Luigi Mangione charged with murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO, challenges extradition to NYC
The 26-year-old had a gun believed to be the one used in the killing and writings suggesting his anger with corporate America
ALTOONA, Pennsylvania (WABC) -- Luigi Mangione challenged his extradition to New York City during a brief hearing before a judge Tuesday and has been remanded in Pennsylvania without bail.
The defense was given 14 days to file a formal challenge to extradition so he can face second-degree murder and other charges in New York.
Mangione was disgruntled as he entered court, shouting "this is clearly an injustice and an insult to the intelligence of the American people."
At one point during the hearing, Mangione tried to interject while his attorney was attempting to convince the judge to release him on bail. He was discussing the $8,000 on US currency Mangione was allegedly found with and the $2,000 in foreign currency.
"Don't say a word," defense attorney Thomas Dickey instructed his client.
Dickey, who was retained by Mangione, said his client is refusing to waive extradition because it is his constitutional right to do so.
"He has constitutional rights and that's what he's doing," Dickey said. "If you believe in America and that presumption of innocence you can't rush to judgment."
Dickey said he has limited information about the facts of the New York murder case but he conceded Mangione is "accused of some serious matters." He added that Mangione is "taking it as well as he can."
During his own press conference hours after the hearing, Dickey said his client had pleaded not guilty to the charges in Pennsylvania, but said he was "unaware" of the New York charges.
"Listen. I haven't seen any evidence that says that he's the shooter," Dickey said.
Asked about the outpouring of support, even admiration, for Mangione Dickey responded, "People are entitled to their opinion."
Governor Kathy Hochul's office says it will issue an arrest warrant to secure Mangione's extradition to Manhattan.
"I am coordinating with the District Attorney's Office and will sign a request for a governor's warrant to ensure this individual is tried and held accountable," Hochul said in a statement. "Public safety is my top priority and I'll do everything in my power to keep the streets of New York safe."
Mangione considered the killing of Brian Thompson to be a "symbolic takedown" of United Healthcare over perceived corruption, according to a confidential assessment of the crime by the NYPD intelligence bureau described to ABC News.
"He appeared to view the targeted killing of the company's highest ranking represented as a symbolic takedown and a direct challenge to its alleged corruption and 'power games,'" the assessment said, according to a source.
The assessment is based in part on the suspect's writings. Mangione allegedly described himself as the "first to face" United Healthcare "with such brutal honesty
The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland real estate family was taken into custody Monday after police got a tip that he was eating at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
RELATED | Man recalls CEO murder suspect being spotted at Pennsylvania McDonald's
On Tuesday, Pennsylvania State Police released a new photograph of Mangione, wearing a blue medical mask, dark jacket and brown beanie, and eating what appears to be a McDonald's hash brown, to jog anyone's memory who may have seen him in Pennsylvania since last Wednesday
Along with a second-degree murder charge, he also has three gun charges -including unlawful possession of a loaded firearm and possession of a suppressor -- and a charge of possession of a forged instrument.
The forged instrument is the fake New Jersey driver's license he allegedly used to check into the hostel on the Upper West Side.
Thompson died of a gunshot wound to the torso, according to the arrest warrant for Mangione, which is based in large part on surveillance footage from the hostel, the fake license and the ghost gun.
Arresting officers in Altoona also found a "semi-automatic pistol with what appears to be a 3-D printed loaded receiver with a metal slide and silencer, and written admissions about the crime," the warrant said.
Asked by the judge if he would like a public defender or retain private counsel on Monday, Mangione asked if he could answer that question at a future date. He declared that he had no drug or mental health history that the court should be aware of, and denied he was in possession of $8,000 cash plus additional foreign currency at the time of his arrest.
Asked if he was in contact with family, Mangione said "until recently."
Investigators are closely analyzing a three-page, 262-word handwritten document recovered in Mangione's possession at the time of the arrest.
In it, officials say Mangione takes responsibility for the murder and names UnitedHealthcare as a target of his larger ire with the health care system places profits over care.
"To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn't working with anyone," he writes off the top. The document indicates he was self-funded.
"These parasites had it coming," one line reads, concluding industry companies "continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allowed them to get away with it."
"I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done."
The suspect made a reference to UnitedHealthcare as "United," noting its size and amount of market capitalization. Brian Thompson was not specifically mentioned.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said the document did not include specific threats but indicated "ill will towards corporate America."
Police are now looking at Mangione's travel at various points across the United States and out of the county within the past year, the sources said.
A grandson of a wealthy, self-made real estate developer and philanthropist, Mangione is a cousin of a current Maryland state legislator. Mangione was valedictorian at his elite Baltimore prep school, where his 2016 graduation speech lauded his classmates' "incredible courage to explore the unknown and try new things."
He went on to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a spokesperson said.
"Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi's arrest," Mangione's family said in a statement posted on social media late Monday by his cousin, Maryland lawmaker Nino Mangione. "We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved."
The mother of Mangione filed in November a missing person report in San Francisco, seeking info on the 26-year-old, according to two law enforcement sources.
Repeated requests for information about the report went unanswered by the San Francisco Police Department. Both the chief and the spokesman referred questions to the NYPD.
RELATED | Timeline of UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting
The Associated Press and ABC News contributed to this report.
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