More than a year after the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 28-year-old Luigi Mangione confessed to the killing in his own words as he pleaded guilty to federal charges in court Friday – a move that raises questions about the future of his upcoming state murder trial.
“On the morning of December 4, 2024, I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan and he died,” Mangione said as he sat in a federal courtroom flanked by his defense attorneys. He spoke calmly – and expressed no remorse for murdering the 50-year-old healthcare executive and father of two as Thompson’s family members, including his widow, sat in the front row of the courtroom and held one another.
The change of plea is a stunning development in a case that has captured national attention and exposed deep-seated frustration with the American healthcare system, as Mangione amassed a horde of devoted followers who sympathized with his cause and held him up as a kind of folk hero.
Mangione faced both state and federal charges: His guilty plea staves off his federal trial on two stalking charges, which had been scheduled for January 2027. But the fate of Mangione’s state case, set to go to trial next month, now hangs in the balance as his attorneys seek to get second-degree murder and weapons charges dismissed over double jeopardy protections.
