Luigi Mangione admits guilt, explains why he targeted UnitedHealthcare CEO

Luigi Mangione has pleaded guilty to two federal stalking charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. In a statement read aloud to the court, Mangione admitted to planning the attack, crossing state lines with the intent to kill, and using a gun he printed on a 3-D printer. According to KBC, he told the court he was driven to kill Thompson because of his experience with the healthcare system.

Thompson, 50, was shot from behind on December 4, 2024, as he walked into a hotel in midtown Manhattan. Mangione, 28, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for the federal charges. He also faces state charges, but his lawyers are seeking to have those dismissed following his guilty plea. After the plea hearing, Thompson's family issued a statement calling it "an important step toward justice for Brian and for our family".

Mangione's guilty plea raises questions about his parallel state murder case and what his lawyers might do to prevent him from spending the rest of his life in prison. According to the Associated Press, his lawyers filed paperwork seeking to have the state case thrown out on double jeopardy grounds, and they may try to convince the judge in his federal case to spare him from a life sentence.

Brief written by urgent.news from CBS News, KBC, Associated Press, Winnipeg Free Press — 4 reports on this story. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.