Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, will plead not guilty to forgery and weapons charges that were filed against him in Pennsylvania, Mangione’s lawyer said on Tuesday in his first public comments.
“We pled not guilty, at least to the charges in Pennsylvania,” attorney Thomas Dickey told reporters. He added that he’s “not aware of any actual charges in New York,” where Thompson was shot.
Mangione was detained and arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on weapons charges after a McDonald’s employee saw Mangione and thought he looked similar to photos of the suspect police had released last week of the suspect in Thompson’s shooting.
New York officials later said he was a “strong person of interest” in the case, and prosecutors in the state filed a murder charge against Mangione late Monday night.
Mangione appeared in court on Tuesday for an extradition hearing, and Dickey said in the evening that during the proceeding, “they introduced some documents, which, as I complained about, didn’t have enough information for me.”
“So we’re looking forward to, you know, getting that additional information,” he said.
Mangione did not have a lawyer during his initial arraignment in Altoona on Monday, and Dickey noted that, saying, “I hope he pled not guilty. I assume that that’s what happened. But today, when I entered my appearance in for the record, he’s pleading not guilty.”
This is a developing story and will be updated when more information is available.
