Luigi Mangione admits to shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO: 'I knew what I was doing'

Luigi Mangione in an earlier appearance in state court, ahead of a scheduled murder trial.

The Ivy League graduate pleaded guilty to separate stalking charges in federal court.

David Dee Delgado-Pool/Getty Images Luigi Mangione pleaded guilty to stalking charges in federal court in a striking reversal.

In the hearing, Mangione described tracking down and shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

A judge will sentence him on December 18.

The federal charges carry a possibility of life in prison.

Luigi Mangione admitted on Friday to tracking down and shooting Brian Thompson in a court hearing where he pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges in connection with the UnitedHealthcare CEO's killing .

Mangione reversed his previous not-guilty plea while Thompson's family members looked on from the front row of the downtown Manhattan courthouse.

Thompson's widow, Paulette Thompson, wiped tears from her eyes with a tissue during the plea hearing.

After answering a series of questions from US District Judge Margaret Garnett to assure her he understood the consequences of pleading guilty, Mangione read from a statement describing how he found and killed the UnitedHealthcare CEO.

"In the morning on December 4th, 2024, I shot Mr.

Thompson in Manhattan, and he died," Mangione told the judge.

"When I did so, I understood that my actions would place him in fear of death or serious bodily injury." "I knew what I was doing," he continued.

Mangione's guilty plea applied to two federal charges he faced related to stalking Thompson before the healthcare executive was shot outside a Manhattan hotel .