Luigi Mangione's Extradition To NYC On CEO's Murder Charge Delayed

UPDATE: Gov. Kathy Hochul plans to submit a warrant for Mangione’s extradition from Pennsylvania, as Blair County prosecutors have said the New York case should take precedence.

NEW YORK CITY — Luigi Mangione, who faces five charges in Pennsylvania in connection to the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan last week, has now been booked on charges by the Manhattan district attorney as he awaits extradition back to New York City.

He remained jailed in Pennsylvania, where he was initially charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. By late evening, prosecutors in Manhattan had added a charge of murder, according to an online court docket. He is expected to be extradited to New York eventually.

It's unclear whether Mangione has an attorney who can comment on the allegations. Asked at Monday's arraignment whether he needed a public defender, Mangione asked whether he could "answer that at a future date."

In Blair County, Pennsylvania, charges include: firearms not to be carried without a license, forgery, tampering with records, false identification to law enforcement, and possessing an instrument of a crime, Patch previously reported.

When Mangione could be extradited to New York remains uncertain as a Pennsylvania judge could hold an extradition hearing, which could delay the process of bringing the suspect to Manhattan.

Meaning it could take days or weeks.

Mangione was arraigned on Monday in Pennsylvania. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 23, court records show.

Pennsylvania prosecutor Peter Weeks said in court that Mangione was found with a passport and $10,000 in cash, $2,000 of it in foreign currency. Mangione disputed the amount.

Spotted At Pennsylvania McDonald's

Mangione was at an Altoona McDonald's when an employee recognized him from the surveillance photos the NYPD released last week, police officials said Monday.

Altoona police were called, and Mangione was taken in for questioning. That's where police discovered a fake ID card identical to the one the suspect had used to check into a hostel on the Upper West Side before the shooting, a computer, a handwritten manifesto about health care companies, and a gun similar to the one used in the killing.

Mangione is from Maryland, and his most recent home address is in Honolulu, Hawaii, FBI special agent Leslie Rodrigues Backschies said during a press conference.

"At this time, he is believed to be our person of interest in the brazen, targeted murder of Brian Thompson," NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a press conference Monday. "NYPD detectives are en route to Pennsylvania as we speak."

In the past two days, the NYPD has also found two new pieces of evidence — a backpack suspected to belong to the killer and additional photos of the masked suspect exiting a taxi.

In the backpack, authorities found monopoly money and some clothing, according to the New York Daily News.

New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a Manhattan news conference that Mangione was carrying a gun like the one used to kill Thompson and the same fake ID the shooter had used to check into a New York hostel, along with a passport and other fraudulent IDs.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Mangione also had a three-page, handwritten document that shows "some ill will toward corporate America."

Background

A masked gunman shot and killed Thompson, 50, outside Hilton Club The Residences — a large Midtown hotel where the health care company had planned to hold its annual investor day — between 6:44 and 6:45 a.m. on Wednesday.

Minutes later, the gunman hopped on an electric bicycle — which NYPD later confirmed was not a CitiBike — and disappeared into Central Park, Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.

From there, the suspect took a taxi to Port Authority Bus Terminal, according to Kenny.
Police have video of the man entering the bus station but no video of him exiting, leading them to believe he left the city, Kenny said.

Leading up to the shooting, the gunman was staying at the HI New York City Hostel on the Upper West Side, police said.

The only photo of the suspect's face so far is when he removed his mask to speak to the hostel's receptionist, police said.

The FBI has announced a $50,000 reward for information leading to the gunman’s arrest — on top of the combined $10,000 already offered by Crime Stoppers and the police department.

UnitedHealth, based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, is the largest insurer in the United States by market share. As of 2023, it employed or was affiliated with approximately 10 percent of all physicians in the United States.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.