Luigi Mangione admitted in court on Friday to fatally shooting health insurance executive Brian Thompson and pleaded guilty to two federal charges of stalking the executive with the intent to kill him.
“I shot Mr Thompson in Manhattan and he died,” Mangione said.
The guilty plea will avert a federal trial in the closely watched case over the killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO, a crime that was condemned by public officials but became emblematic of Americans’ frustration with health insurance industry practices. It could also allow him to seek dismissal of state murder charges and avoid an upcoming trial in that case.
US district judge Margaret Garnett told Mangione that if he pleaded guilty he could face a maximum sentence of life in prison on each count. Garnett set Mangione’s sentencing for December 18.
Jamie McDonald, the Manhattan US attorney, told reporters that his office would seek a sentence of life imprisonment.
"With today's guilty plea, Mr. Mangione has accepted full responsibility for the death of Brian Thompson," Luigi Mangione's attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo announced outside the courthouse on Friday.
— CBS News (@CBSNews) August 14, 2026
Agnifilo said Mangione has been treated unfairly, and that “he endured years… pic.twitter.com/dxBIQrRuM7
Thompson led UnitedHealth Group’s insurance unit before he was shot dead in the early morning of December 4 2024, outside a hotel where an investor conference was taking place. Thompson’s widow sat in the front row of the gallery with other members of his family.
Mangione, 28, said in court that he researched details of UnitedHealthcare’s annual investor conference after suffering a broken back and navigating the health insurance system.
He said he then used a 3-D printer to make part of a gun and travelled to New York with the intent of killing Thompson.
Thompson’s family said in a statement that the plea marked an “important step toward justice”.
“We look to the court to ensure that sentencing reflects the severity of this crime,” Thompson’s family said.
Graphic footage of the killing and a five-day manhunt for a suspect made the case a media fixture and social media sensation. Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania.
He had previously pleaded not guilty in April 2025 to murder, weapons and stalking charges brought by Manhattan federal prosecutors.
Garnett threw out the murder and weapons charges over legal technicalities in a surprise ruling in January 2026. The decision eliminated the possibility that Mangione would face the death penalty in the federal case.
Mangione separately pleaded not guilty in December 2024 to state terrorism, murder, weapons and forgery charges brought by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg. The terrorism charges were thrown out by a judge in September 2025.
A trial in that case is scheduled for September 8 before justice Gregory Carro in Manhattan. Mangione would face 25 years to life in prison if convicted of second-degree murder.
Mangione lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo told reporters after the hearing that she had filed a motion to dismiss the murder charge under New York’s double jeopardy law, which protects people from being prosecuted twice for the same conduct.
Bragg’s office could oppose the move, arguing that the murder charge is legally distinct from the federal charges. His office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Whoever loses would likely seek an emergency appeal.
Reuters
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