Accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione expected to waive extradition at PA court hearing, head today to NYC

Luigi Mangione has arrived at a Pennsylvania courtroom, where he is expected to waive extradition this morning and then appear as early as this afternoon in New York on murder and terrorism charges for the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

The 26-year-old Maryland man, who arrived at the Blair County courthouse in an orange jumpsuit around 7:30 a.m., faces an 11-count indictment in Manhattan that was handed up Tuesday, including charges of first-degree murder, second-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, an additional murder count, multiple firearm charges and forgery.

If convicted on the top counts, he faces life in prison without parole.

In a new development. federal prosecutors in Manhattan are also considering bringing charges against Mangione, a source told The News. Mangione could be eligible for the death penalty under federal law, which is a not an option under New York state law.

Nicholas Biase, a spokesman for the Manhattan U.S. attorney, declined comment.

Reached for comment, Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Agnifilo, said, “The federal government’s reported decision to pile on top of an already overcharged first-degree murder and state terror case is highly unusual and raises serious constitutional and statutory double jeopardy concerns. We are ready to fight these charges in whatever court they are brought.”

There will be two proceedings Thursday. In the first, Mangione will appear on Pennsylvania charges of carrying a firearm without a license, forgery, and giving cops a fake ID after he was identified at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa., on Dec. 9. He’s not expected to be tried on those charges before his New York case concludes.

The second hearing will address the extradition request.

The University of Pennsylvania graduate is accused of gunning down Thompson, 50, on W. 54th St. near Sixth Ave. as the CEO arrived for an annual investor conference at the Midtown Hilton early on Dec. 4 and fleeing the state.

In court filings, prosecutors said two discharged shell casings bore the words “deny” and “depose,” and a bullet featured the word “delay,” in an apparent reference to the health insurance industry routinely denying medical care to maximize profits.

The cops also allege Mangione had a “manifesto” laying out his reasons for the killing. He allegedly wrote that insurers had “simply gotten too powerful,” continuing to “abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has [allowed] them to get away with it.”

While Mangione’s apparent anger toward the health insurance industry has touched off support and sympathy for the accused killer, the DA and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch at a press conference earlier this week decried that with Tisch saying authorities had tracked a “shocking and appalling celebration of cold-blooded murder.”

Authorities say Mangione’s mother reported him missing to the San Francisco police department in November and that an officer handling the missing person case recognized him in widely-circulated surveillance images after the shooting and contacted the FBI.

NYPD officials on Tuesday said they made contact with Mangione’s mother on Dec. 7, who said she didn’t know if it was him in the pictures but that the shooting “might be something that she could see him doing.”

Within 48 hours, the McDonald’s patron recognized him more than 200 miles from the scene, prompting a worker to call 911, according to police.

This developing story will be updated. Wire reports from the Associated Press are included.