Luigi Mangione retains high-powered New York attorney as he faces second-degree murder charge

Luigi Mangione, the suspect accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week, has hired a veteran former New York City prosecutor to defend him against murder charges.

Karen Friedman Agnifilo has been retained to represent Mangione, according to a statement Friday night from her law firm Agnifilo Intrater LLP.

Friedman Agnifilo served as the second-in-command in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office from 2014 to 2021 under former DA Cyrus Vance. A biography on her law firm website says she played a lead role in prosecuting "high-profile violent crime cases," including those involving mental health and cold case homicides.

Mangione, 26, is in custody at a Pennsylvania state prison after a judge denied bail on Tuesday.

In Pennsylvania, where he was arrested Monday, Mangione faces charges including allegedly possessing an untraceable ghost gun. In New York, he faces charges including second-degree murder.

Luigi Mangione, a suspect in the New York City killing of UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson, arrives for an extradition hearing at Blair County Court House in Hollidaysburg, Pa, Dec. 10, 2024.

Matthew Hatcher/Reuters

Earlier this week, Mangione's lawyer in Pennsylvania said he intended to fight extradition to New York, but there were indications Friday he now may waive extradition to New York City as early as Tuesday, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said on Friday.

"Indications are that the defendant may waive, but that waiver is not complete until a court proceeding," Bragg said.

The earliest a court proceeding could be scheduled in Pennsylvania is Tuesday, Bragg said.

"So until that time, we are going to continue to press forward on parallel paths," he said. "We will be ready, whether he is going to waive extradition or whether he is going to contest extradition."

Among the evidence authorities say ties Mangione to the killing are three shell casings recovered outside the Midtown Manhattan hotel where Thompson was fatally shot that match the gun allegedly found on Mangione when he was arrested, police announced Wednesday. Fingerprints recovered from a water bottle and a Kind bar near the crime scene have also been matched to Mangione, police said.

Authorities are still looking to access a phone recovered by police in an alley following the shooting that is believed to be linked to the suspect, sources said Thursday. Police have obtained a search warrant for the phone, sources said.

Earlier Friday, law enforcement sources said writings seized from Mangione indicate he had been developing a fixation and increasing malice toward the company and allegedly talking about harming its leader for months.

That fixation would eventually evolve into an alleged plan to shoot that CEO, the sources said. Some of the entries in the notebook seized from Mangione upon his arrest in Pennsylvania earlier this week had dates on them going back to mid-2024, the sources said.

Some of the writings were diary-style, documenting how he felt, and what he did that day, and also documented a desire to focus on his health and himself, and find his purpose, the sources said.

Then, as time went on -- as Mangione allegedly fell out of contact with friends and family and grew increasingly isolated -- some of his writings indicated a deterioration in his thinking and state of mind, illustrating a gradual build towards the alleged plan to kill UnitedHealthCare's CEO at their "annual parasitic bean-counter convention," sources said.

Luigi Mangione, a suspect in the New York City killing of UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson departs after an extradition hearing at Blair County Court House in Hollidaysburg, Pa., Dec. 10, 2024.

Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

Suspect left New York by train

Mangione was apprehended in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday, nearly one week after the Dec. 4 slaying in New York City.

The suspect left New York City following the shooting by train, and not by bus as first thought, police sources told ABC News.

At first, investigators believed Mangione had boarded a bus at the Port Authority terminal by the George Washington Bridge, where investigators said he was spotted on security cameras being dropped off by a taxi. There was no imagery of Mangione actually getting onto a bus.

Now, police sources say there's video evidence that shows Mangione left the George Washington Bridge bus station, went south to Penn Station, and left New York City by train to Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania authorities have said Mangione then spent several days traversing the state from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh.

Luigi Mangione is led into the Blair County Courthouse for an extradition hearing Dec. 10, 2024, in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania.

Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

Tip from San Francisco

The FBI’s New York Field Office said Friday that among the multiple tips the agency received was a tip from police in San Francisco "regarding the possible identity of the suspect." The FBI said it "conducted routine investigative activity and referred this and other leads to the New York City Police Department."

The NYPD previously said none of the hundreds of tips it received included Mangione's identity.

The NYPD confirmed Friday it received the FBI tip but that it was not passed along by the agency in a manner that distinguished it as being from another law enforcement agency.

The tip was subsequently not prioritized the way it might have been had NYPD detectives known it was coming from another police department, the NYPD said.

