Who are Thomas Dickey and Karen Friedman Agnifilo?

Within four days of his arrest in connection with the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, suspect Luigi Mangione has secured representation from two attorneys in two states and tens of thousands of dollars in a legal defense fund.

Mangione, who grew up in Maryland, was arrested Monday in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after a witness spotted him at a McDonald’s.

At his arraignment the next day in Blair County, viewers got their first glimpse of Mangione since his arrest as he entered court screaming at the media: “This is completely unrealistic and an insult to the intelligence of the American people and the people.” USA.” lived experience!” It is not clear what he was referring to.

On Tuesday, the public also learned for the first time about his Pennsylvania lawyer, Thomas Dickey, a small-town defense attorney who is taking on the biggest case of his career.

CNN’s Kaitlan Collins reported late Friday evening that Mangione had also hired Karen Friedman Agnifilo to represent him in New York. Collins described her as a high-performing lawyer who previously served as an assistant district attorney in Manhattan and has been in private practice since 2021.

Here’s what we know about Mangione’s two lawyers and why he needs two lawyers in two states.

Mangione’s Pennsylvania attorney, Thomas Dickey

Viewers were introduced to Dickey at a makeshift news conference Tuesday as he defended his client’s innocence.

“I have seen no evidence that he is the shooter,” Dickey said of Mangione.

As police continued to gather evidence allegedly linking Mangione to the crime, his lawyer redoubled his efforts.

New York Police Department officials said they matched Mangione’s fingerprints on items linked to the CEO’s killing and on bullet casings from the Manhattan crime scene that matched a ghost gun he allegedly had in Pennsylvania at the time of his arrest. The three 9mm cartridge cases bore three words: “Delay,” “Deny,” and “Depose.” Investigators are looking into whether the words may refer to a 2010 book about insurance companies’ failure to pay claims.

Dickey told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Wednesday night that he has yet to see the NYPD’s forensic evidence. He also questioned the reliability of fingerprints and ballistics, saying they have been criticized in the past “for their credibility, their veracity and their accuracy.”

“We need to see how they collected it. “How much of it fits?” said Dickey.

He said his experts would have to look at it and “question its admissibility and the accuracy of these findings.”

The Baltimore Sun asked Dickey for an interview.

Dickey’s Altoona office handles a range of legal cases, from criminal law to family law. According to his law firm’s website, he has been practicing law for about 40 years. Dickey attended Altoona High School, St. Francis University for his bachelor’s degrees in history and political science and earned his law degree from Ohio Northern University. His bio also states that he is “a regular guest commentator on local and national media, including CNN.”

He wouldn’t tell CNN this week who hired him or whether the Mangione family hired him. He indicated he would oppose being tied down by crowdsourced defense funds.

Mangione’s New York attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo

In her biography on X, formerly Twitter, CNN’s Friedman Agnifilo describes herself as a lawyer, former prosecutor, media analyst, mother and legal analyst.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Friedman Agnifilo has a bachelor’s degree from UCLA and a law degree from Georgetown University.

CNN broke the news Friday evening that the New York defense attorney is representing Mangione.

Mangione is charged with second-degree murder in New York and could travel to the state next week, according to new information from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

“There are indications that the defendant could waive this. But that waiver will not be complete until a jury trial, which my understanding from court officials in Pennsylvania cannot occur before Tuesday,” he said Friday.

Earlier this week, before she was hired as Mangione’s attorney, Friedman Agnilfo was on CNN to analyze the case and said, “You may be thinking about a not-guilty-by-insanity defense because the evidence is so overwhelming.” “He did what he did.”

Do you have a news tip? Contact Candy Woodall at [email protected].

Originally published: December 13, 2024 at 10:45 pm EST