In a chilling courtroom confession, Luigi Mangione admitted to the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson right outside a bustling New York City hotel. With a plea of guilt on federal stalking charges, the details of the December 2024 tragedy unraveled.

The 28-year-old Mangione recounted the harrowing event, acknowledging his role in taking the life of the 50-year-old executive while Thompson was on his way to a conference in the heart of Midtown Manhattan.

“I shot Mr. Thompson and he died,” Mangione confessed forthrightly to the judge on Friday. “I understood that my actions would place him in fear of death or bodily injury. I knew what I was doing was illegal.”

This admission was part of Mangione’s plea to charges of interstate stalking that resulted in death, as well as stalking through the use of interstate facilities—a serious escalation of the legal stakes for the Maryland resident.

While federal murder charges against Mangione have been dismissed, he is not yet in the clear. A separate state trial looms on the horizon where he will face charges for the murder of Thompson, scheduled for next month.

Thompson’s grieving family came face-to-face with Mangione for the first time at the hearing.

They watched as Mangione revealed that ‘after years of enduring pain from a broken back’ he learned about the UnitedHealthcare investor conference.

Mangione said he traveled to Manhattan and emailed the company posing as an investor managing $58 billion and got information about the location within an hour, then printed a gun with a 3-D printer.

Both stalking charges carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. His sentencing hearing has been scheduled for December 18.

While there is no formal plea deal in place, the judge said there 

The shock plea comes just weeks before Mangione is slated to go to trial on state murder charges.

Legal experts believe the federal plea could be a tool by his star legal team to get his state charges thrown out because of New York’s double jeopardy laws.

Federal and state governments can prosecute for the same conduct because they are considered independent of each other, but under New York state law, double jeopardy can come into play when a prior prosecution for the same conduct ends in a conviction by guilty plea or a resolution at trial.

‘In New York state, there’s more robust protections for defendants around the double jeopardy laws. And so that could be a real issue here, at least one that would merit litigation, if not dismissal,’ CBS News legal analyst Caroline Polisi said. 

Retired FBI Special Agent James Gagliano suggested Mangione made the move so he could spend his sentence in a cushy federal prison rather than a state facility.

‘What is confounding to all of us is why the Southern District would be doing this without working with the state because the only thing that can be the possible outcome here is, Luigi Mangione’s attorneys are trying to get him to the comfy confines of FCI Otisville and avoid Sing Sing, Attica, Clinton or places like that in the state system,’ Gagliano told Fox News.

A legal expert previously told the Daily Mail that a plea deal might be the next move in his case so Mangione can get a lower sentence than if he went on trial.

‘Any time they’re going to get a penalty that’s anything better than Mangione spending the rest of his life in jail, that’s a victory,’ former federal prosecutor David S. Weinstein said.

Weinstein said that the double jeopardy law is also another major benefit if a plea deal is presented.

‘If they [Mangione’s legal team] craft their resolution in a way that allows the NY state law to apply then it takes care of the New York state case.

‘If they say these are crimes that arise out of the same matter then they can’t prosecute him.

‘They will file a motion to dismiss based on double jeopardy, so there won’t be a trial on Sept 8th,’ he shared.

Mangione was in court earlier this week on Tuesday where the judge ruled that the jury for his state trial will be anonymous because of the high-profile nature of the case.

Since his capture, Mangione has gone on to attract a large fan base – mainly of women – who show up to court in support of the alleged killer.

An online defense fund for him has raised more than $1.5 million since his arrest in December 2024. He has also received a significant amount of fan mail and emails while locked away inside Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center.

For his trial, jurors’ names and personal information will remain a secret from the public, the judge ruled, adding that both the defense and prosecution need to come up with questions for prospective jurors.

That questionnaire will determine how much possible jurors know about the case, their experience with the law, and more factors, NBC News reported. The judge will have the final say on what they are asked.

The judge also acknowledged the number of people expected to be allowed in the main courtroom, and what should be done about the large crowd.

More than 80 news outlets, including independent journalists and major publications, are set to cover the trial.

Surveillance video of the killing showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson from behind.

Police say ‘delay,’ ‘deny’ and ‘depose’ were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.

Mangione was arrested five days after the shooting at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania. 

This is a breaking news story… 

Labeling it “Orwellian,” the head of a U.N. watchdog expressed grave concern over the prospect of Iran’s potential membership on a key United Nations committee. This powerful group helps shape significant policies surrounding human rights, women’s rights, and counterterrorism efforts.

The U.N. General Assembly is scheduled for a decisive vote this November on Iran’s inclusion in the Committee for Programme and Coordination. This committee, composed of 34 member states serving three-year terms, is likely to see the vote as a mere formality, largely expected to succeed.

Though the committee doesn’t directly craft human rights treaties or condemn violations, it holds substantial sway over the administrative execution of human rights initiatives throughout the U.N.’s operations.

Despite Iran’s well-documented record of systematic human rights abuses, aggressive crackdowns on women, extensive surveillance, and lethal suppression of dissent, the U.N. Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) put forth its nomination for Iran in April.

Global bodies also consider Tehran a leading state sponsor of terrorism that funds proxy militant groups, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza. In addition, Tehran has attacked neighboring Gulf states in recent months amid a war with the United States.

