Luigi Mangione beefs up legal team as he faces extradition to N.Y.: Report

Luigi Mangione has retained a high-profile Manhattan lawyer as he faces extradition to New York, CNN reported Friday.

Mangione hired Karen Agnifilo Friedman, former chief prosecutor at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, to represent him, according to CNN.

The report came hours after Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg Jr. said Mangione might stop resisting his extradition to New York, where he faces a murder charge in the December 4 deadly shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

“Indications are that the defendant may waive,” Bragg said at a news conference Friday afternoon. “But that waiver is not complete until a court proceeding, which my understanding from court officials in Pennsylvania cannot happen until Tuesday.”

Newsweek reached out to Friedman Agnifilo for comment via email on Friday.

The lawyer’s tenure as a public servant—specifically at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office—will likely aid in her defense of Mangione.

According to her online biography, Friedman Agnifilo worked at the New York City office for seven years under then-District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. While there, she played “a critical leadership role in prosecuting high-profile violent crime cases, including complex cases involving a mental health component, as well as cold case homicides,” her biography says.

She also worked as chief legal analyst for CNN, which first reported the news that Mangione had hired her.

Mangione was apprehended at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday. He faces forgery and weapons charges in Pennsylvania, and New York prosecutors filed a murder charge against him shortly after he was arrested in the Keystone State.

Mangione pleaded not guilty to the Pennsylvania charges and has been fighting extradition to New York since being detained.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Friday that law enforcement officials are waiting for court proceedings to unfold to determine whether Mangione will stay in Pennsylvania or be moved to New York.

“We’re going to continue to move forward, but I will continue to say he should be prosecuted here in New York City,” Adams said Friday.

Earlier this week, the New York City Police Department (NYPD) said Mangione’s fingerprints appear to match those found near the site of the shooting.

NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference Wednesday that police were “able to match the person of interest fingerprints” with prints found on a water bottle and protein bar wrapper near the crime scene.

She added that shell casings recovered at the site matched the 3D-printed gun that Mangione possessed when he was detained in Altoona.

Thomas Dickey, who represents Mangione in Pennsylvania, told reporters this week that Mangione would plead not guilty in the state.

Asked about the New York murder charge, Dickey said they were “not aware of any actual charges in New York.”

Update 12/13/24, 10:50 p.m.: This article was updated with further information.