Volkswacht Bodensee - Mangione state murder trial postponed after federal guilty plea

His trial on charges of murdering UnitedHealthCare chief executive Brian Thompson was due to get underway next month but that prospect was upended when he pleaded guilty in federal court Friday and his lawyers moved to have the state charges dismissed.

There will be a hearing in the state case at the beginning of December.

In dramatic courtroom scenes, Mangione admitted Friday to killing the health insurance boss in a Manhattan street as he pleaded guilty to stalking charges before a federal judge.

"On the morning of December 4, I shot Mr Thompson in Manhattan and he died," Mangione told a federal judge as he pleaded guilty to stalking his victim. He will be sentenced on December 18 and prosecutors said they would seek a life term.

- 'No celebrity in assassination' -

He had been facing the stalking charges in the federal system, alongside murder charges in the New York state system but Mangione's lawyers called Friday for the state charges to be dropped to prevent him being prosecuted twice for the same conduct.

"We just filed our motion in state court, explaining why the state charges must be dismissed under New York's double jeopardy protections," said Mangione's lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo on Friday after the guilty plea.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has said he is "tirelessly preparing to pursue a trial conviction" in the state case, where Mangione is maintaining his not guilty plea.

The stalking charges and the murder charges could both lead to life sentences. Two other federal charges that carried the death penalty were thrown out by a judge earlier this year.

The case has sharply divided public opinion, with conservatives led by US President Donald Trump calling for an example to be made of Mangione.

Prosecutors on Friday said he deserved heavy punishment.

"There can be no celebrity in assassination," Jamie McDonald, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, told reporters.

But ardent supporters of Mangione flocked to the Manhattan courthouse to show their support amid heavy security as a helicopter hovered overhead.

C.Koch--VB