The NYPD had dispatched detectives to Georgia to follow leads that came in from Atlanta police. The NYPD did not do that kind of follow-up with the San Francisco tip because, an NYPD source said, of the way it was passed along by the FBI.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Friday he believes Mangione was radicalized while he attended the University of Pennsylvania.

"Here you have a young man who went to an Ivy League school, came from an affluent background and family, and had all the things that many Americans would like to have. But he found himself hating corporations and hating other things," Adams said on GMGT Live’s "The Reset Talk Show." "We're radicalizing our children in general, but specifically on these Ivy League campuses."

Mangione's writings, obtained by ABC News, claimed that the U.S. has the most expensive healthcare system in the world, but ranks about No. 42 in life expectancy. He said UnitedHealthcare "has grown and grown but as our life expectancy? No, the reality is, these [indecipherable] have simply gotten too powerful, and they continue to abuse our country for immense profit."

"I do apologize for any strife of traumas but it had to be done," he allegedly wrote. "Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming."

Neither Mangione nor his parents received insurance through UnitedHealthcare, according to UnitedHealth Group.

This undated photo provided by UnitedHealth Group shows UnitedHealthcare chief executive officer Brian Thompson.

UnitedHealth Group via AP

Thompson's murder ignited online anger at the health insurance industry and some people online have celebrated Mangione. Supporters of Mangione have donated money to a defense fund established for him, leaving law enforcement officials worried Mangione is being turned into a martyr.

Adams attributed the support Mangione is receiving to "anger and pain."

"People know how challenging it is navigating our health care system on many levels, the cost of the health care system. Some of the denials and some of the illnesses are not covered. And all across America, people have experienced that disappointment. And so you're seeing a response to that," Adams said. "And we can't send a signal that if you're angry over something if you're angry because you got a parking ticket, you respond with violence."

  McKinsey & Company consulting firm has agreed to pay $650 million to settle a federal investigation into its work to help opioids manufacturer Purdue Pharma boost the sales of the highly addictive drug OxyContin, according to court papers filed in Virginia on Friday.

As part of the deal with the U.S. Justice Department, McKinsey will avoid prosecution on criminal charges if it pays the sum and follows certain conditions for five years, including ceasing any work on the sale, marketing, or promotion of controlled substances.

A former McKinsey senior partner, Martin Elling, has also agreed to plead guilty to obstruction of justice for deleting documents from his laptop after he became aware of investigations into Purdue Pharma, the maker of OxyContin that was then a client, according to the filings. A lawyer for Elling declined to comment Friday.

McKinsey said in a statement on Friday that it’s “deeply sorry” for its work for Purdue Pharma.

“We should have appreciated the harm opioids were causing in our society and we should not have undertaken sales and marketing work for Purdue Pharma,” the company said. “This terrible public health crisis and our past work for opioid manufacturers will always be a source of profound regret for our firm.”

It’s the latest effort by federal prosecutors to hold accountable companies officials say helped fuel the U.S. addiction and overdose crisis, with opioids linked to more than 80,000 annual deaths in some recent years. For the past decade, most of them have been attributed to illicit fentanyl, which is laced into many illegal drugs. Earlier in the epidemic, prescription pills were the primary cause of death.

Over the past eight years, drugmakers, wholesalers, and pharmacies have agreed to about $50 billion worth of settlements with governments — with most of the money required to be used to fight the crisis.

Purdue paid McKinsey more than $93 million over 15 years for several products, including how to improve revenue from OxyContin. Prosecutors say McKinsey “knew the risk and dangers” of OxyContin and knew that Purdue Pharma executives had previously pleaded guilty to crimes related to the promotion of the drug, but decided to work with the opioid manufacturer anyway.

One of the jobs for McKinsey, the papers said, was to identify which prescribers would generate the most additional prescriptions if Purdue salespeople focused on that. That resulted in prescriptions that “were not for a medically accepted indication, were unsafe, ineffective, and medically unnecessary, and that were often diverted for uses that lacked a legitimate medical purpose,” the filing said.

“This was not hypothetical,” Christopher Kavanaugh, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Virginia Christopher Kavanaugh said in a news conference in Boston on Friday. “This was not just marketing. It was a strategy. It was executed and it worked.”

During work to “turbocharge” Purdue sales in 2013 after a drop in business, McKinsey consultants accompanied Purdue sales representatives on visits to prescribers and pharmacies to gather information. In a note about one ride-along, a McKinsey consultant said one pharmacist had a gun “and was shaking; abuse is definitely a huge issue.” The company continued looking for ways to increase OxyContin sales, according to court papers.

