Inside the state and federal charges against the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO

NEW YORK (AP) – A triptych of criminal charges paints a searing, sometimes disjointed portrait of the man accused of ambushes and murders UnitedHealthcare CEO CEO Brian Thompson arrived at a Manhattan hotel for the company’s annual investor conference.

Filed separately in state courts in New York and Pennsylvania and a federal court in Manhattan, and totaling 20 counts, the trademark indictments Luigi Mangione as both a terrorist and a stalker, charging him with carrying a ghost gun and a fake ID, allowing prosecutors to seek life in state prison and the federal death penalty.

On Monday, in the last of three court appearances in five days, the 26-year-old Ivy League graduate pleaded not guilty in New York state court to an indictment charging him with 11 counts related to December 4 murderincluding murder as a terrorist offence.

Mangione’s state arraignment followed back-to-back hearings last Thursday in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested Dec. 9, and in federal court in Manhattan, where a judge ordered him held without bail on murder, weapons and stalking charges.

Mangione’s attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, has argued that the terrorism charges in the state case and the stalking charges in the federal complaint appear to be contradictory. Prosecutors are treating him “like a human ping pong ball and “a kind of spectacle,” she said in court Monday.

Here’s a look at the cases and the charges involved:

New York: 11 cases including a terrorist offence

Mangione’s state indictment alleges that he killed Thompson to “intimidate or coerce” a group of people and influence government policy “by intimidation or coercion.”

It includes three counts of murder, alleging Mangione was killed “in furtherance of terrorism,” as an act of terrorism and with intent, and carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, whose office is prosecuting the case, said last week that the Midtown Manhattan ambush “was a killing intended to induce terror.”

The indictment also charges Mangione with seven counts gun-related counts and one count related to a fake New Jersey driver’s license that prosecutors said he used to check into a Manhattan hostel when he arrived in the city 10 days before the killing.

Prosecutors say they expect the state case to be the first to go to trial.

After his arraignment Monday, Mangione was returned to a federal prison in Brooklyn while state and federal authorities figure out where he will be held while the state case plays out.

Federal: 4 counts including death penalty eligible indictment

A day after Bragg announced Mangione’s state indictment, federal prosecutors added a four-count criminal charge that could bring the death penalty if he is convicted.

The complaint charges two counts of stalking and one count of homicide by use of a firearm and a firearms offense. Firearm homicides carry the possibility of the death penalty, though prosecutors have not said whether they will seek it.

Mangione made his first appearance on the charges before a federal magistrate judge last Thursday, but was not required to enter a plea. The US attorney’s office in Manhattan has until mid-January to secure an indictment from a federal grand jury.

According to the federal complaint, Mangione had a spiral notebook in which he expressed hostility toward the health insurance industry and wealthy executives. UnitedHealthcare is the largest health insurer in the United States, although the company said Mangione was never a customer.

Among the posts, the complaint said, was one from August that said “the target is insurance” because “it checks every box” and one from October that describes an intent to “fool” an insurance company’s CEO.

Pennsylvania: 5 counts, including gun possession and false ID

Mangione was arrested on December 9 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of New York City, and initially charged there with possession of a firearm without a license, forgery and giving false identification to police.

Blair County Peter Weeks said last week that he intends to keep the case active and plans to reopen it once Mangione’s murder charges are ruled.

Mangione was arrested while eating breakfast at an Altoona McDonald’s following a customer noticed that he resembled the person on surveillance footage that police circled Thompson’s killer.

Officers found a gun matching the one used in the shooting, a fake ID and writings expressing hostility toward the health insurance industry, prosecutors said.

Hours later, the Manhattan DA’s office filed paperwork for a warrant for Mangione’s arrest on a charge of murder. Mangione, who is being held without bail in Pennsylvania, started a protracted extradition battle by agreeing to be flown to New York last Thursday.