Inside the charges against man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO

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NEW YORK — A triptych of criminal charges paints a searing, sometimes disparate portrait of the man accused of ambushing and killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO Brian Thompson as the executive arrived at a Manhattan hotel for his company’s annual investor conference.

Filed separately in state courts in New York and Pennsylvania, and a federal court in Manhattan, and totaling 20 counts, the charges brand Luigi Mangione as both a terrorist and a stalker, accuse him of carrying a ghost gun and a fake ID, and enable prosecutors to seek life in state prison and the federal death penalty.

On Monday, in the last of three court appearances in five days, the 26-year-old Mangione pleaded not guilty in New York state court to an indictment charging him with 11 counts in connection with the Dec. 4 killing, including murder as a crime of terrorism.

Mangione’s state court arraignment followed back-to-back hearings last Thursday in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested Dec. 9, and in federal court in Manhattan, where a judge ordered him jailed without bail on murder, gun and stalking charges.

Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, has argued that the terrorism allegations in the state case and stalking charges in the federal complaint appear to be at odds. Prosecutors are treating him “like a human ping-pong ball” and “some sort of spectacle,” she said in court Monday.

Here’s a look at the cases and the charges involved:

New York: 11 counts including terrorism offence

Mangione’s state court indictment alleges he killed Thompson to “intimidate or coerce” a group of people and influence government policy “by intimidation or coercion.”

It includes three counts of murder, alleging Mangione killed “in furtherance of terrorism,” as an act of terrorism and with intent, and carries a maximum sentence of life in prison.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office is prosecuting the case, said last week that the midtown Manhattan ambush “was a killing that was intended to evoke terror.”

The indictment also charges Mangione with seven gun-related counts and one count related to a fake New Jersey driver’s licence that prosecutors said he used to check into a Manhattan hostel when he arrived in the city 10 days before the killing.

Prosecutors say they anticipate the state case will be the first to go to trial.

After his arraignment Monday, Mangione was returned to a federal jail in Brooklyn while state and federal authorities sort out where he’ll be detained while the state case plays out.

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Federal: 4 counts including death penalty-eligible charge

A day after Bragg announced Mangione’s state indictment, federal prosecutors upped the ante with a four-count criminal complaint that could bring the death penalty if he is convicted.

The complaint charges two counts of stalking and one count each of murder through use of a firearm, and a firearms offence. Murder through use of a firearm carries the possibility of the death penalty, though prosecutors have not said if they will seek it.

Mangione made an initial appearance on the charges before a federal magistrate judge last Thursday but was not required to enter a plea. The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan has until mid-January to secure an indictment from a federal grand jury.

According to the federal complaint, Mangione had a spiral notebook in which he expressed hostility toward the health insurance industry and wealthy executives. UnitedHealthcare is the largest health insurer in the U.S., though the company said Mangione was never a client.

Among the entries, the complaint said, was one from August that said “the target is insurance” because “it checks every box” and one from October that describes an intent to “wack” an insurance company CEO.

Pennsylvania: 5 counts, including gun possession

Mangione was arrested on Dec. 9 in Altoona, Pa., about about 370 km west of New York City, and initially charged there with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police.

Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks said last week that he intends to keep the case active and plans to revisit it once Mangione’s murder charges are adjudicated.

Mangione was arrested while eating breakfast at an Altoona McDonald’s after a customer noticed that he looked like the person in surveillance photos that police were circulating of Thompson’s killer.

Officers found a gun that matched the one used in the shooting, a fake ID and writings that expressed hostility toward the health insurance industry, prosecutors said.

Hours later, the Manhattan DA’s office filed paperwork for a warrant for Mangione’s arrest on a murder charge. Mangione, who was held without bail in Pennsylvania, headed off a protracted extradition fight by agreeing to be flown to New York last Thursday.