In 2014, McKinsey identified some small clinics that were writing more opioid prescriptions than entire hospital systems — and suggested they be targeted for more sales, the court filing said.

The company also tried to help Purdue get a say in shaping federal rules intended to ensure the benefits of addictive prescription drugs outweighed the risks. The government said in its new filings that resulted in making high-dose OxyContin subject to the same oversight as lower-dose opioids and made training for prescribers voluntary rather than mandatory.

Since 2021, McKinsey has agreed to pay state and local governments about $765 million in settlements for its role in advising businesses on how to sell more of the powerful prescription painkillers amid a national opioid crisis.

The firm also agreed last year to pay health care funds and insurance companies $78 million.

Federal authorities say the deal represents the first time a management consulting firm is being held accountable like this for advising a client to break the law.

“If a consulting first conspires with a client to engage in criminal conduct, the fact that you’re an outside consultant will not protect you,” said Joshua Levy, U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts.

Some advocates say the opioid crisis was touched off when Purdue Pharma’s OxyContin hit the market in 1996.

Three Purdue executives pleaded guilty to misbranding charges in 2007 and the company agreed to pay a fine. The company pleaded guilty to criminal charges in 2020 and agreed to $8.3 billion in penalties and forfeitures — most of which will be waived as long as it executes a settlement through bankruptcy court that is still in the works.

This week, after the murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, our social media feeds, along with articles on countless news outlets, have been filled with opinions about the state of healthcare in the U.S. On Friday, an unlikely individual, Andrew Witty, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of United Healthcare, joined the conversation by way of a New York Times op-ed.

“We know the health system does not work as well as it should,” Witty admitted. “No one would design a system like the one we have. And no one did. It’s a patchwork built over decades. Our mission is to help make it work better.”

While at times, Witty seemed sympathetic to the American people’s pain, aggravation, and for some, sense of hopelessness, he also pressed that the system is “filled with people who try to do their best” for the country. He called slain CEO Brian Thompson “one of those people” and asserted that the legacy he leaves behind is an admirable one.

Not everyone agreed with the assertion that Thompson was a decent individual, or, especially, that healthcare companies are truthfully striving to do better. It’s unsurprising, given that this week, the public has expressed an outpouring of admiration, even sympathy, for the suspected murderer. Countless devastating stories were being shared about claims for urgent care having been denied and the pain, suffering, and even death due to the negligence of healthcare companies—suggesting that some Americans see healthcare higher-ups, as opposed to the alleged shooter, as the far more culpable enemy. 

The reaction to the op-ed was swift and brimming with emotion. While some came to the comments to criticize those who are defending an alleged murderer, many criticized healthcare companies as being purely profit-driven. Some shared challenging personal experiences with United Healthcare, in fact. “When I had UHC and my then-husband needed spinal surgery, UHC deemed most of it medically unnecessary and socked us with a $300k bill as our share,” one commenter wrote. “It took me two years to fight it but finally got it reduced to our out-of-pocket limit at that time. But not everyone has the strength or ability to fight.”

Healthcare professionals also responded to the piece by sharing their professional experiences dealing with United Healthcare—and maintaining that its policies are some of the most unethical in the industry. “As an outpatient M.D., I can tell you that I know why United was the MOST profitable of all the healthcare companies—because it denied the most,” wrote another commenter. “United made me get authorization for cheap medications like ACE inhibitors, and tests like Ultrasounds. No other major insurer did that.”

After thousands of people posted, lashing out at the author for his “hollow” and “tone-deaf” view, the NYT ultimately closed the comments.

Earlier this week, photos and IDs of at least two other healthcare CEOs were put on “wanted posters” and hung up around New York City—with images of the posters circulating widely online. Not surprisingly, there has also been a surge in threats toward healthcare employees and “hit lists” making the rounds on social media. As a precaution, several healthcare companies have removed images of their CEOs from company websites. 

Luigi Mangione has become inescapable; his face is everywhere on my social media feeds. Various outlets, both mainstream and niche, have published stories about his favorite video games, his Reddit comments, his Goodreads page, his political beliefs, and even his back pain. Mangione is more than just an accused murderer; he has become a celebrity.

As of now, there are over 100 fanfics about the shooter on Archive of Our Own.