“It’s the last government in the world that should have any influence,” Hillel Neuer, executive director of Geneva-based UN Watch, told News Media.

“Sadly, at the United Nations today — an organization founded after World War II out of great idealism to bring international peace — it is a case of the lunatics running the asylum,” Neuer added. “You have the Islamic Republic of Iran, a regime that beats, blinds, tortures, rapes, and imprisons women for standing up for their rights or showing a few strands of hair.”

News Media reached out to the Iranian Permanent Mission to the U.N. for comment.

Iran’s appointment would not be unprecedented. The U.N. Human Rights Council’s 47 member states currently include nations with severely criticized human rights records, including China, Cuba, Pakistan and Eritrea.

“The United Nations speaks out in the name of values and principles such as human rights, democracy, freedom, equality and women’s rights,” Neuer said. “The reality is that, sadly, at least half the U.N. is made up of dictatorships.”

Tehran continues to brutally suppress basic freedoms. In July, two men were publicly hanged for participating in nationwide anti-government demonstrations, while hundreds more remain jailed or killed for demanding regime change.

In addition, the U.N. has been accused of bias for heavily criticizing Israel’s military actions in Gaza, while often failing to pass formal resolutions or issue direct condemnations against Hamas.

According to Neuer, the most disappointing aspect of Iran’s potential committee appointment is the willingness of Western democracies to acquiesce.

“The short answer is interests, cynicism, politics, dealmaking, and a culture of ‘go along to get along,'” Neuer said. “If you are the French, Canadian, or German ambassador, you don’t want to pick a fight with dozens of countries or trigger friction with Iran. They would rather simply avoid it.”

A relentless deluge of unprecedented rainwater has transformed the streets east of Tokyo into gushing torrents, claiming the lives of at least eight individuals. This devastating weather event has marooned over 10,000 travelers and commuters throughout Japan’s Chiba prefecture.

Approximately 7,000 people found themselves spending the night inside terminals at Tokyo’s Narita International Airport. Floodwaters had cut off essential rail and road links, coinciding cruelly with one of Japan’s peak holiday travel seasons.

Emergency crews were seen distributing essentials like sleeping bags, water, and food as families made temporary beds in cramped departure halls on Thursday night. The scene was a somber testament to the storm’s impact.

Tragically, among the eight fatalities was a man in his 60s or 70s. He was discovered lifelessly adrift on a submerged road in Ichikawa, a grim reminder of the storm’s fury.

In another heart-wrenching incident, a 66-year-old woman perished after becoming ensnared within her flooded vehicle in Sakura. Other victims were similarly found in inundated cars or lying on flooded streets throughout the prefecture.

The scale of the downpour was extraordinary even by the standards of disaster-prone Japan, with over 14 inches of rain falling within 24 hours in parts of Chiba.

Chiba city recorded 4.5 inches in a single hour on Thursday evening, followed by more than 7 inches over three hours and 11.5 inches in six hours.

All three totals smashed local records dating back to 1966.

“This case was an extremely unusual situation, even by Japan’s historical weather standards,” Chiba Governor Toshihito Kumagai said.

“I have responded to many disasters in the past, but I have never experienced a case like this.”

Almost 230,000 residents were urged to seek safer ground as floodwaters poured through streets, swallowed cars and entered homes.

An early damage count found more than 80 homes had been flooded, but authorities warned the true figure was likely to rise as emergency crews reached more of the affected areas.

The rain knocked out power to about 68,000 households at its peak.

Roughly 23,000 remained without electricity on Friday morning.

Japan’s Meteorological Agency issued its highest Level 5 heavy rain warning across 22 Chiba municipalities as the deluge intensified, along with its most severe landslide warning in six areas.

Those warnings were downgraded to Level 4 shortly after 5 a.m. on Friday as the worst of the rain eased.

However, forecasters warned that the atmosphere remained highly unstable and further intense thunderstorms were possible later in the day.

Waterlogged ground and swollen waterways also meant even comparatively modest rainfall could trigger fresh flooding or landslides.

At Narita, the airport company said approximately 7,000 people remained inside the terminals at 4 a.m. after buses and trains linking the airport with central Tokyo were suspended.

“I never thought I’d spend the night at the airport, but it is what it is and we are learning,” one stranded traveller told Japanese broadcaster NHK.

“We’re never going to forget this trip.”

Rail links began reopening in stages on Friday morning, although delays, cancellations and long queues continued.

Flights were operating broadly as scheduled, with Japan Airlines warning that some services could be delayed but saying no widespread cancellations were expected.

The chaos extended far beyond the airport.

More than 4,000 people spent the night inside JR Soga station after surrounding streets were submerged by water that reached as high as an adult’s waist.

As many as 1,700 other people took shelter inside the Chiba prefectural government building and a neighbouring government facility, while 11 temporary accommodation sites were opened across Chiba city.

Dozens of abandoned vehicles remained scattered across flooded roads on Friday morning.

On one stretch of road in central Chiba, more than 20 vehicles blocked traffic across approximately 492 feet.

Major highways linking Narita Airport with Tokyo were also closed or heavily congested, forcing motorists onto alternative routes.

Weather experts said the disaster was caused by a rare combination of cold air high in the atmosphere, an enormous supply of warm, moist air and converging winds over Chiba.