Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty on Friday to federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Mangione's plea agreement means he will not go to trial in the federal case in 2027. The agreement could also have implications for his separate state murder case, which was scheduled to begin Sept. 8 due to a double jeopardy argument.
The charges stemmed from Thompson’s killing on Dec. 4, 2024, when a masked gunman shot the 50-year-old executive as he walked to a Midtown Manhattan hotel where UnitedHealth Group was holding its annual investor conference.
Police said the gunman approached Thompson from behind and opened fire, continuing to shoot after Thompson fell to the ground. The gunman then fled the scene, triggering a multistate manhunt.
Investigators released several images of the person they were seeking, including surveillance footage showing a man checking into a Manhattan hostel.
They would also eventually share images showing a masked man riding in a taxi.
Mangione, now 28, was arrested five days after Thompson's killing at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania. A customer recognized him from images released by police.
Investigators said they found a gun and notebook that tied Mangione to Thompson's murder.
Mangione was later extradited to New York, where he faced separate state and federal prosecutions. He initially pleaded not guilty in both cases.
Friday's federal plea agreement marks a major turn in a case that has drawn national attention since Thompson's killing.
Public reaction to Mangione has been sharply divided. While the killing was widely condemned, Mangione also attracted a vocal group of supporters — because of his alleged motive. Investigators said he was upset with the U.S. healthcare system when he shot Thompson.
Ammunition recovered from the scene bore the words "delay," "deny" and "depose," an apparent reference to a phrase commonly used by critics to describe tactics they say insurers use to avoid paying claims.
Thompson started with UnitedHealth Group in 2004 and was promoted to CEO of UnitedHealthcare in 2021. During Thompson’s time at the top of UnitedHealthcare, the company’s rate of denials became a focus of investigators in the U.S. Senate. The Senate investigative report said UnitedHealthcare’s denials for post-acute care “surged” from 10.9% in 2020 to 22.7% in 2022.
UnitedHealth Group defended its denial rate in a news release after Thompson’s death, saying the company “approves and pays about 90 percent of medical claims.”
