By Julio-Cesar Chavez, Jonathan Allen, Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) -The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealth Group (NYSE:UNH) executive Brian Thompson was charged with federal murder and stalking crimes in a Manhattan courtroom on Thursday, alongside state murder and terrorism charges previously announced by New York prosecutors.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan have charged Luigi Mangione, 26, with the federal crime of murder using a firearm, two charges of stalking and a charge of using an illegal gun silencer, according to a criminal complaint. The complaint accused Mangione of spending months planning an attack driven by his contempt for the health insurance industry and wealthy corporate executives.
Mangione was transferred into the custody of New York City police earlier on Thursday after he waived his right to extradition proceedings at a court hearing in Pennsylvania, the state where he was arrested following a five-day manhunt. Handcuffed and in a bright orange jumpsuit, he was escorted off a helicopter that landed in Lower Manhattan by a large group of police officers, with New York City Mayor Eric Adams, who has called Thompson's killing an outrage, walking a few steps behind.
According to the federal complaint, a notebook found by Altoona, Pennsylvania, police in Mangione's possession contained several handwritten pages that "express hostility towards the health insurance industry and wealthy executives in particular." A notebook entry dated Oct. 22 described an intent to "wack" the chief executive of an insurance company at its investor conference.
"This investor conference is a true windfall," one entry found in the notebook said, according to the complaint. "Most importantly - the message becomes self evident."
Police also found a letter in the suspect's possession addressed "To the Feds" that stated: "I wasn't working with anyone," according to the complaint.
"This was fairly trivial: Some elementary social engineering, basic CAD, a lot of patience," the letter said, using an abbreviation for computer-aided design.
Earlier this week, a grand jury in New York indicted Mangione on 11 counts of breaking state law, including first-degree murder and murder as an act of terrorism, punishable by a maximum sentence of life in prison. Mangione has been in custody since his arrest and has not yet entered a plea. His New York defense lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, has said Mangione has been "overcharged" and that he would fight the charges in court.
Mangione was arrested in Altoona on Dec. 9, five days after Thompson was fatally shot outside a Manhattan hotel before a company conference in what law-enforcement officials have called a premeditated assassination.
While the killing of Thompson has been broadly condemned, Mangione has been feted as a folk hero by some Americans who decry the steep costs of healthcare and the power held by insurance companies to deny paying for some medical treatments.
Federal prosecutors could seek the death penalty for the federal murder charge, a punishment that has been abolished in New York state for decades. If convicted of the silencer charge, Mangione faces a minimum sentence of 30 years in prison.
Prosecutors say Mangione "traveled in interstate commerce" by taking a bus from Atlanta to New York before Thompson's killing and also used his cellphone and the internet to plan and carry out his attack, and so have jurisdiction.
Mangione, changed from an orange jumpsuit he wore in Pennsylvania earlier on Thursday into a blue sweater and beige slacks and with his ankles in chains, made an initial court appearance on the federal charges before U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker in Manhattan on Thursday afternoon.
He spoke briefly to confirm to Parker that he understood his rights and the federal charges. His lawyer told the court that he would not seek to be released on bail, and Parker ordered that he remain in custody. He will be asked to enter a plea at a future hearing.
"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," Mangione's lawyer Friedman Agnifilo said in a statement before Thursday's hearing. "We are ready to fight these charges in whatever court they are brought."
In Pennsylvania, police said Mangione had a self-assembled 9mm handgun in his backpack and a homemade silencer when he was arrested after being spotted at a McDonald's (NYSE:MCD) restaurant. The handgun resembled the weapon used to kill Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, the largest U.S. health insurer.
Mangione, a Maryland native who had lived in Hawaii, also had multiple fake identification documents, including a fake New Jersey ID that was used to check in to a Manhattan hostel days before Thompson's shooting, police said.
In Pennsylvania, Mangione has been charged with forgery and illegally possessing an unlicensed gun.
At the Blair County, Pennsylvania, courthouse on Thursday morning, Mangione had a preliminary hearing for the Pennsylvania charges, immediately followed by a second on New York's extradition request. A small crowd of supporters stood outside the courthouse, some waving signs that condemned the health insurance industry.
The Pennsylvania prosecutors told the court they had agreed to pause the Pennsylvania proceedings until after the conclusion of the New York cases.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office is accusing Mangione of an act of terrorism under New York law because Thompson's killing was intended to intimidate or coerce civilians or "influence the policies of a unit of government."