Family members of Brian Thompson depart federal court after Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, in New York, on August 14, 2026 | AFP
Luigi Mangione admitted Friday to gunning down a top US health insurance boss in a Manhattan street as he pleaded guilty to stalking charges before a federal judge.
In a crime that shook corporate America and gripped the country, 28-year-old Mangione is alleged to have murdered chief executive of UnitedHealthcare Brian Thompson, 50, in December 2024 to protest the US insurance system.
“On the morning of December 4, I shot Mr Thompson in Manhattan and he died,” Mangione told a federal judge as he pleaded guilty to stalking his victim. He will be sentenced on December 18 and prosecutors said they would seek a life term.
He had been facing the stalking charges in the federal system, alongside murder charges in the New York state system but Mangione’s lawyers called Friday for the state charges to be dropped to prevent him being prosecuted twice for the same conduct.
