Suspect charged with murder in UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing hires prominent New York attorney

Luigi Mangione retained prominent attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo to represent him on New York charges in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

The firm Agnifilo Intrater LLC confirmed Friedman Agnifilo will represent him but declined to comment further.

“She will not be making any statements at this time,” the firm said in a statement.

Friedman Agnifilo was the chief assistant district attorney in the Manhattan district attorney’s office under Cyrus Vance Jr. for seven years. She was chief of the trial division for four years.

The dayslong manhunt for a suspect in the shooting ended Monday when Mangione, 26, was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where he was found eating at a McDonald’s restaurant and carrying a backpack containing what authorities said was evidence linking him to Thompson’s shooting.

Mangione, who comes from a prominent Baltimore family, was charged in New York with one count of murder, three counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of possession of a forged instrument.

He was also arraigned in Pennsylvania on two felony charges of forgery and carrying a firearm without a license, as well as three misdemeanor charges of tampering with records or identification, possessing instruments of crime and providing false identification to law enforcement.

Mangione remains in his own cell at the Huntingdon State Correctional Institution and is fighting extradition to New York. A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Corrections Department said he does not have access to a television, is not interacting with other inmates and eats in his cell.

After the arrest, online fundraisers surfaced in his support. At least three fundraisers appeared on GoFundMe but have been removed. GoFundMe said that its Terms of Service prohibits fundraisers for legal defenses of violent crimes and that it was refunding donors who contributed to the campaigns.

Another crowdfunding platform, GiveSendGo, has not removed a fundraiser for Mangione’s legal defense. The fundraiser, which had raised over $94,000 as of Saturday morning, said it was “not here to celebrate violence, but we do believe in the constitutional right of fair legal representation.” The fundraiser’s goal is $200,000.

It is not clear whether any of the donations will help pay Mangione’s legal fees. His family could not be reached for comment Saturday.

Pennsylvania attorney Thomas Dickey has said that he had not seen evidence linking his client to the killing and that Mangione would plead not guilty in both states.

Dickey and Friedman Agnifilo could not immediately be reached for comment Saturday.