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Luigi Mangione latest: Top New York attorney tapped by defense as new details emerge on how suspect fled to Pennsylvania

Karen Friedman Agnifilo to represent suspect as he faces second-degree murder charge while donations pour into GiveSendGo fundraiser and GoFundMe reportedly takes down another

James Liddell,Kelly Rissman,Tara Cobham
Saturday 14 December 2024 11:08 EST
Related: Lawyer says ‘no evidence’ links gun found on Luigi Mangione to CEO shooting

A top New York City attorney has been hired to represent Luigi Mangione in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Karen Friedman Agnifilo will be representing Mangione in New York. The suspect is also facing charges in Pennsylvania and is currently fighting extradition to New York, CNN reported. Police sources believe Mangione took a train to Pennsylvania, where he was captured on Monday.

Agnifilo has worked in private practice since 2021 and has experience in New York City’s criminal justice system. She spent seven years as the chief assistant district attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.

Mangione’s supporters are donating thousands of dollars for “defense funds” that have been established for him. Amid fears the shooting suspect is being turned into a martyr, several fundraisers have been set up for him online, with one created by anonymous group ‘The December 4th Legal Committee’ surpassing more than $90,000 in donations on the crowdfunding website GiveSendGo by Saturday.

The group’s name is an apparent reference to the day the 26-year-old allegedly gunned down Mr Thompson in Midtown Manhattan.

Other campaigns soliciting donations for Mangione’s defense have been taken down by sites, such as GoFundMe, reported ABC News.

Life inside Luigi Mangione’s maximum security prison

Luigi Mangione is being held under maximum security conditions at the State Correctional Institution Huntingdon in Pennsylvania, according to correction officials.

Mangione, 26, does not get to interact with any other inmates and is in a cell by himself, however, he is not in solitary confinement, officials told CBS News. They said that he has not yet had outside time, before adding that he will eventually.

He has not been violent and is not under suicide watch or any psychological order, the officials said.

Mangione’s fellow prison inmates have called for his release claiming his “conditions suck”. The outlet spoke exclusively to those incarcerated along with the shooting suspect at his prison.

Mangione doesn’t have a TV in his cell and is forced to eat the prison’s “terrible” food, which includes fruit, grits, scrambled eggs and “porcupine meatballs” for lunch – which are actually made from beef, according to the NewsNation.

“Luigi’s conditions suck,” inmates shouted to correspondent Alex Caprariello from their cells in a segment aired on Thursday. “Free Luigi.”

A view of the exterior of SCI Huntingdon where Luigi Mangione, 26, is being held
A view of the exterior of SCI Huntingdon where Luigi Mangione, 26, is being held (REUTERS)
James Liddell13 December 2024 14:40

Watch: McDonald’s tightens security at Pennsylvania restaurant where Mangione was arrested

Tight security at McDonald's in Pennsylvania
James Liddell13 December 2024 14:10

Woman charged after threatening health insurer with ‘delay, deny, depose’

A Florida woman was charged after threatening a health insurer with the phrase “Delay, Deny, Depose” – which was carved onto the spent rounds at the scene were UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, was shot dead.

Briana Boston, 42, was arrested at her Lakeland home on Tuesday after allegedly making threats on a call to BlueCross BlueShield regarding the denial of a recent medical insurance claim, according to WFLA.

She was charged with one count of written threat to kill or injure in connection to conducting a mass shooting or an act of terrorism.”

“Delay, deny, depose. You people are next,” the mom-of-three said in a recorded conversation to a telephone operator, according to Lakeland police.

When officers arrived at her home, she told them that “healthcare companies played games and deserved karma from the world because they are evil”.

According to the news station, Boston said she does not own any firearms and told cops “was not a danger to anyone”.

The gunman who murdered Thompson in a horror early morning shooting a week ago left behind the cryptic message at the scene, carving the three words “depose,” “deny,” and “defend” into the live rounds and shell casings near the scene.

The three words bear a striking resemblance to a professor of law at Rutgers Law School Jay Feinman’s 2010 book: Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claim and What You Can Do About It.

