Luigi Mangione is ready to be arraigned Friday on federal expenses, together with homicide and stalking, within the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, allegations that might get him the dying penalty if convicted.
Prosecutors filed formal discover forward of the 1 p.m. listening to that they intend to hunt the dying penalty. A federal grand jury in Manhattan returned the four-count indictment in opposition to Mangione final week.
It features a cost of homicide by way of use of a firearm, which carries the potential of the dying penalty. The indictment, which mirrors a felony grievance introduced after Mangione’s arrest final December, additionally expenses him with stalking and a gun offense.
Mangione’s attorneys have argued that U.S. Legal professional Basic Pam Bondi’s announcement this month ordering prosecutors to hunt the dying penalty was a “political stunt” that corrupted the grand jury course of and disadvantaged him of his constitutional proper to due course of.
Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate from a outstanding Maryland actual property household, faces separate federal and state homicide expenses after authorities stated he gunned down Thompson, 50, outdoors a Manhattan resort on Dec. 4 as the manager arrived for UnitedHealthcare’s annual investor convention.
Surveillance video confirmed a masked gunman capturing Thompson from behind. Police say the phrases “delay,” “deny” and “depose” had been scrawled on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase generally used to explain how insurers keep away from paying claims.
The killing and ensuing five-day search resulting in Mangione’s arrest rattled the enterprise group, with some well being insurers deleting photographs of executives from their web sites and switching to on-line shareholder conferences. On the similar time, some medical health insurance critics have rallied round Mangione as a stand-in for frustrations over protection denials and hefty medical payments.