Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty Friday in Manhattan federal court in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a case that drew national attention after the 2024 shooting in New York. The 28-year-old appeared in shackles and a prison uniform and admitted he brought a 3D-printed gun and silencer to New York with the intent to shoot Thompson.
During the hearing, Mangione acknowledged long-running back pain and anger over the health insurance system, but told the judge he planned the attack. Prosecutors said they presented surveillance video, the recovered 3D-printed handgun, bullets, DNA evidence and notes they say showed his intent to kill a health insurance executive.
The guilty plea marks a sharp reversal from efforts by some online supporters to portray him as a kind of anti-establishment hero. In court, Mangione’s own admission described the killing as a planned and brutal crime.
Mangione now faces the possibility of life in prison as the case moves forward. The plea came in federal court in Manhattan, where the killing of Thompson had already become one of the most closely watched criminal cases in the country.