There was a time, not long ago when the best practice in handling high-profile shootings was to avoid publicizing the accused killer’s identity and the methods used. The idea, as articulated by Zeynep Tufekci in 2012, was that highly publicized killings could act as a social contagion, essentially advertising the shooter’s manifesto. Social media platforms generally removed the profiles of people accused of high-profile killings; as recently as 2020, Facebook suppressed searches for “Kyle Rittenhouse” after he was charged with murder.

The weekend following UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s murder, Tufekci wrote another op-ed. In 2012, she had suggested avoiding reporting on the killer’s words or actions. In her more recent article, she described a video of the killing and noted the messages found on the shell casings. She compared Thompson’s murder to a wave of killings during the Gilded Age in America and highlighted that the United States has now surpassed the Gilded Age in wealth inequality. “It’s not hard to see how, during the Gilded Age, armed political resistance could find many eager recruits and even more numerous sympathetic observers,” Tufekci wrote. “And it’s not hard to imagine how the United States could enter another such cycle.”

Mangione’s profile on X is still active. Since he was named a person of interest in Thompson’s murder, a blue checkmark has been added to his profile. It’s not just X; most social media platforms have relaxed their aggressive moderation policies, leaving users’ impulses unchecked.

The shooter has become the subject of murder ballads and general sympathy, even inspiring a look-alike contest. As of now, there are over 100 fanfics about the shooter on Archive of Our Own, many written before Mangione was arrested. Breloom, the pokémon in Mangione’s header photo on X, has been selling out. Mangione-themed merchandise is all over Etsy, while Amazon has been removing similar items from its platform. Ken Klippenstein, a Substack journalist, published a short statement from Mangione that is being referred to as a “manifesto.” Users on r/SkincareAddicts jokingly provided him with an alibi, claiming he was getting a facial with them on December 4th.

A day after Mangione’s statement was posted, a Reddit moderator in r/popculturechat wrote, “Reddit has told us that we are not allowed to post Luigi Mangione’s manifesto, even if it is reported neutrally.” Users were unimpressed. The top comment on the post read, “Is this the same Reddit where people routinely post videos of other people getting murdered?” Other users responded with gifs of the video game character Luigi from Nintendo’s Mario franchise.

The manhunt for Mangione meant that images of his face were necessary for his capture — he was identified in a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, by people who recognized him from those photos. But even after his arrest, the pictures kept coming. The police released at least four photos. One striking image, taken for The New York Times, showed Mangione as the sole bright spot at the center of an otherwise dark photograph, haloed like a Renaissance portrait of a saint.

The mood has shifted.

Murder as entertainment predates social media. The parents of JonBenét Ramsey surely know this. Fandom for murder isn’t new either — the Columbine shooters, who murdered 13 people, have an ardent following. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, convicted of the Boston Marathon bombing that killed three people, has a fan base. Before them, there was Charles Manson, who had his own set of groupies.

This feels different, perhaps because the lionization of an accused murderer isn’t limited to the weirder corners of the internet. Immediately after Thompson was shot, the reaction was anger — directed at UnitedHealthcare. A Facebook post by UnitedHealthcare’s parent company received 57,000 laughing emoji reactions, according to CNN. The r/nursing community effectively threw a party. People all over social media posted their experiences with claims denials.

The job of a CEO is, in part, to serve as the symbolic representation of a company. Killing the CEO of UnitedHealthcare doesn’t kill UnitedHealthcare. It does, however, make a statement. Certainly, the shooter was aware of the symbolic nature of his act — why else the “deny, delay, depose” bullet casings?

Brian Thompson, a literal human being, has been overshadowed by his symbolic role as the head of UnitedHealthcare.

I can’t speak to the veracity of the individual claims denial stories, but the broad outlines are supported by fact. UnitedHealthcare, which made $16 billion in operating earnings last year on $281 billion in revenue, has been accused of intentionally denying claims to boost profits by a Senate subcommittee. A lawsuit accuses the company of “illegal deployment of artificial intelligence (AI) in place of real medical professionals to wrongfully deny elderly patients care owed to them under Medicare Advantage Plan.”

For most people, an invisible system decides whether they receive the treatment their doctor prescribed. There is no insight into the system, particularly if it is algorithmic, even when — perhaps especially when — it is wrong. This, along with the expense of healthcare and insurance itself, may explain the explosion of fury following Thompson’s death. Brian Thompson, a literal human being, has been overshadowed by his symbolic role as the head of UnitedHealthcare.

