Luigi Mangione pleads not guilty to murder, weapons charges

NEW YORK (AP) - Luigi Mangione, the man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month in New York City, pleaded not guilty on Monday to murder and terror charges while his attorney complained that statements coming from New York City Mayor Eric Adams would make it tough to receive a fair trial.

Mangione, 26, was shackled and seated in a Manhattan court when he leaned over to a microphone to enter his plea. The Manhattan district attorney formally charged him last week with multiple counts of murder, including murder as an act of terrorism, in a state case that will run parallel to his federal prosecution.

His initial appearance in New York State Supreme Court was preempted by federal prosecutors bringing their own charges over the shooting. The federal charges could carry the possibility of the death penalty, while the maximum sentence for the state charges is life in prison without parole.

Prosecutors have said the two cases will proceed on parallel tracks, with the state charges expected to go to trial first. One of Mangione’s attorneys told the judge that government officials, including Mayor Adams, have turned Mangione into a political pawn, robbing him of his rights as a defendant and tainting the jury pool.

"I am very concerned about my client’s right to a fair trial," said Karen Friedman Agnifilo.

The mayor and top police official stood among a throng of heavily armed officers last Thursday when Mangione was flown to a Manhattan heliport and slowly escorted up a pier after being extradited from Pennsylvania.

Friedman Agnifilo has accused federal and state prosecutors of advancing conflicting legal theories, calling their approach confusing and highly unusual.

"He is being treated like a human pingpong ball between warring jurisdictions here," she said Monday.

State trial court Judge Gregory Carro responded that he has little control over what happens outside the courtroom, but said he can guarantee that Mangione will receive a fair trial.

According to authorities, Mangione shot and killed Thompson on the morning of Dec. 4 as he was walking to an investor conference in midtown Manhattan.

Mangione was arrested inside a Pennsylvania McDonald’s after a five-day search, carrying a gun that matched the one used in the shooting and a fake ID, police said. He also was carrying a notebook expressing hostility toward the health insurance industry and especially wealthy executives, according to federal prosecutors.

An Ivy-league graduate from a prominent Maryland family, Mangione appeared to have cut himself off from family and friends in recent months. He posted frequently in online forums about his struggles with back pain. He was never a UnitedHealthcare client, according to the insurer.

Thompson, a married father of two high-schoolers, worked at the giant UnitedHealth Group for 20 years and became CEO of its insurance arm back in 2021.