Who is Luigi Mangione, facing possible death sentence for killing United HealthCare CEO

A federal grand jury on Thursday (Apr 18) indicted Luigi Mangione, who is accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. In addition to the federal indictment, Mangione is being charged in Pennsylvania and New York, where he faces murder and terrorism charges. Mangione allegedly shot Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, dead on December 4. Apart from the federal indictment, Mangione is also charged in Pennsylvania and New York, where he faces murder and terrorism charges. He is currently being held in a federal lockup in Brooklyn. Mangione's indictment is a necessary step for prosecutors to seek the death penalty.

Luigi Mangione's case has brought forth the deep anger of the public at the US healthcare system and insurance companies. During the hearing of his cases, protesters gathered outside the courthouses in his support, with many holding placards stating "deny, defend, depose," the same phrase reportedly found at the crime scene. On social media, many have called him a "hero". Moreover, some of his supporters started crowdfunding campaigns  for him and reportedly raised over $90,000 for his legal defence. 

The Trump administration has supported capital punishment for Luigi. US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced on April 1 that she had directed federal prosecutors in Manhattan to seek the death penalty. It's the first death penalty case sought by the Justice Department since President Donald Trump returned to office in January.

Luigi Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania on December 9. He was working on his laptop at a local McDonald's restaurant when one of the bystanders spotted him and informed the police. He was found wearing a mask and a beanie and possessed a fake New Jersey ID and a gun similar to the one used to kill Thompson.

Luigi Mangione belonged to a wealthy real estate family in the Baltimore area. As per a report in the New York Times, his grandfather, Nick Mangione Sr., and grandmother, Mary C. Mangione, purchased the Turf Valley country club in Ellicott City, Md., in the 1970s and developed the golf course community. The report added that in the 1980s, the family purchased Hayfields Country Club in Hunt Valley, Md. It also founded the nursing home company Lorien Health Services. Mangione’s father, Louis Mangione, inherited all this property and also owned the radio station WCBM. The report also stated that a cousin of Mangione named Nino is an elected member of the Maryland House of Delegates.

Luigi attended the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania, attended Gilman School and graduated in the year 2016. One of his classmates at the Gilman School told AFP that Mangione struck him as "a normal guy, nice kid.""There was nothing about him that was off, at least from my perception," said the classmate as per a report on AFP.

He was living in Hawaii before the incident. As per his LinkedIn profile, he is working with TrueCar, a California-based online auto marketplace, as a data engineer. However, TrueCar spokesperson said that Mangione "has not been an employee of our company since 2023." 

As per multiple reports, about six months before the crime, Luigi had suddenly stopped communicating with friends and family. He had been suffering from a painful back injury, as per his friends. In the three-page note that Mangione was carrying when he was arrested, he described the killing as a “symbolic takedown,” according to an internal police report obtained by The New York Times. It described the killing as a direct challenge to the health care industry’s "alleged corruption and power games." Investigators said in their report that the suspect “likely views himself as a hero of sorts.”