I Shot Thompson and He Died,” Luigi Mangione Emotionlessly Pleads Guilty to Murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO

Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty to federal charges brought against him over the murder of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare.

The plea was entered during a hastily arranged hearing in Manhattan federal court. With the plea, Mangione brought one of the two cases against him over Thompson’s death to a close.

In court, he admitted that in 2024 he had followed the executive to an investor conference before shooting him on a New York street. Mangione also said he had used deception to obtain information about the event: he had previously contacted the health insurance company and posed as an investor from a multibillion-dollar company.

“On the morning of December 4, 2024, I shot Thompson in Manhattan and he died,” Mangione said. Paulette, the victim’s wife, watched the proceedings in tears and was visibly shaken.

Mangione is expected to be sentenced on December 18. When the federal judge asked whether he understood that he could spend the rest of his life in prison, he replied almost indifferently: “Yes.”

During Friday’s hearing, Mangione said he had attacked Thompson “after suffering for years from severe pain caused by a broken spine and trying to overcome barriers in the health insurance system.”

According to police and the company, Mangione has never been a UnitedHealthcare customer. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and comes from a wealthy family in Maryland.

He was arrested five days after the shooting after being identified at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, approximately 230 miles west of Manhattan.

Meanwhile, Mangione’s lawyers are seeking the dismissal of the separate murder case that remains pending in New York state. Their request is based on the principle of double jeopardy.

Both the federal and state proceedings could result in a life sentence for Mangione.