The Latest: Luigi Mangione faces new federal charges according to unsealed criminal complaint

The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO faces new federal charges of murder and stalking, escalating the case after his earlier indictment on state charges.

Luigi Mangione agreed to return to New York to face a state murder charge Thursday at a morning court appearance in Pennsylvania where he was arrested after five days on the run.

Here's the latest:

The newly unsealed complaint quotes some of the writings in a notebook prosecutors say was found on Mangione, expressing “hostility towards the health insurance industry and wealthy executives in particular.”

An entry from Aug. 15 said “the target is insurance” because “it checks every box,” according to the filing, while an Oct. 22 entry “describes an intent to ‘wack’ the CEO of one of the insurance companies at its investor conference.”

“This investor conference is a true windfall ... and — most importantly — the message becomes self evident,” the notebook entry read, according to the complaint.

The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO faces new federal charges of murder, stalking and weapons charges, according to a complaint unsealed Thursday.

Luigi Mangione agreed to return to New York to face a state murder charge Thursday at a morning court appearance in Pennsylvania where he was arrested last week after five days on the run. It was unclear when he would be in court on the federal charges.

The federal charges against Luigi Mangione remain sealed, but several people familiar with the matter say the case will be made public in the afternoon. The people spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to release information publicly.

A courtroom had been set aside in a Manhattan federal courthouse for Mangione’s appearance and an overflow courtroom was designated as a location for people to watch the proceeding on video in the event there are more people than can fit in the courtroom.

— Larry Neumeister and Michael R. Sisak

“Because of the defendant’s reversal today and decision to waive his preliminary hearing as well as his extradition, certainly we believe it’s in the interests of justice to turn him over to the New York City police department and Manhattan district attorney’s office, which we did,” the Blair County district attorney told reporters after the hearing in Pennsylvania. “He is now in their custody. He will go forth with New York to await trial or prosecution for his homicide and related charges in New York. We intend to keep our case active and we intend to essentially revisit the case when the defendant is available for prosecution in Blair County.”

Asked at the news conference if he was aware of any planned federal charges against Mangione, Weeks said: “I have not spoken to any federal officials about Mr. Mangione absent casual conversation with a few FBI agents the Monday he was apprehended, and they certainly didn’t discuss any of that with me.”

“Violence to make your point is never acceptable in our country, in our system of justice,” Weeks said.

He appeared to glance at a TV camera but did not say anything.

The black SUV then drove off.

In court in Pennsylvania, Mangione and his lawyer, Tom Dickey, pored over documents, with Mangione occasionally nodding. He was immediately ushered out of the courtroom at the conclusion of the hearings.

Luigi Mangione has added a prominent defense lawyer to his legal team as Manhattan prosecutors work to return him from Pennsylvania to face a murder charge.

Mangione will be represented by Karen Friedman Agnifilo, who was a high-ranking deputy in the Manhattan district attorney’s office for years before entering private practice.

Friedman Agnifilo’s law firm, Agnifilo Intrater LLP, confirmed in a statement late Friday that she had been retained to represent Mangione. The firm said she will not be commenting on the case at this time.

▶ Read more about Mangione’s legal defense team

And reporters are waiting in line to get inside the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania.

A few supporters of Mangione are also in line, holding signs that say “Luigi the people hear you,” “Murder for profit is terrorism” and “Free Luigi.” One man said he came from Ohio to attend the hearings

New York prosecutors are using a 9/11-era anti-terrorism law in their case against the man charged with gunning down UnitedHealthcare’s CEO outside a midtown Manhattan hotel.

Luigi Mangione was indicted on charges of murder as an act of terrorism, under a state law that allows for stiffer sentences when a killing is aimed at terrifying civilians or influencing government.

If it sounds like an unusual application of a terrorism law, it’s not the first time the statute has been applied to a case that wasn’t about cross-border extremism or a plot to kill masses of people.

Mangione is jailed on other charges in Pennsylvania, where he is scheduled to appear at an extradition hearing Thursday that could clear the way for him to be brought to New York.

▶ Read more about the anti-terrorism law and the case surrounding the death of Brian Thompson.

The preliminary hearing on forgery and firearms charges and consideration of a fugitive from justice complaint against Luigi Mangione may not take long.

He is expected to waive extradition, clearing the way for his return to New York, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The person was not authorized to publicly discuss details of the case and spoke to the AP on the condition of anonymity.

Court officials said Mangione will attend the early morning proceedings at the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg. If a judge authorizes his extradition, Mangione would then be brought to New York, where he could appear in state court for arraignment Thursday afternoon or Friday.

