Mangione Pleads Guilty to Federal Charges in UnitedHealthcare CEO’s Murder

Luigi Mangione entered a guilty plea Friday to federal stalking charges connected to the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, resolving one component of a dual prosecution against him. Mangione remains scheduled to face state murder charges at trial beginning September 8.

Thompson, 50, was fatally shot on December 4, 2024, outside a Manhattan hotel as he headed toward UnitedHealth Group’s annual shareholder meeting. Law enforcement apprehended Mangione five days later at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s location in Altoona, roughly 233 miles from the crime scene.

The sequence of events began when prosecutors allege Mangione arrived in New York via Greyhound bus on November 24, 2024, and checked into a hostel using fraudulent identification. Thompson was shot the following week as the executive left his hotel, with surveillance capturing the shooter fleeing through Central Park and boarding an Amtrak train to Philadelphia.

Upon arrest, police discovered a 3D-printed firearm matching the murder weapon and a notebook containing references to harming a health insurance executive. Federal prosecutors initially pursued capital punishment, but U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett barred the death penalty in January 2026 after dismissing the federal murder charge that enabled such prosecution.

Throughout the legal proceedings, state Judge Gregory Carro eliminated terrorism charges in September 2025, removing the possibility of a mandatory life sentence without parole eligibility. The judge subsequently ruled on evidentiary matters regarding items seized from Mangione’s backpack and rejected a proposed psychiatric defense strategy.