Brian Thompson shooting Luigi Mangione to appear in court amid reports of plea deal over healthcare CEO’s killing – live Earlier this week prosecutors and Luigi Mangione’s lawyers filed a joint letter requesting the hearing at 11am on Friday in Manhattan federal court LIVE Updated 9m ago Lucy Campbell Fri 14 Aug 2026 15.07 BSTFirst published on Fri 14 Aug 2026 14.14 BST Share Key events 21m ago How did we get here?
34m ago How Mangione became a cause célèbre for public rage at US for-profit health system 1h ago Luigi Mangione reportedly expected to plead guilty in federal stalking case Luigi Mangione attends a pre-trial appearance at Manhattan criminal court on 11 August.
34m ago How Mangione became a cause célèbre for public rage at US for-profit health system 1h ago Luigi Mangione reportedly expected to plead guilty in federal stalking case This morning, the Guardian chatted with Seth Zuckerman, founder of Zuckerman Legal Group and a former New York prosecutor, to run through the process we might expect this morning.
If Mangione were to plead guilty, the proceeding will start with both sides telling Judge Margaret Garnett that a plea is going to take place.
“There will be an allocution, which is where he admits to his guilt and his wrongdoing,” Zuckerman said of the process.
Then, Zuckerman said, “the judge will set a sentencing date down the road.” But a plea wouldn’t mean that Mangione’s federal case is done right away, Zuckerman said.
“It’s not over until he gets sentenced,” Zuckerman said.
“Federal sentencings are generally adjourned for a few months after the plea date.” Luigi Mangione is accused of traveling to New York City to ambush Brian Thompson and then shooting him outside a Manhattan hotel on 4 December 2024, as the executive walked to UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference.
Mangione’s federal charges allege that he traveled across state lines by bus to stalk and kill Thompson and that he used means such as a cellphone, the internet, interstate highways and staying at a hostel that serves out-of-state customers while planning and carrying out the attack.
The state charges pertain to the killing itself, as well as firearms offenses.
In a letter last month, state prosecutors objected to the possibility of a guilty plea in the federal case wiping out the state case.
“Obviously, any guilty pleas in these matters must account for the seriousness of defendant’s offenses, the loss of an innocent life, the impact of those crimes on the victim’s family, and the other state interests that are implicated, including the sanctity of life principle that underpins the state homicide charges,” assistant district attorney Joel Seidemann wrote.
Mangione’s expected decision to plead guilty comes after a series of setbacks for his defense.
In January, US district judge Margaret Garnett took the death penalty off the table but ruled that prosecutors could use items collected from Mangione’s backpack during his arrest as evidence against him.
They included a 3D-printed pistol that investigators said matched the one used to kill Thompson and a notebook in which authorities say Mangione described his intent to kill an insurance executive.
In June, Mangione’s lawyers said they would pursue a psychiatric defense in the state case but reversed course a day later.
The defense, involving claims that he was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the killing, isn’t allowed in federal court.
Surveillance video of the killing showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson from behind.
Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
Mangione’s last pre-trial conference for the state case took place on Tuesday, where the judge addressed contentious issues surrounding media access at the highly anticipated trial.
With the Associated Press.
To recap, Luigi Mangione faces criminal charges in both state and federal court following the shocking murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was fatally shot outside the Hilton Hotel in midtown Manhattan in December 2024.
After a five-day, multi-state manhunt that attracted an avalanche of intense global media attention, Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Police seized various items including a notebook that prosecutors said contained a purported manifesto, along with the gun which authorities allege is the murder weapon.
While the violence horrified many Americans, Mangione also found himself fervently propelled to folk hero status among supporters who ultimately perceived him as a vigilante, extracting justice against a health system broken by corporate greed.
He became a cause célèbre, inspiring memes on social media while several dozen supporters have shown up to his court appearances, some wearing green clothing - the color worn by the Mario Bros. video game character Luigi – and “FREE LUIGI” T-shirts.
An online fundraiser for his legal defense fund raised more than $1.5m.
Indeed, the now 28-year-old, who himself struggled with chronic back problems, has been lionized as a vehicle for public rage over spiralling healthcare costs and coverage denials.
It’s an issue that cuts through the political divide.
“People hate their healthcare in the United States,” Ed Ongweso Jr, a senior researcher at Security in Context, an international project of scholars housed at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, told the Guardian’s Ben Makuch in the days after Thompson’s killing.
“It’s not surprising to me that some people celebrated the assassination as a form of catharsis, but I am surprised by how many people are openly doing so and pushing back against attempts to scold it.” Unlike in most of the developed world, healthcare in the United States is provided entirely by private companies – there is no universal, single-payer system for non-seniors.
Most Americans must either individually pay into an insurance plan or get insurance through their employer.
Plans can cost hundreds and (often) thousands of dollars a month, depending on the extent of a person’s needs and the plans being offered by insurers.
“Commentators and talking heads don’t seem to understand the reaction because they don’t see these industries as violent ones,” Ongweso continued.
They clearly understand that someone was murdered, he said, “but struggle with the idea that the population views what these companies do is murder on an industrial scale”.
Good morning from Manhattan federal court!
Luigi Mangione is expected to appear at 11am ET after a hastily scheduled conference that has spurred intense speculation that he might plead guilty related to the killing of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson.
Throngs of media and some supporters have gathered in front of the 40 Foley courthouse.
The Guardian spotted at least three people lining up by 5pm during a quick walk by court on Thursday afternoon.
They appeared to be paid line sitters.
For several years at high-profile trials in New York, news organizations and some curious members of the public have hired paid line sitters to keep their place in a queue as to avoid camping out overnight.
Mangione now faces federal stalking charges; he also faces New York state murder and weapons charges and that trial is scheduled for 8 September.
If Mangione pleads guilty, that could send his New York case into uncertainty, because the state has double jeopardy statutes that could bar it.
If he does plead guilty, it’s fair to assume there will be a flurry of court paperwork filed in his state case sooner than later, with his attorneys likely poised to push for its dismissal.
Luigi Mangione, is reportedly expected to plead guilty at a scheduled hearing on Friday in Manhattan federal court, where he faces charges of stalking resulting in the death of Brian Thompson, the chief of executive of UnitedHealthcare, in 2024.
The potential plea deal in the federal case, which NBC News and the New York Times (paywall) reported on Thursday, comes less a month out from a scheduled trial on 8 September on a New York state murder charge in connection with Thompson’s fatal shooting.
The federal trial for the stalking charges in connection with the killing of Thompson is due to take place in January, and carries a potential life sentence.
Rumours of a plea deal have been circulating since late June when Mangione’s defense team met with federal prosecutors to discuss, it was widely understood, a plea deal in the federal case.
It wasn’t immediately clear which charges Mangione would be pleading not guilty to on Friday – there are two stalking-related charges in the federal case - nor was it clear the potential impact the plea could have on the state murder case.
He could also change his mind at any time, including in the courtroom.
He has previously pleaded not guilty to all charges against him in both federal and state court.
Should Mangione go ahead with pleading guilty in the federal case, his lawyers could move to have his state case dismissed by arguing double jeopardy (being tried more than once on related charges).
On the other hand, state prosecutors could argue that the federal stalking case and the state murder case address two different harms – alleged interstate stalking resulting in death in the federal case versus intentional killing in the state case.
They could also argue that the weapon charges involve different elements that are separate to the federal stalking case.