Sorting through Mangione’s internet detritus to make sense of the killing was somewhat unnecessary, though people did it anyway. He was arrested with a ghost gun, a silencer, and what amounted to a written confession. That confession confirmed what most of us had already figured out from the assassination itself: this was a political act.

A New York Police Department internal report said Mangione “likely views himself as a hero of sorts,” according to The New York Times. That report suggested other people may decide he’s a “martyr and an example to follow.” After Mangione’s arrest, users left reviews on McDonald’s restaurants in Altoona saying they were full of “rats.” Altoona police say they are receiving threats as a result of the arrest. If Mangione views himself as “a hero of sorts,” he isn’t alone.

There is one more significant event that occurred two days after Thompson’s murder: Insurer Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield reversed itself, deciding not to follow through on a plan to stop reimbursing anesthesia beyond a certain time limit. The specifics of this policy were complicated, but the overwhelming anger and swift reversal were notable.

There have already been some consequences that do not involve the healthcare industry changing its approach to patients. Several companies have removed photos of their executives from their websites. One insurer temporarily closed its headquarters. Another insurer switched its investor day from in-person to online.

So far, it appears Thompson’s assassination was ruthlessly effective: Mangione’s image and ideas were widely disseminated, to broad approval. This is a total failure of the best practices once suggested to make killing for publicity less attractive. The New York Times realized this, according to Ken Klippenstein — arguably about a week too late for it to matter.

The possibility of contagion — as referenced in the NYPD report — is still theoretical. (Other attacks have been going on as usual, though they rarely get national attention now; the same day Thompson was killed, two kindergartners were shot at a school in California.) The public celebration of Mangione and the timing of the Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield announcement may suggest to some that violence will make corporate executives likelier to agree to regulation and smaller profits because they prefer that to credible murder threats. But the reaction to violence is rarely that orderly. The response to Mangione suggests something else to me: political murder in America feels so inevitable now that we’ve simply accepted it.

The Rise of Vigilantism: What Daniel Penny and Luigi Mangione Reveal About Modern America

In recent months, two 26-year-old men have captured national attention through shocking acts of public violence that expose deeper fractures in American society. Daniel Penny, acquitted for killing Jordan Neely on a New York City subway, and Luigi Mangione, charged with murdering a UnitedHealthcare CEO, represent more than isolated incidents—they are symptoms of systemic breakdown.

## Divergent Actions, Similar Roots

While Penny and Mangione seem to come from opposing ideological camps, their actions share striking similarities. Both emerged in a context of social instability, where traditional institutions appear ineffective or corrupt. Their violent responses reflect a growing frustration with systemic failures in healthcare, housing, and social support.

### The Right-Wing Narrative: Daniel Penny

Conservative commentators have lionized Penny as a defender of public order. Figures like Heather Mac Donald from the Manhattan Institute argue that Penny's actions were necessary because gothe vernment has abandoned urban spaces to mental illness and addiction. This perspective frames vigilantism as a heroic response to perceived administrative weakness.

### The Complex Case of Luigi Mangione

Mangione's attack on a healthcare CEO has garnered a more nuanced public reaction. His actions resonate with widespread anger about healthcare inequities, with many seeing his violent act as a form of desperate protest against corporate profiteering. His manifesto echoes historical anarchist rhetoric about confronting powerful institutions.

## Historical Context of Vigilantism

The article places these incidents within a broader historical pattern of vigilante actions. From late 19th-century responses to labor movements to the Korean American business owners during the Rodney King riots, such actions often emerge during periods of significant social transition.

## Deeper Implications

The most critical insight is that Penny and Mangione are not aberrations but indicators of systemic rot. Their actions reveal:

1. Increasing social fragmentation

2. Eroding faith in institutional solutions

3. A dangerous trend of individualized, violent responses to collective problems

## Potential Future Risks

The article warns that Penny's type of vigilantism—targeting marginalized populations—might prove more politically consequential. With potential political shifts, there's a risk of institutionalizing such violent, reactionary responses.

## The Real Solution

The most profound recommendation is a return to collective action. Instead of individual violent outbursts, the article advocates for organized, labor-centered political movements that can systematically address the root causes of social dysfunction.

Penny and Mangione are not heroes or villains, but complex figures emerging from a society experiencing profound structural stress. Their stories demand not moral condemnation, but a serious examination of the conditions that make such actions seem conceivable to some.

The path forward requires rebuilding social trust, addressing economic inequalities, and creating robust, responsive institutions that can channel social frustration into constructive change.