She said she was told the recordings would not be shared with the prosecutors in federal and state court involved in Mangione’s case. The judge asked the government to look into the matter and provide her with an update by May 2.
As the process ground forward methodically in court, the events outside were more informal.
John McIntosh, 43, had been in line since 7.30pm on Thursday. He was fifth and he was hawking his seat: “For only $350, it’s yours,” he said loudly, waiting for someone to bite.
The name “Luigi” seemed to be on everyone’s tongues. People swapped stories about their connections to him, however tenuous – a friend might have played against him in lacrosse; someone went to a party years earlier that he might have attended.
Sandra Ministro, 33, a software engineer who travelled from New Jersey on Friday morning to attend the arraignment, said, “I think everyone does truly deserve health care.”
She carried a piece of white poster board with the words “Healthcare is a human right”, “Lives over profit” and “Free Luigi” scrawled in colourful marker.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
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