Luigi Mangione, the accused killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, hired veteran attorney and former Manhattan prosecutor Karen Friedman Agnifilo to defend him in court as he faces a second-degree murder charge for the caught-on-video execution.
Friedman Agnifilo, who previously worked as former Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr.’s Chief Assistant District Attorney for seven years, will represent Mangione in New York, her firm Agnifilo Intrater LLP confirmed in a statement Saturday.
A Georgetown University Law Center graduate, Friedman Agnifilo has three decades of criminal justice experience prosecuting high-profile violent crimes, including homicide cases, according to her LinkedIn profile.
Mangione faces additional charges including three weapons possession offenses and criminal possession of a forged instrument for the early morning murder on Dec. 4 outside the Hilton Hotel in Midtown, according to a criminal complaint filed Monday.
Karen Friedman at the Manhattan District Attorney’s office in 2017. (Jefferson Siegel/New York Daily News)
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg on Friday said he had learned of information suggesting Mangione won’t challenge his extradition from Pennsylvania to New York. Thomas Dickey, another attorney on Mangione’s legal team indicated he would challenge extradition earlier this week.
“Indications are that the defendant may waive, but that waiver is not complete until a court proceeding,” Bragg said at an unrelated press conference in Times Square.
“Until that time, we’re going to continue to press forward on parallel paths, and we’ll be ready whether he’s going to waive extradition or contest extradition.”
Manhattan prosecutors on Thursday started presenting evidence to a grand jury to secure an indictment for the high-profile killing, according to ABC. The DA’s office declined to comment on or confirm the report.
Mangione has been detained at the State Correctional Institution at Huntingdon in Pennsylvania since he was denied bail late Monday.
Bragg and Gov. Hochul’s office have said they are coordinating to submit an extradition request to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s office.
Mangione is next due in court on Dec. 23, according to Pennsylvania court administrators.