A grinning Luigi Mangione appeared to yuk it up in a Manhattan courtroom Monday as he pleaded not responsible to first-degree homicide of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Mangione, 26, walked into Manhattan Supreme Court docket at 9:26 a.m. together with his toes chained, sporting a maroon sweater over a white collared shirt, tan khakis, and orange jail sneakers – an outfit that partly, and oddly, matched the apparel of his lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo.
A minimum of two dozen girls packed the courtroom for the twisted heartthrob, with simply six males watching on.
“How do you plead to this indictment, sir? Responsible or not responsible,” requested a courtroom clerk.
“Not responsible,” Mangione replied.
Throughout the listening to, Mangione flashed a smile and regarded across the courtroom with furrowed brows and a smoldering expression.
Agnifilo, argued earlier than Decide Carro and Assistant District Legal professional Joel Seidemann that she was “very involved” about her “purchasers’ proper to a good trial.”
“He’s being prejudiced by some statements made by authorities officers,” Agnifilo stated.
“He’s a younger man and he’s being handled like a human ping pong ball.”
Agnifilo, who arrived at 100 Centre Road at 8:30 am, beside her husband Marc Agnifilo, then slammed Mayor Adams and the NYPD for Mangione’s perp stroll final week — calling Adam’s look “unconstitutional.”
“The mayor ought to know greater than anybody concerning the presumption of innocence… he was making an attempt to distract from these points,” she stated.
What we all know concerning the capturing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
- Brian Thompson, the CEO of insurance coverage big UnitedHealthcare, was gunned down Wednesday outdoors a luxurious Midtown resort in a “brazen, focused assault,” police stated.
- Thompson was named CEO of UnitedHealth in April 2021. He joined the corporate in 2004. He was considered one of a number of senior executives on the firm below investigation by the Division of Justice.
- Thompson’s spouse, Paulette, stated her husband had been getting threats earlier than he was killed.
- Thompson’s capturing led to sick assist on-line, and even spurred a tasteless lookalike competitors in NYC.
- An individual of curiosity has been nabbed by cops inside a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa.
- The suspect has been recognized as Luigi Mangione, 26, initially from Towson, Md. He’s an Ivy League graduate who hated the medical neighborhood.
The dramatic perp stroll got here after Mangione arrived within the Huge Apple final week by helicopter after a transient extradition listening to in Pennsylvania.
He had been anticipated to be arraigned in state courtroom after his indictment on 11 counts, together with first-degree homicide in furtherance of terrorism.
However, to the shock of his legal professionals, the Ivy Leaguer was carted to a Manhattan federal courtroom for arraignment on a parallel leveled by the feds with the Southern District of New York.
The shock federal case got here after medical health insurance trade leaders leaned on the Division of Justice to take up the case towards Mangione as a deterrent towards copycat killers, sources have advised The Put up.
Mangione might face the dying penalty within the federal case.
The alleged murderer will stay within the federal Metropolitan Detention Heart in Brooklyn even because the Southern District prosecutors stated they’ll let native DAs get first crack at Mangione within the courtroom, stated Seidemann, the assistant district lawyer.
“They’re permitting us to attempt our case first,” Seidemann advised the courtroom.
As Mangione exited the courtroom, one girl supporter shyly flashed him a thumbs up. Outdoors, greater than 30 supporters of Mangione chanted and held indicators in assist of the accused killer.
The suspect fled the 5 boroughs after allegedly capturing Thompson, 50, with a ghost gun Dec. 4 outdoors the Hilton resort in Midtown earlier than taking off on a bicycle and hopping a prepare out of dodge.
After a five-day nationwide manhunt, Mangione was busted in Altoona, Pennsylvania, the place he stopped at an area McDonald’s after getting off a Greyhound bus that was passing by way of city.
An Ivy League graduate from a rich Baltimore household, authorities stated Mangione deliberate the homicide months prematurely over a gripe with the “parasitic” medical health insurance trade.
Since then, the accused killer has obtained sick assist from individuals angered on the healthcare trade.
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