Luigi Mangione admitted on Friday to tracking down and shooting Brian Thompson in a court hearing where he pleaded guilty to stalking charges in connection with the UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing.
Mangione reversed his previous not-guilty plea while Thompson’s family members looked on from the front row of the downtown Manhattan courthouse. Thompson’s widow, Paulette Thompson, wiped tears from her eyes with a tissue during the plea hearing.
After answering a series of questions from US District Judge Margaret Garnett to assure her he understood the consequences of pleading guilty to federal stalking charges, Mangione read from a statement describing how he found and killed the UnitedHealthcare CEO.
“In the morning on December 4th, 2024, I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan, and he died,” Mangione told the judge. “When I did so, I understood that my actions would place him in fear of death or serious bodily injury.”
“I knew what I was doing,” he continued.
Mangione’s guilty plea applied to two federal charges he faced related to stalking Thompson before the healthcare executive was shot outside a Manhattan hotel.
Garnett will decide Mangione’s sentence on December 18. Mangione will remain in federal jail in Brooklyn until then.
Both charges carry a maximum possible punishment of life in prison without parole. Garnett previously threw out death penalty-eligible murder and firearms charges that had been sought by then-Attorney General Pam Bondi.
In a New York state courthouse down the block, Mangione remains — for now — scheduled to go to trial on September 8 on murder charges from the Manhattan district attorney’s office. He pleaded not guilty to those charges.
Mangione’s attorneys told reporters Friday that they would ask Justice Gregory Carro, the state judge overseeing the state case, to toss the murder charges.
In a statement, Thompson’s family said they would “continue to seek justice.”
“Today’s guilty plea marks an important step toward justice for Brian and for our family. While nothing will ease the pain of losing him, we are grateful that the federal justice system has held the person responsible for this heinous act accountable,” they said. “Now we look to the court to ensure that sentencing reflects the severity of this crime.”
TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP via Getty Images
Court records and Mangione’s social media accounts indicate that the 28-year-old University of Pennsylvania graduate developed a frustration with the American healthcare system following a back injury. Thompson’s killing made Mangione a folk hero to some, who turned him into a symbol of widespread anger about the shortcomings of health insurance companies.
In his statement in court Friday, Mangione took several swipes at UnitedHealthcare as he described finding out the location of the company’s annual investor conference in Manhattan, 3D printing gun parts, and traveling to New York City from outside the state.
“I observed the annual conference of America’s largest healthcare organization, with the stated mission to make the healthcare system work better for everyone, would be attended by executives, the board of directors, and countless investors — not doctors, nurses, and patients,” he said.
Mangione said that, while tracking down Thompson, he emailed UnitedHealthcare “posing as an investor at a firm managing over $15 billion in assets.”
“Unlike my previous interactions with insurers, I received an immediate response,” Mangione said.
A massive five-day manhunt ensued in 2024 after Thompson was gunned down, eventually ending in Mangione’s arrest when local police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, responded to a call that someone matching the suspect shooter’s description was eating breakfast inside a McDonald’s.
