Mangione pleads guilty to killing UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson

Luigi Mangione formally admitted in a Manhattan federal courtroom on Friday that he shot and killed UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson, changing his plea to guilty. The 28-year-old told the judge that he shot Thompson on the morning of December 4 in Manhattan, and that Thompson died as a result. Mangione also pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges, saying he followed the executive to an investor conference in 2024 and killed him on the street. He acknowledged using a ruse to obtain information about the event, contacting the insurance company while posing as an investor from a multibillion-dollar firm.

Asked by U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett if he understood he could spend the rest of his life in prison, Mangione replied 'Yes.' Sentencing is set for December 18. The plea resolves one of two criminal cases against Mangione in connection with Thompson's death. His lawyers are now asking for the separate New York state murder case to be dismissed on double jeopardy grounds.

Defense attorney Karen Friedman said outside court that Mangione has accepted full responsibility for Thompson's death and should not face two prosecutions for a single tragic event. Surveillance footage showed a masked gunman shooting the 50-year-old Thompson from behind. Police said the ammunition bore the words 'delay, deny, depose,' echoing a phrase critics use to describe insurers' tactics for avoiding claims. Authorities also said Mangione's writings criticized insurers as greedy, turning the case into a flashpoint for debate about the health insurance industry and making him a celebrity for some critics.

In court, Mangione said he pursued Thompson after years of severe pain from a broken back and after struggling with obstacles in the health insurance system. Police and the company said Mangione was never a UnitedHealthcare customer. A University of Pennsylvania graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, he was arrested five days after the shooting at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania.

Thompson led one of the largest health insurers in the United States, though he was not widely known outside the industry. An accountant by training, he had worked at parent company UnitedHealth Group for 20 years and became CEO of its insurance arm in 2021. He and his wife had two sons, who were in high school when their father was killed.

Both the federal and state cases could result in a life sentence. A federal judge earlier this year dismissed additional charges that could have exposed Mangione to the death penalty. Under New York law, a state prosecution can be barred if a prior prosecution, such as a federal case, ends in a guilty plea. In a letter last month, state prosecutors objected to the possibility that a federal guilty plea would erase the state case.

Judge Garnett has also ruled against the defense on some issues, allowing prosecutors to use evidence from Mangione's backpack, including a 3D-printed pistol and a notebook in which investigators say he described his intent to kill an insurance executive. In June, defense lawyers said they would pursue a psychiatric defense in the state case but reversed course the next day. That type of defense is not permitted in federal court.