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By MARK SCOLFORO and MICHAEL R. SISAK Associated Press
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. (AP) — The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO is being returned to New York to face murder charges after agreeing to be extradited Thursday during a court appearance in Pennsylvania where he was arrested last week after five days on the run.
Luigi Mangione waived his right to an extradition hearing and was immediately turned over to at least a dozen New York Police Department officers who were in the courtroom.
Mangione was immediately ushered out of the courthouse while surrounded by police. He glanced side-to-side but stepped quietly into a black SUV, contrasting his last court appearance when he struggled with deputies and shouted at reporters.
The SUV pulled away, surrounded by law enforcement vehicles, beginning Mangione’s trip back to New York.
Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks said he wanted to turn Mangione over to New York authorities as soon as possible.
Mangione, 26, has been charged in New York with murder as an act of terrorism and could face life in prison without parole if convicted. He could appear in New York state court for arraignment on Thursday afternoon or Friday.
The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate is accused of ambushing and shooting Brian Thompson on Dec. 4 outside a Manhattan hotel where the head of the United States’ largest health insurer was walking to an investor conference. The shooting was captured on security video, but the suspect eluded police before Mangione was captured about 277 miles (446 kilometers) west of New York.
Weeks said he was willing to put the Pennsylvania charges on hold while New York authorities prosecute Mangione.
Mangione was arrested on Dec. 9 when police were called to a McDonald’s restaurant on a commercial strip in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after he was reported to match the description of Thompson’s killer.
Authorities say Mangione was carrying the gun used to kill Thompson, a passport, a fake ID and about $10,000 in U.S. and foreign currency. His lawyer, Dickey, has questioned the evidence for the forgery charge and the legal basis for a gun charge. He had previously indicated Mangione would fight extradition to New York while being held in a Pennsylvania state prison.
Mangione, a computer science graduate from a prominent Maryland family, was carrying a handwritten letter that called health insurance companies “parasitic” and complained about corporate greed, according to a law enforcement bulletin obtained by The Associated Press last week.
Sisak reported from New York.