Briana Boston, 42, was arrested and charged after making threats to a BlueCross BlueShield representative on the phone
Briana Boston, 42, was arrested and charged after making threats to a BlueCross BlueShield representative on the phone (Polk County Sheriff's Office)
James Liddell13 December 2024 13:40

‘Free Luigi’ poster hangs outside Brian Thompson’s murder scene

A poster depicting Luigi Mangione hangs outside the New York Hilton Midtown hotel on Thursday
A poster depicting Luigi Mangione hangs outside the New York Hilton Midtown hotel on Thursday (AP)
The poster is near the scene where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot dead on December 4
The poster is near the scene where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot dead on December 4 (AP)
James Liddell13 December 2024 13:10

California police had identified Luigi Mangione four days before arrest

California police had identified the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting suspect as Luigi Mangione and alerted the FBI four days before he was eventually arrested in Pennsylvania, according to a report.

An officer in the San Francisco Police Department’s Special Victims Unit is said to have tipped off the bureau on December 5 after recognizing Mangione in images circulated by the NYPD, sources told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Mangione had actually been on the radar of San Francisco authorities two weeks prior to the December 4 shooting of Brian Thompson.

Mangione’s mother, Kathleen Mangione, had reported her son missing on November 18 after the family had been unable to contact him since July 1, the sources told the Chronicle.

An acquaintance told The New York Times the suspect had lost touch with friends and family after undergoing major surgery for debilitating, chronic back pain in July 2023.

James Liddell has the details.

California police identified CEO shooting suspect Luigi Mangione days before arrest

Luigi Mangione’s mother had reported her son missing to California police two weeks before the shooting of Brian Thompson

James Liddell13 December 2024 12:40

Luigi Mangione to attend court hearing in two weeks

Luigi Mangione is due to appear in court in just over two weeks time.

The hearing is scheduled at the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, at 1 p.m. on December 30.

It is to consider Mangione’s petitions for writ of habeas corpus – an inquiry concerning his detention – and imposition at the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania.

It comes as Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks are working to get Mangione to New York as he fights extradition.

James Liddell13 December 2024 12:10

Polymarket starts taking bets on Luigi Mangione’s future

Betting platform Polymarket started taking bets on Luigi Mangione’s future after the 26-year-old was charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

The bets started appearing on the website on Monday shortly after Mangione was arrested in a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on gun charges, according to Forbes.

The betting platform surged in popularity during the 2024 presidential election, when gamblers spent more than $3.3 billion guessing the results.

Rhian Lubin has the full story.

Polymarket starts taking bets on Luigi Mangione’s future

The bets started appearing on the website shortly after Mangione was arrested in a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania

James Liddell13 December 2024 11:40

Mangione’s defense fund surpasses $70k

More than $70,000 has been raised to pay for Luigi Mangione’s legal bills as he faces charges in both Pennsylvania and New York.

The December 4th Legal Committee launched the public appeal on Christian fundraising site GiveSendGo, which garnered the vast sum after the 26-year-old was changed in Altoona, Pennsylvania on Monday. The fundraiser has a goal of $200,000.

“We are dedicated to ensuring that he gets a fair trial with competent legal counsel,” said Carol Sherman, an organizer with the December 4th Legal Committee.

The group says that proceeds will go to “other political prisoners in the US” if Mangione’s charges are dropped, or he rejects the funds.

James Liddell13 December 2024 11:10

ICYMI: McDonald’s customer reflects on moment he spotted Luigi Mangione in fast food joint

McDonald’s customer speaks out about moment he spotted Luigi Mangione in fast food joint
James Liddell13 December 2024 10:40

United Healthcare officials say suspect was never a client

Officials with United Healthcare say the man suspected of killing the company’s CEO was never a client.

According to NBC News, there is no record of Luigi Mangione ever being a client with the agency.

Many people have speculated that a motive in the case could have been tied to claims made through the company. But, the suspect does not appear to have a direct tie to the provider.

James Liddell13 December 2024 10:10

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