*

Mangione faces 11 counts, including murder as an act of

terrorism

*

Mangione arrested with unlicensed gun, fake IDs in

Pennsylvania,

police say

*

Manhattan District Attorney Bragg suggests Mangione won't

challenge extradition to New York

Dec 19 (Reuters) - The suspect in the killing of

UnitedHealth Group ( UNH ) executive Brian Thompson is due to

appear in a Pennsylvania court on Thursday morning for a hearing

on a request by New York to extradite him to Manhattan to face

murder charges.

Luigi Mangione, 26, was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania,

on Dec. 9, five days after Thompson was fatally shot outside a

Manhattan hotel before a company conference in what

law-enforcement officials have called a premeditated

assassination.

A grand jury in New York has indicted Mangione on 11 counts,

including first-degree murder and murder as an act of terrorism.

Mangione has been in jail since his arrest. His New York defense

lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, has declined to comment on the

charges against Mangione.

Police in Pennsylvania said Mangione had a self-assembled

9mm handgun in his backpack and a homemade silencer when he was

arrested after being spotted at a McDonald's restaurant. The

handgun resembled the weapon used to kill Thompson, CEO of

UnitedHealthcare, the largest U.S. health insurer.

Mangione, a Maryland native who had lived in Hawaii, also

had multiple fake identification documents, including a fake New

Jersey ID that was used to check into a Manhattan hostel days

before Thompson's shooting, police said.

In Pennsylvania, Mangione has been charged with forgery and

illegally possessing an unlicensed gun. A preliminary hearing on

the Pennsylvania charges is scheduled at the Blair County

courthouse on Thursday morning.

A second hearing to discuss extradition to New York is then

scheduled in the same courthouse before Judge David Consiglio.

Under Pennsylvania law, Mangione can waive his right to

extradition proceedings if he tells the judge that he consents

to being transferred to New York custody.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said on Tuesday he

had indications that Mangione would not challenge New York's

extradition effort.

Bragg's office is accusing Mangione of an act of terrorism

under New York law because Thompson's killing was intended to

intimidate or coerce civilians or "influence the policies of a

unit of government."