Mangione Federal Hearing Fuels Speculation of Guilty Plea Before Murder Trial

In the long arc of high-profile criminal proceedings, it is the unscheduled moment — the hearing that appears without warning on a court calendar — that often signals the deepest movement beneath the surface. Luigi Mangione, whose case has drawn sustained national attention since charges were filed in connection with a killing, is set to appear in federal court Friday under circumstances that legal observers read as a possible prelude to a guilty plea. Should he enter such a plea, the carefully anticipated New York state murder trial may find itself navigating unfamiliar terrain, as two jurisd