▶ Read more about what to expect in Thursday’s Pennsylvania court hearing

Luigi Nicholas Mangione leaves the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pa., Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, Pool)

Luigi Nicholas Mangione leaves the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pa., Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, Pool)

Luigi Nicholas Mangione leaves at the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pa., Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Gary M. Baranec)

A poster depicting Luigi Mangione hangs outside the New York Hilton Midtown hotel, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

Police officers wait for the arrival of Luigi Nicholas Mangione at Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pa., Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, Pool)

NEW YORK (AP) — The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO was whisked back to New York by helicopter Thursday to face new federal charges of murder and stalking, escalating the case after his earlier indictment on state charges.

Luigi Mangione agreed to go back to New York after a morning court appearance in Pennsylvania where he was arrested last week after five days on the run. He was expected in a Manhattan federal court in the afternoon.

After his Pennsylvania court appearance, he was immediately turned over to at least a dozen New York Police Department officers who were in the courtroom and quickly led him to a plane bound for Long Island. He then was taken away by helicopter to Manhattan.

The federal complaint unsealed Thursday charges him with two counts of stalking and one count each of murder through use of a firearm and a firearms offense. A courtroom had been set aside in a Manhattan federal courthouse for Mangione’s hearing.

Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks said Thursday that he wanted to turn Mangione over to New York authorities as soon as possible.

“He is now in their custody. He will go forth with New York to await trial or prosecution for his homicide and related charges in New York," Weeks said.

The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate is accused of ambushing and shooting Brian Thompson on Dec. 4 outside a Manhattan hotel where the head of the United States’ largest medical insurance company was walking to an investor conference.

Authorities have said Mangione was carrying the gun used to kill Thompson, a passport, fake IDs and about $10,000 when he was arrested while eating breakfast on Dec. 9 at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

Mangione, who initially fought attempts to extradite him, made two brief court appearances Thursday, first waiving a preliminary hearing on forgery and firearms charges before agreeing to be sent back to New York.

The state charges there against him include murder as an act of terrorism. He could face life in prison without parole if he’s convicted.

Investigators believe Mangione was motivated by anger toward the U.S. health care system and corporate greed. But he was never a UnitedHealthcare client, according to the insurer.

According to the federal complaint unsealed Thursday, a notebook Mangione was carrying when he was arrested included several handwritten pages expressing hostility toward the health insurance industry and wealthy executives in particular.

An August entry said that “the target is insurance” because “it checks every box,” according to the filing. An entry in October “describes an intent to ‘wack’ the CEO of one of the insurance companies at its investor conference,” the document said.

The killing ignited an outpouring of stories about resentment toward U.S. health insurance companies while also shaking corporate America after some social media users called the shooting payback.

Video showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson, 50, from behind and then firing several more shots. The suspect eluded police despite authorities widely circulating photos of his unmasked face until Mangione was captured in Altoona, about 277 miles (446 kilometers) west of New York.

Mangione, a computer science graduate from a prominent Maryland family, was carrying a handwritten letter that called health insurance companies “parasitic” and complained about corporate greed, according to a law enforcement bulletin obtained by The Associated Press last week.

One of his lawyers has cautioned the public against prejudging the case.

Mangione repeatedly posted on social media about how spinal surgery last year had eased his chronic back pain, encouraging people with similar conditions to speak up for themselves if told they just had to live with it.

In a Reddit post in late April, he advised someone with a back problem to seek additional opinions from surgeons and, if necessary, say the pain made it impossible to work.

“We live in a capitalist society,” Mangione wrote. “I’ve found that the medical industry responds to these key words far more urgently than you describing unbearable pain and how it’s impacting your quality of life.”

He apparently cut himself off from his family and close friends in recent months. His family reported him missing in San Francisco in November. His relatives have said in a statement that they were “shocked and devastated” by his arrest.

Thompson, who grew up on a farm in Iowa, was trained as an accountant. A married father of two high-schoolers, he had worked at the giant UnitedHealth Group for 20 years and became CEO of its insurance arm in 2021.

Sisak and Neumeister reported from New York. Associated Press writers Mike Rubinkam in Allentown, Pennsylvania; and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; contributed.

Luigi Nicholas Mangione leaves at Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pa., Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, Pool)

Luigi Nicholas Mangione leaves at Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pa., Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, Pool)

Luigi Nicholas Mangione leaves at Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pa., Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, Pool)

Luigi Nicholas Mangione leaves at Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pa., Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, Pool)

Luigi Nicholas Mangione leaves at Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pa., Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, Pool)

Luigi Nicholas Mangione leaves at Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pa., Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, Pool)

Luigi Nicholas Mangione arrives at Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pa., Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, Pool)

Luigi Nicholas Mangione is escorted into Blair County Courthouse, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, in Hollidaysburg, Pa. (AP Photo/Gary M. Baranec)

This combo image release by Pennsylvania State Police shows Luigi Mangione, a suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pa., Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. (Pennsylvania State Police via AP)

Suspect Luigi Mangione is taken into the Blair County Courthouse on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, in Hollidaysburg, Pa. (Benjamin B. Braun/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP)