Luigi Mangione has hired a top New York attorney to defend him against a second-degree murder charge in connection with the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, CNN has learned.
Karen Friedman Agnifilo will represent him in New York. A seasoned attorney, Agnifilo previously served as the chief assistant district attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office under Cyrus Vance Jr. for seven years. Since 2021, she has worked in private practice and is deeply familiar with the city’s criminal justice system.
“She’s got as much experience as anyone, especially in state court,” a longtime New York prosecutor told CNN. “She knows every corridor, every judge, every clerk in the courthouse.”
Friedman Agnifilo, who once worked as a CNN legal analyst, declined to comment.
As Mangione faces trial, investigators have uncovered new evidence. Police told CNN that the 3D-printed gun Mangione had on him during his arrest matches the three shell casings found at the crime scene in Midtown Manhattan. Additionally, his fingerprints matched those found on items near the scene.
The revelations about fingerprints and firearms come as authorities continue their investigation into Mangione, who remains in custody in Pennsylvania on gun-related charges. He is also fighting extradition to New York, though as of Friday, indications suggest that Mangione “may waive” his extradition next week, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
A Pennsylvania state judge, Dave Consiglio, denied Mangione bail on Tuesday, ruling that he would stay at the Huntingdon State Correctional Institution. In addition to the murder charge, Mangione faces four other charges, including forging a document and criminal possession of a firearm.
Mangione’s attorney in Pennsylvania has not disclosed whether his prominent Baltimore family is covering his legal expenses, though Thomas Dickey, his lawyer, told CNN that members of the public have offered financial support.
A representative for Friedman Agnifilo declined to comment on who is funding Mangione’s legal defense.
As Mangione contests his extradition, a Pennsylvania court has granted him 14 days to file for a writ of habeas corpus, which would require the authorities to justify his detention. If he proceeds, a hearing will be scheduled. Meanwhile, Pennsylvania prosecutors have 30 days to request a governor’s warrant, which New York Governor Kathy Hochul has pledged to support. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has expressed readiness to sign and process the warrant promptly.
Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks stated that his office is prepared to take the necessary steps to return Mangione to New York.
Dickey has denied Mangione’s involvement in the killing and expects him to plead not guilty to the murder charge and other counts in New York. Mangione also intends to plead not guilty to charges in Pennsylvania related to a gun and fake ID that police say were found when they arrested him in Altoona.
The NYPD intelligence report obtained by CNN suggests that Mangione harbored anger toward the health insurance industry and “corporate greed.” It claims he saw the murder of Thompson as a symbolic act against the corruption and “power games” of corporations, asserting in his note that he was “the first to face it with such brutal honesty.”
In addition to the three-page handwritten “claim of responsibility” found with Mangione, investigators are examining writings in a spiral notebook that were seized from him during his arrest, according to a law enforcement source briefed on the case.