UnitedHealthcare CEO killing: US drops death penalty bid against Mangione

US District Judge Margaret Garnett ruled in January that prosecutors can't pursue the capital murder charge, but that a jury could determine if Mangione caused CEO's death under two stalking laws

By Patricia Hurtado, Bob Van Voris and David Voreacos

 

The Justice Department said it won’t appeal the decision of a New York federal judge to throw out a murder charge against Luigi Mangione, which means he won’t face the death penalty if he’s convicted of killing UnitedHealth Group Inc. executive Brian Thompson. 

US District Judge Margaret Garnett ruled in January that prosecutors can’t pursue the capital murder charge, but that a jury could determine if Mangione caused Thompson’s death under two federal stalking laws. If convicted of those crimes, he could face life in prison without possibility of parole. 

 

In a one-page letter Friday to Garnett, a Justice Department lawyer said prosecutors won’t challenge the judge’s decision.  

 

A spokeswoman for Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, declined to comment on the government’s decision.

 

Thompson was shot on Dec. 4, 2024, outside a midtown Manhattan hotel. Mangione still faces a parallel state murder case but New York does not allow capital punishment. He’s pleaded not guilty in both cases. 

 

Garnett ruled the federal capital murder charge wasn’t justified because it required prosecutors to prove the killing was committed in relation to a separate crime of violence, and that stalking didn’t meet that standard. 

 

Prosecutors had argued that the stalking charges rose to the level of a “crime of violence,” and warranted the death penalty if Mangione was convicted of murder. The judge disagreed with the government.

 

Garnett ordered Mangione’s federal trial to begin Sept. 8 with jury selection if the US didn’t appeal. Meanwhile, the New York judge presiding over Mangione’s state murder case has scheduled a June 8 trial date. 

 

The case has drawn intense national interest and Mangione has been cheered by fans who say he expressed their rage at the US health-care system. 

 

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced early last year that the US would seek the death penalty against Mangione for allegedly committing “a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination.” 

 

The case is US v. Mangione, 25-cr-176, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).