Luigi Mangione pleaded not guilty to an accusation of federal murder in the murder of the CEO of Unitedhealthcare, Brian Thompson, while the prosecutors officially declared their intention to ask for the death penalty against him.
Mangione, 26, stood with his lawyers when he entered the plea, leaning towards a microphone while the American district judge Margarett asked him if she understood the indictment and the accusations carried against him.
Mangione said, “Yes.” Asked how he wanted to plead, Mangione simply said, “not guilty” and sat down.
The official process of placing accusations in Mangione for the murder last December attracted several dozen people at the Manhattan Federal Justice Palace, including the former intelligence analyst of the Chelsea Manning army, who served approximately seven years in prison for stealing classified diplomatic cables.
Mangione has been detained in a federal prison in Brooklyn since her arrest.
Late Thursday evening, federal prosecutors filed an opinion required to ask for the death penalty.
This came from weeks after the American prosecutor Pam Bondi announced that she would order federal prosecutors to ask for the death penalty for what she called “an act of political violence” and an “premeditated cold blood assassination that shocked America”.
It was the first time that the Ministry of Justice said that it had been sentenced to capital punishment since President Donald Trump returned to the post on January 20 with a wish to resume federal executions after being interrupted under the Biden administration.
Mangione lawyers argued that Bondi's announcement was a “political blow” which corrupted the process of the Grand Jury and deprived it of its constitutional right to a regular procedure.
They had sought to prevent prosecutors from asking for the death penalty.
Mangione's federal accusation act includes an accusation of murder thanks to the use of a firearm, which carries the possibility of the death penalty.
The accusation act, which reflects a criminal complaint filed after the arrest of Mangione, also charges him with harassment and an offense of firearms.
Mangione, a graduate of the Ivy League of an eminent real estate family of Maryland, faces accusations of federal murder and separate state after the authorities said they had shot down Thompson, 50, outside a Manhattan hotel on December 4, while the executive arrived for the annual investor conference of Unitedhealthcare.
The accusations of murder of the state bear a maximum life in prison for life.
The surveillance video showed a masked shooter pulling Thompson from behind.
ADVERTISEMENTThe police say that the words “delay”, “deny” and “deposit” were scribbled on the ammunition, imitating a phrase commonly used to describe how insurers avoid paying complaints.
The murder and search of five days that followed leading to the arrest of Mangione shaken the business community, certain health insurers removing photos of executives from their websites and moving to online shareholders' meetings.
At the same time, some health insurance critics have gathered around Mangione as a replacement for frustrations concerning coverage refusals and high medical invoices.
Mangione was arrested on December 9 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 370 kilometers west of New York and led to Manhattan by plane and helicopter.
ADVERTISEMENTThe police said that Mangione had a 9 mm handgun that corresponded to that used in the shooting and other articles, including a notebook in which they say that he expressed hostility towards the health insurance industry and rich executives.
