NEW YORK — Luigi Mangione pleaded not guilty to federal stalking and murder charges on Friday in connection with the Dec. 4 murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
The 26-year-old appeared in Manhattan federal court on Friday, sporting noticeably shorter hair and wearing mustard-colored prison garb over a thermal white shirt. He was seen chatting with his attorneys before Judge Margaret Garnett asked him to stand and make his plea.
Mangione only responded with one-word answers before entering his not guilty plea.
If convicted, Mangione could be sentenced to death. Attorneys for Mangione did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Former U.S. Army analyst and whistleblower Chelsea Manning was among those in the packed courtroom.
During the hearing, defense attorney Karen Agnifilo alerted the judge that someone had inadvertently listened to a call between her and Mangione. The judge requested an update from federal prosecutors next month to ensure Mangione is given appropriate access to calls.
Judge Garnett set the next hearing date for Dec. 5.
Last week, a federal grand jury indicted Mangione on four charges, including two counts of stalking, one count of murder through use of a firearm and a firearms offense for an allegation that he used a silencer.
Mangione is accused of shooting Thompson from behind on a Manhattan sidewalk outside a hotel where the CEO was staying for an investors’ conference. Two spent shell casings found at the scene had the words “deny,” “depose” and “delay” written on them. After a five-day manhunt that garnered national attention, Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Prosecutors filed a notice on Thursday seeking the death penalty for Mangione, weeks after Attorney General Pam Bondi directed them to do so. The prosecutors cited what they believe is the intentional nature of Thompson’s killing, Mangione’s alleged desire “to provoke broad-based resistance” to the healthcare industry, as well as “future dangerousness” that he presents to it.
“Mangione presents a future danger because he expressed intent to target an entire industry, and rally political and social opposition to that industry, by engaging in an act of lethal violence,” the notice read. “And he took steps to evade law enforcement, flee New York City immediately after the murder, and cross state lines while armed with a privately manufactured firearm and silencer.”
Mangione is also facing state charges in New York and Pennsylvania, including first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, two counts of second-degree murder, weapons charges, and a count of using a forged instrument.
He pleaded not guilty to the murder and terrorism charges in New York.