Luigi Mangione, the former Ivy League student accused in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, refused to waive his extradition to New York Tuesday, paving the way for a lengthy court battle.
The move bought his defense team time to contest his Pennsylvania arrest, according to WABC-TV.
Mangione's attorneys have 14 days to file motions with the court and prosecutors will have 30 days to obtain a warrant from the governor of New York, officials said, according to the outlet. The court will then decide how to rule on the extradition.
It may take up to 45 days to get Mangione back in New York, prosecutors said.
While being escorted by officers into the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania a day after his preliminary hearing on gun charges, a seemingly agitated Mangione shouted to reporters, in part, "... completely out of touch, and insults the intelligence of the American people," according to video reviewed by the Lawyer Herald.
Monday, 26-year-old Mangione, who is originally from Maryland, was charged with second-degree murder, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, second-degree possession of a forged document, and third-degree criminal possession of a weapon in connection with the killing of 50-year-old Thompson, CNN reported, citing online court documents.
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch described the late insurance executive's slaying as a "brazen" and "targeted murder" at a Monday press conference announcing Mangione was taken into custody earlier in the day while eating at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
A worker recognized him and called 911, she said.
At the time, police classified Mangione as a person of interest and brought him in on gun charges.
The purported shooter was "acting suspiciously and was carrying multiple fraudulent IDs," including the fake New Jersey ID believed to be used to check into a New York City hostel prior to the deadly incident, said Tisch. A ghost gun, suppressor and manifesto that "spoke to both his motivation and mindset" were also allegedly recovered from the suspect, police said.
"We don't think there's any specific threats to other people mentioned in that document, but it does seem that he has some ill will towards corporate America," NYPD Chief Joseph Kenny told reporters.
Police believe he acted alone.
Thompson was in New York City for the company's annual investors meeting Wednesday when he was ambushed by a masked shooter who fired off several rounds into his back and leg, killing him outside a Manhattan hotel.
He was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Mangione, who immediately fled the scene and evaded capture for nearly a week, has no prior criminal record in New York, police said. He was not on police radar prior to his capture.
Mangione is from an affluent Maryland family, and is cousins with state Republican Delegate Nino Mangione.
He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Masters in Engineering in 2020. Before then, he attended an all-boys preparatory school in Baltimore where he was valedictorian.
The suspected murderer reportedly suffered from chronic back pain and his family reported him missing Nov. 18, after he cut off communications following a spinal surgery months prior, the New York Post reported.
Mangione currently works as a Data Engineer for TrueCar, and lives in Honolulu, Hawaii, according to his LinkedIn.
Originally published in Lawyer Herald
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