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UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione indicted by Manhattan district attorney
NEW YORK — Luigi Mangione was indicted Thursday by the Manhattan district attorney in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Mangione was hit with multiple charges, including one count of murder in the first degree and two counts of murder in the second degree.
District Attorney Alvin Bragg and New York City Police Commissioner Commissioner Jessica Tisch are holding a news conference at 3:30 p.m. that you can watch in the live player above.
“This type of premeditated, targeted gun violence cannot and will not be tolerated, and my office has been working day in and day out to bring the defendant to justice” Bragg said in an earlier statement. “I want to extend my heartfelt prayers to Mr. Thompson’s loved ones as they continue to grieve.
“This ongoing investigation is the product of an incredible partnership at all levels with the NYPD, and I want to thank Commissioner Tisch and the prosecutors and detectives who worked collaboratively to apprehend Mr. Mangione. He is now charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with three counts of murder and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison without parole,” he added.
The announcement from Bragg came as Mangione was in a Pennsylvania court to face charges related to his arrest on Dec. 9.
Mangione’s is now in the process of being extradited to New York. Bragg had said late last week the 26-year-old suspect was considering waiving his extradition after previously fighting it.
Mangione is currently being held in a Pennsylvania state prison on charges related to possession of a gun and a fake ID.
Luigi Mangione’s arrest in Pennsylvania
Mangione was arrested on Dec. 9 after a customer at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, saw him eating breakfast and noticed a resemblance to the person being sought by police in the killing of Thompson in Manhattan five days earlier.
Police said Mangione was found with a gun, mask and writings linking him to the ambush outside the New York Hilton Midtown, where Thompson was arriving for his company’s annual investor conference.
The New York City Police Department told CBS News that there are no indications that Mangione was a UnitedHealthcare customer.
Hours after Mangione’s arrest in Pennsylvania, Bragg’s office in Manhattan filed paperwork charging him with five counts, including intentional murder, criminal possession of a weapon, and criminal possession of a forged instrument.
Suspect adds high-power lawyer to defense
Mangione has added prominent defense lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo to his legal team. Agnifilo was a high-ranking deputy in the Manhattan DA’s office for years before entering private practice. Friedman Agnifilo’s law firm, Agnifilo Intrater LLP, confirmed in a statement to CBS News on Saturday that she had been retained to represent Mangione.
The firm said Agnifilo, a longtime veteran of the Manhattan DA’s office, served as the second-in-command for seven years under DA Cyrus Vance, in addition to serving for four years as the Chief of the Office’s Trial Division.
President-elect Donald Trump announced he will nominate Herschel Walker, the former football player whose 2022 Senate run was plagued by controversy, to serve as U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas.
“Herschel has spent decades serving as an Ambassador to our Nation’s youth, our men and women in the Military, and athletes at home and abroad,” Trump said on social media Tuesday night.
Walker would need to be confirmed by the Senate to assume the role. The Senate has not confirmed a U.S. ambassador to the Bahamas in over a decade. Former President Barack Obama had nominated Cassandra Butts for the role in 2014, but the Senate never even brought her nomination up for a vote, according to The Associated Press. She died in 2016.
Trump in his first term nominated Doug Manchester in 2017 for the ambassador role, but his nomination stalled for over two years. CBS News in 2019 also uncovered evidence of a possible pay-to-play scheme for the role. He eventually withdrew and Trump went on to nominate William Douglass in 2020. Douglass’ nomination was withdrawn by President Biden when he took office, and Mr. Biden in turn nominated Calvin Smyre, who has not been confirmed by the Senate.
Absent an official ambassador to the Bahamas, Kimberly Furnish currently serves in the role of Chargé d’Affaires.
Walker rose to national prominence as a star running back for the Georgia Bulldogs, winning the Heisman trophy in 1982. He spent his first few years of professional ball in the United States Football League before it folded, and then moved on to the NFL.
Walker reentered the national spotlight when, at Trump’s urging, he challenged Georgia’s Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock for his seat in 2022. The race featured several controversies, including two women claiming that Walker — who was running as an anti-abortion candidate — had paid for them to get abortions.
Walker denied both allegations.
In one instance, Walker admitted to writing a check for a woman who said he paid for her to get an abortion in 2009, but he said he hadn’t known what the money was for.
Another woman claimed Walker paid her to get an abortion while the two carried out a six-year relationship while he was married to another woman and playing in the NFL. During a news conference back in 2022, she said she couldn’t go through with the procedure when she went to get it herself, so Walker took her to a clinic in the Dallas area the next day and waited for her while she got the abortion.
“This was a lie a week ago and it is a lie today,” Walker said at the time following an interview the woman gave a week after the initial news conference.
Warnock would go on to win the election in a runoff after neither candidate received more than 50% of the vote on election day.
Aaron Navarro and
contributed to this report.
BALTIMORE — One person was killed and nine others injured in a mass shooting in the Baltimore suburb of Towson Tuesday night, authorities said.
Law enforcement responded at around 7:15 p.m. in the 8500 block of Loch Raven Boulevard, Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough said in a news briefing.
“It appears to be a mass shooting incident,” Baltimore County Police Chief Robert McCullough told reporters. “We have multiple persons who were shot. Right now, we are determining the circumstances and the conditions in this case.”
The first arriving officer found a vehicle on its side in flames, McCullough said, and then several gunshot victims were found in the area. The name of the person killed was not released, and the conditions of the nine people injured was unknown.
At this time, investigators believe this was an isolated and targeted incident, with no further threat to community at this point, he added. It’s unclear if any suspects have been arrested.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives is at the scene assisting police, as was the Baltimore County Fire Department.
Anyone with information is asked to call Baltimore County Police at 410-887-4636.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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