Luigi Mangione, the suspect indicted in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, waived his right to an extradition hearing and will be flown back to New York Thursday.
Mangione appeared in Blair County, Pennsylvania, court Thursday morning for a preliminary hearing and to address extradition.
Mangione was attentive during the proceeding, which lasted about an hour, and appeared to smile with his attorney. The hearing ended with Judge David Consiglio ordering that Mangione be taken into the custody of the New York City Police Department, rather than return to Huntingdon State Correctional Institution, where he was being held in Pennsylvania.
After the hearing wrapped, the suspect, dressed in an orange jumpsuit, was ushered out of the courthouse and placed in a black SUV.
Around 10:40 a.m. a motorcade of New York City police and Pennsylvania state police were seen at Altoona-Blair County Airport where Mangione was loaded on a small plane to travel to New York. The flight took off about 10 minutes later.
Mangione is expected to be hit with federal criminal charges in New York today. He’s expected to be brought to federal court in lower Manhattan after landing in New York for an initial appearance.
“Everything we did today was in his best interest. We’re ready now to defend, move forward and start defending these charges in New York, and Pennsylvania,” his attorney, Thomas Dickey, said Thursday outside the Blair County courthouse.
Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks told reporters after the hearing: “He will go forth with New York to await trial or prosecution for his homicide and related charges in New York. We intend to keep our case active and we intend to essentially revisit the case when the defendant is available for prosecution in Blair County.”
Supporters of Mangione were seen outside the court house earlier Thursday morning, some carrying signs that said “Free Luigi.”
Mangione was indicted Tuesday by New York prosecutors on 11 counts in connection with the ambush shooting of Thompson, who was shot on Dec. 4 as he was walking in front of a Midtown Manhattan hotel to speak at a conference.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Tuesday at a news conference that his office had gotten indication that Mangione would waive extradition and that Mangione will be “brought to New York forthwith.”
The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate had been arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 9 following a five-day manhunt. He was charged in Pennsylvania with felony counts of forgery and carrying a firearm without a license, and a misdemeanor count of using fraudulent identification.
New York police have said that Mangione may have targeted Thompson because UnitedHealthcare is one of the largest private health insurers in the country. Mangione had suffered a painful “life-altering injury” to his back, and had griped over corporate America and the health care system, according to his writings and social media presence.
The 11-count indictment out of New York charges him with first-degree murder, two counts of second degree murder — one of which is charged as a killing in the act of terrorism; two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon; four counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon; one count of fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon; and one count of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument, Bragg said in a statement.
Mangione’s Pennsylvania attorney, Dickey, has said he would plead not guilty in the New York and Pennsylvania cases.
Karen Friedman Agnifilo, one of the attorneys representing Mangione on the New York charges, said Wednesday night that they “are ready to fight these charges in whatever court they are brought.”
“The federal government’s reported decision to pile on top of an already overcharged first-degree murder and state terror case is highly unusual and raises serious constitutional and statutory double jeopardy concerns,” she said.
