Killing-accused Luigi Mangione expected to plead guilty to federal charges

Luigi Mangione is expected to plead guilty as early as Friday in the federal case accusing him of stalking and killing US health insurance chief executive Brian Thompson.

A person familiar with the case cautioned that Mangione could change his mind.

If he follows through, it would be a stunning development in a case that rattled business leaders while galvanising their critics.

Mangione’s lawyers, and spokespeople for the Justice Department and Manhattan federal prosecutors, declined to comment.

Mangione is accused of travelling to New York City to ambush Mr Thompson, 50, before shooting him outside a Manhattan hotel on December 4 2024, as the executive walked to UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference.

Mangione is due in court on Friday for a hastily scheduled hearing in the federal case, which involves two counts of stalking.

It wasn’t clear what charge or charges Mangione is expected to plead guilty to.

The hearing, in Manhattan federal court, comes as his lawyers have been talking with federal prosecutors about a possible resolution to one of two criminal cases against Mangione over Mr Thompson’s death. Previous talks in June broke down.

Mangione, 28, has been charged in both federal and state court in New York and still faces the possibility of a trial in his unresolved state case.

Mangione’s state murder trial is set to begin September 8 and both sets of charges carried the possibility of a life sentence.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty and has spoken out publicly against the prospect of two trials, telling a judge in February: “It’s the same trial twice. One plus one is two. Double jeopardy by any common-sense definition.”

Under New York law, a state prosecution could be barred if the federal case is resolved first, but it isn’t automatic.

The state’s double jeopardy protections kick in if a jury has been sworn in a prior prosecution, such as a federal case, or if that prosecution ends in a guilty plea.

Obviously, any guilty pleas in these matters must account for the seriousness of the defendant’s offences, the loss of an innocent life, the impact of those crimes on the victim’s family, and the other state interests that are implicated, including the sanctity of life principle that underpins the state homicide charges

Mangione’s cases involve different charges arising from the same course of conduct.

Once Mangione pleads guilty, his lawyers could then ask the judge in the state case to throw out those charges on double jeopardy grounds. State prosecutors argue their case is distinct and double jeopardy shouldn’t apply.

Mangione’s federal charges allege that he travelled across state lines by bus to stalk and kill Mr Thompson and that he used means such as a mobile phone, the internet, interstate highways and staying at a hostel that serves out-of-state customers while planning and carrying out the attack.

The state charges pertain to the killing itself, as well as firearms offences.

In a letter last month, state prosecutors objected to the possibility of a guilty plea in the federal case wiping out the state case.

Assistant Manhattan District Attorney Joel Seidemann wrote: “Obviously, any guilty pleas in these matters must account for the seriousness of the defendant’s offences, the loss of an innocent life, the impact of those crimes on the victim’s family, and the other state interests that are implicated, including the sanctity of life principle that underpins the state homicide charges.”

Mangione’s decision to plead guilty comes after a series of setbacks for his defence.

In January, US District Judge Margaret Garnett took the death penalty off the table but ruled that prosecutors could use items collected from Mangione’s backpack during his arrest as evidence against him.

They included a 3D-printed pistol that investigators said matched the one used to kill Mr Thompson and a notebook in which authorities say Mangione described his intent to kill an insurance executive.

In June, Mangione’s lawyers said they would pursue a psychiatric defence in the state case but reversed course a day later. The defence, involving claims that he was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the killing, isn’t allowed in federal court.

Surveillance video of the killing showed a masked gunman shooting Mr Thompson from behind.

Police say “delay”, “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.

Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometres) west of Manhattan.

He has become a cause celebre for people upset with the health insurance industry.

An online fundraiser for his legal defence fund raised more than 1.5 million dollars (£1.12 million), and several dozen supporters have shown up to his court appearances, some wearing green clothing — the colour worn by the Mario Bros video game character Luigi — and “FREE LUIGI” T-shirts.