Luigi Mangione admitted to the cold-blooded killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, pleading guilty Friday to federal stalking charges, as the slain executive’s widow cried silently in the courtroom gallery.
“I shot Mr. Thompson in Manhattan and he died,” Mangione, 28, said in Manhattan federal court, reading from a written letter.
Mangione drew glares from Thompson’s relatives as he walked into the courtroom with his hands uncuffed behind his back, but his ankles shackled, wearing a beige prison jumpsuit with a long-sleeved white shirt rolled up to his elbows.
Mangione could still end up serving life behind bars as prosecutors are expected to seek the maximum penalty on the federal charges. Obtained by NY Post
Prosecutors say Luigi Mangione gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a father of two, on a Midtown sidewalk in December 2024. Linkedin / Brian Thompson
Several of Thompson’s relatives, including his widow, sat in the second row of the courtroom, eyed the accused killer as he strolled in, took a seat and intently read, and then signed, a document with lawyers.
“Mr. Mangione is prepared to plead guilty to the indictment at this time,” defense attorney Karen Agnifilo told the judge.
Mangione looked solemn, close to choking up, as he said “yes” to a series of questions about the legal specifics of his plea.
Paulette Thompson, wife of late UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, walks outside Manhattan Criminal Court following a hearing in the federal murder trial of Luigi Mangione in New York City on Friday, August 14, 2026. REUTERS
Paulette Thompson outside the Thurgood Marshall United States Courthouse on Friday. Getty Images
He nodded his head slightly when Judge Margaret Garnett told him that the maximum sentence he could face is a potential life sentence.
The defiance that defined Mangione’s alleged “manifesto” detailing his ax to grind with the health insurance industry had seemingly seeped away in the courtroom.
The now-admitted killer’s written speech methodically detailed his grudges over enduring years of severe back pain and eventual plot against Thompson.
He revealed that he even posed as an investor at a firm managing $150 million in assets in an email to UnitedHealthcare leadership to score details about their 2024 conference in New York City.
“Before traveling to New York, I used a 3-D printer to make a gun,” he said. “I equipped the gun with a silencer and a magazine.”
Family members of late UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside the Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday. Getty Images
Mangione had been set to begin his federal court trial in January on the two counts — interstate stalking resulting in death and stalking through use of interstate facilities resulting in death.
He’ll now face a sentencing hearing on Dec. 18.
Mangione is still charged with murder in the second-degree, criminal possession of a forged instrument, also in the second-degree, and multiple counts of criminal possession of a weapon in state court.
Family of late UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, including his wife Paulette (second from left), outside the Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday. Getty Images
Thompson’s family members leaving the hearing into media commotion outside the Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday. REUTERS
Jury selection for his state trial is set to kick off on Sept. 8.
His lawyers confirmed after the plea hearing that they’ll file a motion in state court arguing it’d constitute double jeopardy if he’s convicted in that case.
Here’s the latest on accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione’s murder trial
US District Judge Margaret Garnett warned Mangione on Friday that his potential sentence in the state case could come consecutively.
Mangione has attracted a fawning army of unhinged fangirls since the December 2024 killing outside a Manhattan hotel.
Mangione, 28, pleaded guilty to federal stalking resulting in death charges in a bid to spare him from the death penalty and to have his state charges tossed. REUTERS
The Maryland prep school alum was charged with stalking Thompson, 50, a father of two, leading to his violent death on a Midtown sidewalk. He was not charged with murder in the federal case.
He then led authorities on a dramatic five-day manhunt before local cops in Altoona, Pa. finally nabbed him while he was eating breakfast at a local McDonald’s.
Defense lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo speaks to the media outside Manhattan Criminal Court following a hearing in the federal murder trial of Luigi Mangione. SARAH YENESEL/EPA/Shutterstock
Jamie McDonald (center), the US attorney for the Southern District in NY, speaks to the media alongside NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch (left) and Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI NY Field Office James Barnacle Jr. (right) following a hearing in the federal murder trial of Luigi Mangione in New York City. SARAH YENESEL/EPA/Shutterstock
Prosecutors say Mangione penned a “manifesto” detailing motive to kill the UnitedHealthcare CEO outside the company’s annual investor conference was a way to “rebel against the deadly, greed-fueled health insurance cartel.”
They say he plotted the shocking public murder to make a violent political statement, leaving behind bullet casings at the scene with the words “delay” and “deny” etched into them, a nod to language insurers allegedly use to dodge paying out customers’ claims.
Attendees leave Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday. REUTERS
He allegedly wrote that other high-level executives of insurance providers were fair game because the industry “literally extracts human life force for money.”
Mangione’s anti-corporate views have elevated him to a folk hero in extreme leftist circles as political violence has become increasingly accepted as a twisted means to their desired end.
Outside the courthouse, a man rode past after Mangione’s plea screaming twisted words of support.
“America loves Luigi!” the man yelled.