Luigi Mangione wore handcuffs as he leaned over the microphone to announce his stance on the allegations. The Manhattan district attorney formally charged him last week with multiple counts of murder, including acts of terrorism.
His first appearance in New York state court comes after federal prosecutors filed federal charges. It carries the death penalty on the penalty scale, while the maximum penalty for the state charges is life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Arrested at McDonald’s
According to authorities, Mangione shot United Health CEO Brian Thompson on his way to an investor conference in Manhattan on the morning of December 4.
Mangione was arrested at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s after a five-day manhunt and was carrying a gun matching the one used in the shooting and a fake ID, according to police.
He carried a notebook that expressed hostility toward the health insurance industry and especially toward the wealthy executives who preyed on people’s suffering, according to Mangione.
“Treated like a ping pong ball”
During Monday’s hearing, Mangione’s defense attorney Karen Friedman Angifilo accused authorities of treating him like “a human ping pong ball” by pursuing multiple parallel lawsuits, writes USA Today.
In addition to the federal indictment and the New York state indictment, he is also charged in Pennsylvania with, among other things, weapons offenses.
The New York trial continues on February 21 with a hearing on what evidence will be used in the trial, according to USA Today. The next court hearing in the federal process takes place on January 18, writes ABC News.