At this point, there is no reason to worry that the United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s suspected killer, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, will either lack the proper legal representation or the money to pay for it.
Recently, on Dec. 13, the media announced that Mangione has his New York legal counsel in place, on top of the Altoona-based attorney, Thomas Dickey, who is representing him in his extradition process and Pennsylvania charges – the fact that Mangione is fighting extradition will surely make his legal fees more costly.
Mangione’s New York representation, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, is a veteran Manhattan attorney with three decades of criminal law experience, including homicide cases, who’s now hired to defend Mangione against his second-degree murder charge. It was reported that Friedman Agnifilo, who’s been in private practice since 2021, was contacted by representatives of the Mangione family.
In the event that, like many others clamoring enthusiastically across the Internet, you reserve some concern about what may well become humongous legal expenses for Mangione as he navigates judicial processes in two separate states, you probably shouldn’t. As of right now, and comparatively to other cases, Mangione appears to be well taken care of and in good legal hands.
Who’s footing the bill?
The IG post above is emblematic of the sentiments of many Americans. Luigi Mangione supporters have largely been ecstatic to learn that such a prominent, highly qualified attorney will be representing the man who they have hailed as a sort of Robin Hood-esque hero of the people. Karen Friedman Agnifilo cannot be cheap but, surely by now, Mangione has little to worry about money-wise.
Even though we have got no confirmation from Agnifilo – understandably – on who is paying for her legal services, there are three reasons we could come up with as to why Mangione has got it covered – pun intended: First, given this murder’s notoriety, there are few lawyers who would not consider tackling the challenge pro bono. So, no matter what, Mangione would never be without representation committed to doing the best job possible.
Secondly, if push comes to shove, Mangione’s renowned Baltimore family is wealthy enough to foot the bill. However, that may not be necessary, at least to an extent. Because, thirdly, netizens have already joined forces to create multiple crowdfunding initiatives to help Luigi. His Pennsylvania lawyer, Thomas Dickey, has himself revealed during an interview that multiple individuals have come forward to offer to help pay for his legal services. Even if a lawyer were to not charge Luigi and his family a single cent, they could fall back on the public’s spontaneously gifted monetary aid.
This criminal case is peculiar in every sense of the word. Such peculiarity is evidenced by the supportive comments flooding Friedman Agnifilo’s social media. Agnifilo, who’s recurringly been on CNN as a legal analyst, had actually spoken to the network about Mangione’s case before she was retained as defense counsel. During the interview, the lawyer said a possible defense strategy in this case, given the amount of evidence, would be to resort to a plea of Not Guilty by reason of insanity. Whether Mangione and Agnifilo will be taking this route remains to be determined.