By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-12-19 16:01:28 | Updated at 2024-12-19 18:48:33
2 hours ago
The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealth Group executive Brian Thompson was transferred into the New York Police Department custody on Thursday to face murder charges after he waived his right to extradition proceedings in a Pennsylvania court hearing.
Luigi Mangione, 26, appeared in an orange jail jumpsuit at the Blair County courthouse, where he consented to surrender to the New York police officers who also attended the short hearing. He departed the courthouse in a New York police vehicle and was expected in Manhattan later on Thursday.
A grand jury in New York has indicted Mangione on 11 counts, including first-degree murder and murder as an act of terrorism. Mangione has been in jail since his arrest. His New York defence lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, has declined to comment on the charges against Mangione.
He was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on December 9, five days after Thompson was fatally shot outside a Manhattan hotel before a company conference in what law-enforcement officials have called a premeditated assassination.
While the killing of Thompson has been broadly condemned, Mangione has been feted as a folk hero by some Americans who decry the steep costs of healthcare and the power that insurance companies have to deny paying for some medical treatments.
A small crowd of supporters stood outside the courthouse, some waving signs that condemned the health insurance industry.
