Gothamist, Samantha Max, Feb 21, 2025

The man accused of fatally shooting a UnitedHealthcare executive in Midtown last December is scheduled to appear in state court on Friday afternoon.

Luigi Mangione, 26, has pleaded not guilty to multiple state charges, including first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism and illegal weapons possession. He also pleaded not guilty to murder, a firearms offense and stalking in federal court. Prosecutors and the NYPD commissioner have condemned the killing, while some who are frustrated with the health care industry have called Mangione a hero.

Prosecutors said the Ivy League graduate traveled to New York City for UnitedHealthcare’s investor conference, waited outside CEO Brian Thompson’s hotel, shot him in the back and then fled. Police found him days later in Pennsylvania, after scouring through hundreds of hours of surveillance footage. When law enforcement arrested him, according to a federal charging document, they found a loaded 9 mm pistol, a fake ID, thousands of dollars in cash and a letter addressed “To the Feds.” Prosecutors said they also found a notebook in which he wrote about the investor conference and plans to “whack” an insurance company CEO.

Friday’s state court appearance is expected to be a routine check-in on the case’s status. Gary Galperin, a former prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney’s office, said a judge will likely ask about whether prosecutors are properly sharing evidence with Mangione’s defense attorneys. He said the judge will also probably ask the defense about any motions that they’ve already filed or plan to file in the future.

A key legal question Galperin has is whether Mangione plans to use a psychiatric defense. New York law allows criminal defendants to argue that they shouldn’t be held responsible because of mental illness at the time of the crime. Galperin said the law would allow Mangione to argue that, if he did shoot Thompson, he didn’t realize it was wrong in the moment. He said Mangione could also argue that he was experiencing an extreme emotional disturbance — in other words, that he had some sort of understandable reason to use violence. A common example, he said, would be someone killing their spouse after catching them in an affair. But he said it would be difficult for Mangione to argue that being disenchanted with the health care system gave him a legitimate reason to single out a CEO.

“It’s a tough sell to a jury, in my opinion,” said Galperin, who now teaches at Cardozo School of Law.

Read More: Gothamist