BALTIMORE, Md. — There are now two murder cases against Luigi Mangione, which will proceed in parallel with each other, according to the Manhattan District Attorney.
In the New York state case, Mangione is charged with first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism. As of today, he now also faces federal charges for murder and stalking.
On Thursday morning, Mangione was calm as he exited the Blair County courthouse in Pennsylvania, before getting on a quick flight to New York.
He was then escorted by not only law enforcement but the Mayor of New York City as well, on his way to his first federal court appearance. Mayor Eric Adams later told reporters his presence was meant to symbolize that the city will not tolerate an act of violence like this.
New charging documents from the federal case paint a better picture of how Mangione allegedly plotted the murder months in advance. Investigators reference entries from a notebook found on Mangione when he was arrested. In one entry from August 15th, Mangione allegedly wrote "the details are finally coming together" and "I'm glad in a way that I've procrastinated" because it gave him more time to learn about the company he was targeting.
Another entry from October describes an intent to "wack" an insurance company CEO at their investor conference, calling the conference "a true windfall and - most importantly -the message becomes self-evident."
Prosecutors in New York said on the morning of the conference, Mangione waited nearly an hour for Brian Thompson to arrive at the Hilton Hotel.
Mangione's extradition to New York
That level of forethought could damage a potential insanity defense. His attorneys would have to convince a jury that he wasn't able to appreciate the nature or the wrongfulness of the crime. That Mangione allegedly ran away immediately after the shooting could suggest to a jury that he knew what he did was wrong.
But still, an insanity defense may be his legal team's best bet.
"That's going to be the pathway I think," Maryland criminal defense attorney Thomas Maronick Jr. told WMAR-2 News. "Because there's so much in the way of physical evidence that appears to tie him to this murder so far."
Maronick Jr. also worked as an independent radio host for the Mangione family-owned WCBM for 20 years.
He says the reports from former classmates that Mangione hadn't been in contact with his family in months, with his mother even reporting him missing in November, could help with an insanity plea.
"You have a lot of pieces that fit that mold, specifically the manifesto that's been put out, the outburst in court at the initial appearance, the train of things that were supposedly there - the Internet. There's just a lot of things to suggest that might be a strong defense," Maronick Jr. said.
When Mangione's attorney learned about the federal charges, she called the decision "highly unusual" and said it "raises serious constitutional and statutory double jeopardy concerns."
In court today, she said two cases seemed to be in conflict, as the New York case accuses Mangione of terrorizing a group of people -- the insurance industry -- while the federal case accuses him of stalking an individual.
His next court date is January 18. He's currently being held in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, the only federal prison in NYC.
His attorneys did not seek bail but said they reserve the right to do so in the future.
A conviction in the federal case could make Mangione eligible for the death penalty. For the state case, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.
