Luigi Mangione Trial

Gypsy Rose Blanchard says all of the letters Luigi Mangione is getting in jail will serve as a boost for the alleged murderer ... but, be warned, she adds -- 'cause there are lots of weirdos out there.

We caught up with Blanchard -- who served seven years after she was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of her mother -- at LAX Thursday ... and, we asked her what it's like to receive so much fan mail while locked up.

GRB says it's good to buoy your spirits ... but, it's important to distinguish between people who are genuinely reaching out versus the ones who are sending letters in an attempt to get something out of you.

Luigi Mangione is about to go before a judge ... and the NYC courthouse is packed to the gills with folks who traveled from across the country to get a glimpse of the man accused of killing a healthcare CEO.

The accused killer's first court appearance since December is happening today on the 15th floor of a Lower Manhattan courthouse, where people waited for hours in the freezing cold just for a chance to get inside and see Luigi.

One of those hopefuls is Brooke Warner ... a 28-year-old woman from Utah who tells us she flew to the Big Apple with her fiancé just for Luigi's hearing.

Luigi Mangione's loyal supporters are now portraying the accused killer as some god-like figure ahead of his court appearance Friday ... they plastered a giant poster of him appearing as an apostle on the side of a New York City building.

Check it out ... the alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO killer is pictured standing in front of a sun wearing a green and white cloak with a red heart on it. Yellow letters reading "FREE LUIGI" are printed across his neck.

Mangione will head to state court Friday afternoon ... marking the first time he will sit before a judge since his arraignment on charges he allegedly shot to death UnitedHealthCare Group CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan in December 2024.

Luigi Mangione is making his first public comments since being arrested and charged in the Brian Thompson murder case ... and he's taking a page from Justin Baldoni's playbook.

Luigi released a statement Friday on a new website dedicated to his defense.

Mangione says, "I am overwhelmed by -- and grateful for -- everyone who has written me to share their stories and express their support. Powerfully, this support has transcended political, racial, and even class divisions, as mail has flooded MDC from across the country, and around the globe."

Luigi Mangione, the charged killer in the Brian Thompson murder case, took time from a vacation in Thailand to visit a shooting range ... a decision that now sticks out to some of his travel buddies.

Two German tourists who traveled extensively with Luigi in Asia in the months before the shooting look back on their interactions with Mangione in our new TMZ Investigates documentary, "Luigi Mangione: The Mind of a Killer."

Luigi's travel companions, Paul and Max, tell us Mangione hung back from a beach day in Thailand to go to a shooting range instead ... later reporting back to them that it was expensive. But, that's not the only strange thing Luigi did around the German tourists.

Luigi Mangione's cultural impact is defying gravity ... he's now the inspiration behind a viral drag performance sparking serious chatter online.

Check it out ... a performer named August Ryder shared footage on X of his set from Sunday's "So You Think You Can Twink" pageant at the Precinct DTLA nightclub in Los Angeles ... where he dressed as the alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO killer and lip-synced to the "Wicked" anthem "Defying Gravity."

Before August even took to the stage, footage of Luigi's high-profile arrest played for the crowd ... which prompted thunderous applause, as well as several hoots and hollers. Yet, it was August's take on the suspected shooter that raised some eyebrows.

Luigi Mangione is locked up in a notorious NYC federal detention center known for its horrible conditions -- and TMZ has been given the lowdown on his life behind bars.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us ... Mangione is tucked away in "administrative segregation" at MDC Brooklyn -- with a group of inmates separated from the general population because they require heightened security.

In the case of Mangione, he became infamous after being arrested for the high-profile murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson -- so he could be a target for other inmates. Hence, the extra security.

Our sources say Mangione's locked up in a single cell -- nobody's rooming with him. But, the cells are close together and inmates frequently talk to one another.

Luigi Mangione is not hanging out with Diddy at one of America's most notorious jails ... because they're being held in totally different cell blocks.

Sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ ... Luigi and Diddy are not in the same jail unit at MDC Brooklyn.

Reports surfaced last week speculating Luigi and Diddy would soon be held in the same protective jail unit, but we've learned that's not the case.

