Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old suspect in Brian Thompson's murder will be represented by the well-known lawyer Thomas Dickey. Throughout his career, Dickey has made headlines several times for his reputation for his courtroom prowess. As he is now representing Mangione, people are revisiting his previous high-profile case, the murder of Tina Miller.
However, some are also wondering who Dickey is and why he was approached to take Mangione's case.
For the unversed, Luigi Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, at a McDonald's restaurant on December 9. He is the suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson who was shot to death in New York on December 4. Police had been looking for Mangione for days before an employee at the restaurant reported him.
Recently, it was revealed that Dickey will fight the case on behalf of Mangione who is facing multiple criminal charges. These charges include second-degree murder, forgery, and weapon possession without a license in New York.
While Mangione has pleaded not guilty, he is also fighting extradition while being held at the Huntingdon State Correctional Institution in Pennsylvania.
Thomas Dickey has already begun to comment on the case and mentioned that he expects Mangione to continue to plead not guilty. Moreover, he added that the New York authorities will have to convince him that the 26-year-old was the right suspect in relation to Thompson's murder.
What did Thomas Dickey do in Tina Miller's murder case?
Tina Miller was killed in 2004 and her ex-boyfriend Paul Aaron Ross was convicted for her murder. However, in 2011, an appeals court ordered a retrial mentioning his attorney was not prepared for the defense due to lack of time.
Ross was charged with third-degree homicide, involuntary deviant s*xual intercourse, aggravated assault, and unlawful restraint. However, he entered a no-contest plea in 2021 in Blair County Court. In this kind of plea, the defendant does not admit guilt but agrees to the punishment.
During the trial, Thomas Dickey, who represented Ross, told WTAJ-TV that the agreement was good for everyone involved in the case. Moreover, he added,
"Number one, my client obviously avoids possibly being faced with the death penalty."
"He also avoids being faced with a life imprisonment without parole. And probably most importantly is it brings some finality to the victim’s family."
Throughout his career as an attorney for over four decades, Dickey has had a successful streak in which he has acquitted clients of various criminal charges.
Netizens are surprised to see him getting involved in Thompson's murder case. One joked about Dickey's infamous plea bargain.
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Many others reminisced about the Tina Miller case and how Dickey played his defense.
While it is unclear who hired Thomas Dickey to represent Luigi Mangione, according to CNN, the former said he was getting many messages offering to pay his legal fees for the suspect.
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