UnitedHealthcare CEO killing latest: Luigi Mangione to waive extradition

(PENNSYLVANIA) — Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, will waive extradition to New York when he appears in court in Pennsylvania on Thursday, his attorney said Wednesday.

The  Pennsylvania judge must accept the waiver or go forward with a scheduled hearing Thursday morning immediately following a separate hearing on the local charges Mangione faces.

Assuming the extradition paperwork is in order, the NYPD would transport Mangione from Pennsylvania to New York. Mangione could be arraigned in New York as soon as Thursday.

“I’m ready to bring him back here and make sure justice is served,” New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday.

A special edition of “20/20” airing Dec. 19 at 10 p.m. ET on ABC looks at the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the manhunt that led to the arrest of Luigi Mangione, who went from the Ivy League to alleged killer.

Mangione, 26, is accused of gunning down Thompson outside a Hilton hotel on Dec. 4 as the CEO headed to an investors conference. Prosecutors alleged Mangione waited nearly an hour for Thompson to arrive.

A Manhattan grand jury has upgraded charges against Mangione to include first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, prosecutors announced Tuesday.

The slaying in the heart of Midtown Manhattan unfolded as tourists, commuters and residents were on the streets and was “intended to evoke terror,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said.

In Pennsylvania, where Mangione was arrested on Dec. 9 after nearly one week on the run, he faces charges including allegedly possessing an untraceable ghost gun.

When Mangione was apprehended, he had a 9 mm handgun with a 3D-printed receiver, a homemade silencer, two ammunition magazines and live cartridges, prosecutors said.

Mangione is also charged in New York with: two counts of second-degree murder, one of which is charged as killing as an act of terrorism; two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second degree; four counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the third degree; one count of criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree; and one count of criminal possession of a forged instrument in the second degree.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to reflect that Mangione will waive extradition at Thursday’s hearing, according to his lawyer, but he has not yet waived extradition.