Comedian Tim Dillon has a new motto for the healthcare industry ... joking as the ghost of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson that the company will "deny, defend, decompose."

The star appears in Netflix's "Torching 2024: A Roast of the Year" -- which dropped Friday on the streaming giant -- hopping onstage in a get-up reminiscent of what Thompson wore when he was shot in Manhattan earlier this month ... with chains added to the ensemble.

Dillon's ghoulish gray appearance was met with a pretty mixed reaction from the audience -- some cheers, some groans. Dillon clearly picked up on the tension ... breaking character for a moment and joking he's "going to hell for this, you might as well laugh."

Stand-up comedian Tim Dillon's wading into one of the biggest stories of 2024 ... playing slain UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a Netflix special.

Here's the deal ... on Friday, Netflix is releasing "Torching 2024: A Roast of the Year" -- a roast taking a flamethrower to some of the biggest news stories from 2024 as we head into 2025.

Of course, arguably the biggest story of the year was the shooting death of Thompson earlier this month ... and sources familiar with the taping tell us that Dillon and Netflix didn't shy away from it.

Luigi Mangione's attorney is calling out NYC Mayor Eric Adams for putting on a dog and pony show with the alleged murderer that will make it impossible for her client to get a fair trial.

Karen Friedman Agnifilo went off on Mayor Adams and law enforcement Monday during Mangione's arraignment, blasting him for last week's scene on a helicopter pad as Mangione was extradited to face murder charges. You'll recall he was flanked by about a dozen NYPD officers and FBI agents -- many heavily armed -- as well as the Mayor himself.

Agnifilo says her client's Constitutional right to a presumption of innocence is being violated -- he was on display for everyone to see in the biggest staged perp walk I've ever seen in my career" ... none of which was necessary, she says, as Mangione's been totally cooperative since his arrest in PA.

Luigi Mangione says he's not guilty of slaying UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson -- he entered not guilty pleas Monday morning in New York State court.

Mangione pleaded not guilty to 11 state charges ... including first-degree murder, second-degree murder as crime of terrorism and multiple weapons charges.

The 26-year-old Ivy League grad was dressed like a college preppie -- a maroon sweater over a white collared shirt and khaki pants -- as he stood before the judge with his attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo.

Luigi Mangione's got hundreds of people donating money to his defense fund ... and a spokesperson for one committee is explaining why they're trying to help him pay his legal fees.

Jamie Peck -- a member of The December 4th Legal Committee -- tells TMZ … part of the reason why they started the fund for Mangione is their belief everyone deserves a fair trial – even someone accused of terrorism.

While Peck makes it clear she isn't co-signing the violence, she hopes the case will have people talking about the broken healthcare system in America.

Luigi Mangione's leaving his orange jumpsuit at the courthouse door ... ditching the prison garb for a more fashionable ensemble in federal court Thursday.

According to reports, Mangione entered the Manhattan courtroom wearing "a white button-down shirt, navy three-quarter zip pullover and khaki pants."

Mangione wasn't handcuffed during his court appearance ... though, according to CNN, when court ended for the day Mangione was led from the room between two marshals with his ankles shackled.

2:30 PM PT -- The federal U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said in a press release ... the state of New York's separate prosecution against Luigi Mangione is currently expected to proceed to trial before the federal case.

Luigi Mangione just arrived in New York City after he waived extradition in Pennsylvania today, and was promptly slapped with a federal criminal court complaint.

According to the complaint filed by federal prosecutors in the Southern District of NY, Mangione is charged with murder through use of a firearm, two stalking charges, and a firearms offense.

Luigi Mangione planned the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson months in advance ... and, he'd clearly been thinking about it longer -- so say federal prosecutors.

In the federal criminal complaint -- filed Thursday -- prosecutors included several diary entries they claim Mangione made over the past few months ... all of which seem to point to Mangione as Thompson's killer.

An entry dated August 15 describes how he's "glad -- in a way -- that I've procrastinated" because it allowed him to learn more about a "Company-1" ... which is how the feds refer to UnitedHealthcare throughout the docs.