Luigi Mangione, the accused assassin of United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson, will be back in a Manhattan courtroom on Monday for a pre-trial hearing just days before the one-year anniversary of the killing.
The hearing will take place before Acting Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro at the criminal courthouse in Lower Manhattan on Dec. 1 in advance of Mangione’s state murder trial. He is also being prosecuted for the shooting in federal court.
During Monday’s hearing, ABC News reported, Mangione’s attorneys are expected to argue against certain evidence that prosecutors for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg intend to present before the jury. The evidence includes writing in a notebook Mangione kept, excerpts of which have already gone public, which seemed to establish an apparent motive for the assassination.
Mangione is accused of shooting Thompson dead outside a hotel on West 52nd Street in Midtown on the morning of Dec. 4, 2024, in a crime that stunned the nation.
Prosecutors said Thompson, a Minnesota resident who was in town for a conference, was ambushed by a killer who lay in wait and shot him dead with bullets inscribed with the words “Deny, Defend, Depose” — common jargon used by health insurance companies in protesting certain claims.
Mangione, who resided in Maryland, apparently traveled to New York days earlier and allegedly shot Thompson dead with a 3D-printed ghost gun. Following a nationwide manhunt, he was picked up by police days later in Altoona, PA, and subsequently extradited to the Big Apple.
The killing set off not only a media circus but also a theater of the absurd. Groupies, including many young women, have attended the photogenic Mangione’s court appearances wearing “Free Luigi” shirts and holding signs proclaiming his alleged innocence, expressing outrage over the healthcare industry in America.
The alleged assassin’s appearance in court on Monday is expected to once again draw his fans and heighten the public spectacle.
Mangione most recently appeared in state court in September, arriving in federal prison garb while completely shackled. His lawyers were able to convince Judge Carro to toss out the terrorism charges against him.
Regardless of the outcome of the state trial, Mangione faces federal prosecution for murder and interstate gun charges. He could face the death penalty if convicted in federal court.
