LOS ANGELES.–UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thomson’s cold blooded killer 26-year-old Luigi Mangione sits in a Pennsylvania Prison awaiting extradition to New York as early as Thursday, facing first degree murder, two counts of second degree murder, one was charged as an act of terrorism, “for the brazen, targeted and premeditated shooting of Brian Thomson,” said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. Bragg’s first degree murder charge with the special circumstance of terrorism carries a potential sentence of life without the possibility of parole. A second degree murder conviction would carry 25 years to life in prison. Mangione is now represented by high power criminal defense Atty. Karen Friedman Agnifilo, whose husband Marc, also a criminal defense attorney, represents Sean Diddy Combs. Friedman has a lot of work to do to discredit the avalanche of evidence against Mangione.
No question that Friedman will uses some variety of an insanity defense, essentially tell the court that Luigi was not in his right state of mind when he planned the premeditate shooting in the back of Brian Thomson. Friedman knows all the facts that have been released by the NYPD, including DNA evidence on a water bottle, power bar wrapper, shell casings marked with the cryptic message “deny,” “delay” and “depose,” all connected with his three-page manifesto that expressed his contempt for the U.S. health system, going so far as saying that Thomson, as CEO of UnitedHealthcare, must be taken out, regardless of the pain it causes. NYPD has plenty of motives for prosecutors to make a strong case against Mangione. What they don’t have is control of jurors’ minds who could have some sympathy for the wayward 26-year-old who lost his mind and murdered Brian Thomson.
Prosecutors can’t stop Friedman from explaining what happened to the University of Pennsylvania graduate with a BA and MA in computer engineering. Luigi’s defense attorneys are not likely to dispute any of the evidence found at the crime scene, in Central Park or at the McDonalds where he was arrested by Altoona police. Luigi’s first attorney Thomas Dickey said Mangione will plead not guilty, saying prosecutors have shown him no evidence. Well, no one knows how Dickey got involved but he’s been officially replaced by Friedman. Friedman can tell Mangione’s story to a jury that disputes the first degree murder charge with the special circumstance of terrorism, largely because he operated alone without any ties to any outside terrorist organizations. Friedman’s objective is not to dispute evidence but to explain how the 26-year-old went over the deep end.
Reports on social networks and other internet posts show a lot of sympathy of Mangione, something that repulsed many politicians and the press. “We’ve seen the shocking and appalling celebration of cold blooded murder,” said NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch. “Social media has erupted with praise for this cowardly attack. People ghoulishly plastered posters threatening other CEOs with an X over Mr. Thomson’s picture, as though he has was some kind of sick trophy,” Tisch said, hinting that the jury pool could be tainted by sympathizers to Mangione’s gruesome act. Too much evidence is in the media to start disputing key pieces of evidence like the 3-D-printed ghost gun and silencer Luigi used in the murder. Police have everything, including a ballistic match of the bullets found in the murder weapon to the casings found at the Midtown crime scene.
Emerson College’s most recent poll showed that 40% of under 40 respondents think that Luigi did the right thing killing Thomson. That same poll showed that 41% of under 40 respondents disagreed, said it was the wrong thing to do. Many mature adults find the results disturbing that the under 40 crowd have so much contempt for the health care industry or life in general that they agree with a sick form of vigilantism. Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg said that more than 80 similar ghost guns turned up in New York City. “Last year, over 80 ghost guns and ghost gun parts were recovered in Manhattan alone,” Bragg said. “The NYPD and Manhattan DA’s office have been lead in the interdiction of these ghost guns. And one thing I want to make clear: They’re unserialzed, they can be printed out, but as this case tragically makes clear, they are just as deadly as traditional firearms,” Bragg said.
Manhattan UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione has an uphill battle convincing a jury that he should be given some leniency when considered how to sentence him. When it comes to the abundant, convincing facts already in evidence, Karen Friedman can only present the more human side of the problem that resulted in the premeditated murder. Whether jurors picked match to views of the under 40 crowd or not, Friedman can paint a picture that Mangione was not in his right state of mind at the time of the shooting. Reports from family and friends indicate that Mangione’s behavior in the stalking, premeditated murder indicate he had broken off all relations with his personal contact for months. If Friedman can show that in Luigi’s mind he was acting as a “good Samaritan” then jurors may seek to mitigate charges knowing they carry life without parole.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
