Luigi Mangione to Stand Trial for Murder of US Health Insurance Leader

The previous CEO of UnitedHealth Group’s (UNH.N) new tab insurance division, UnitedHealthcare, was killed by Mangione, who has entered a not guilty plea to state and federal charges. On December 4, Thompson was shot and died outside a hotel in Midtown Manhattan where the firm was hosting an investor conference.

Luigi Mangione

Mangione’s Manhattan hearing before Justice Gregory Carro at 9 a.m. EDT (1300 GMT) comes as concerns about a rise in political violence in the United States have been heightened by the murder of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last week.

Later on Tuesday, Tyler Robinson, the suspect in Kirk’s murder, is anticipated to face official charges of state crimes in Utah. Both Democratic and Republican elected representatives have denounced the murder.

Even though public figures from both political parties strongly denounced Thompson’s murder, Mangione has become a folk hero to certain Americans who oppose exorbitant medical expenses.

Mangione’s defense attorneys requested that Carro drop the state case in May, claiming that having to deal with simultaneous prosecutions went against his constitutional right to be charged twice for the same offense.

The defense team, headed by former Manhattan state prosecutor Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said, “Prosecutors are trying to get two bites at the apple to convict Mr. Mangione.”

Mangione faces a possible life sentence for the terrorism-related murder accusation in state court. Mangione’s goal, according to prosecutors in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, was to scare employees in the health insurance sector and start a revolution in American healthcare.

In the federal prosecution, Mangione is accused of stalking Thompson across state lines and murdering him; the Justice Department is requesting the death sentence.

The two lawsuits, according to Mangione’s attorneys, are founded on opposing ideas. In their request, they said that their client would incriminate himself in the federal case if he were to potentially defend himself against the state charges by claiming his actions were meant to target a specific person rather than to incite fear.

Prosecutors from Bragg’s office responded to Mangione’s move to dismiss in June, stating that Mangione had no grounds to claim it was unjust that a possible defense in one case may jeopardize his defense in another. “The unpleasant options facing this defendant arise … out of his own depraved actions,” prosecutors said.

Neither the federal lawsuit nor the state case has set trial dates yet. Since his arrest in December, Mangione has been detained in federal detention in Brooklyn.