Luigi Mangione indicted on federal charges in healthcare CEO’s Midtown killing

Luigi Mangione, the alleged Midtown assassin accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel last December, was indicted on federal charges late Thursday.

A grand jury handed down a four-count indictment, charging Mangione with murder with a firearm, two stalking offenses – one involving interstate travel and another involving the use of electronic communications – and a firearms offense for using and discharging a gun equipped with a silencer. The 26-year-old is due to be arraigned on Friday, April 25 in Manhattan federal court.

Prosecutors allege that Mangione, a Maryland resident, traveled to New York in late November 2024 with the intent to stalk and kill Thompson using a silenced firearm. The shooting occurred on Dec. 4 near a hotel on West 52nd St. Mangione was arrested five days later in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and arraigned on state and federal charges later that month in connection with the killing.

If convicted, the murder charge could make Mangione eligible for the federal death penalty—an option U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi confirmed she directed prosecutors to pursue on April 1.

“Mangione’s [alleged] actions involved substantial planning and premeditation, and because the murder took place in public with bystanders nearby, may have posed grave risk of death to additional persons,” Bondi said at the time.

US Attorney General Pam Bondi described the murder of United HealthCare CEO Brian Thompson, allegedly committed by Luigi Mangione, as “a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America” and “an act of political violence.”REUTERS/Craig Hudson/File Photo

Representatives of Mangione’s legal team did not immediately respond to amNewYork’s requests for comment. But in response to Bondi’s directive, Mangione’s attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said they intend to fight both the state and federal charges.

“By seeking to murder Luigi Mangione, the Justice Department has moved from the dysfunctional to the barbaric,” Friedman Agnifilo said in a statement. “Their decision to execute Luigi is political and goes against the recommendation of the local federal prosecutors, the law, and historical precedent.”

The federal charges were initially filed on Dec. 19, 2024, while the Biden administration’s moratorium on federal executions was still in place. That policy was reversed by President Donald Trump upon returning to office on Jan. 20, once again authorizing federal prosecutors to seek capital punishment in eligible cases.

Mangione has previously pleaded not guilty to 11 state charges, including first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism.