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Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, will not face the death penalty if convicted, a court has ruled.
US District Judge Margaret Garnett dismissed the federal firearms charges against the 27-year-old, charges that carried the potential for capital punishment.
Mangione will still face stalking charges, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Mangione was apprehended days after allegedly shooting Thompson as the executive entered a New York City hotel on December 4, 2024. He has entered a plea of not guilty to all federal and state charges.
Following the ruling, Mangione’s attorney, Karen Agnifilo, expressed gratitude to the court for “this incredible decision,” according to CBS News, the BBC’s US partner.
“We’re all very relieved,” Agnifilo stated.
“We’re prepared, and have been prepared, to fight this case, and we look forward to fighting this case.”
Judge Garnett, a Biden appointee, stated in her ruling that two of the four federal charges did not “meet the federal statutory definition of a ‘crime of violence’ as a matter of law.”
She clarified that her decision was “solely to foreclose the death penalty as an available punishment to be considered by the jury.”
Garnett’s ruling represents a setback for the Justice Department, which had characterized Thompson’s murder as a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination.”
The judge has granted the government 30 days to challenge her decision to exclude the death penalty in the Mangione case.
In a victory for prosecutors, Garnett ruled that they could present evidence to the jury recovered from Mangione’s backpack at the time of his arrest at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
Among the items found in the bag were a firearm, fraudulent identification documents, and a notebook containing writings allegedly detailing Mangione’s grievances against the US healthcare system.
Defense attorneys had sought to suppress this evidence from trial, arguing that authorities obtained it illegally without a warrant.
Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, also faces nine charges in a separate case brought by New York state prosecutors, including second-degree murder.
Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two, was shot from behind by a masked assailant as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for an annual investor conference.
Investigators report that the words “deny,” “defend,” and “depose” were inscribed on shell casings recovered at the scene of Thompson’s murder.
Law enforcement sources suggest that this may be a reference to the “three Ds of insurance,” tactics allegedly employed by companies to reject payment claims from patients.
Jury selection in the federal trial is scheduled to commence on September 8, with opening statements anticipated to begin on October 13.
However, state prosecutors are seeking to try Mangione as early as July.
In an unrelated incident, a Minnesota man was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly impersonating an FBI agent in an attempt to free Mangione from the Brooklyn jail where he is currently detained.
The suspect, identified as Mark Anderson, was carrying a barbecue fork and pizza cutter, according to prosecutors. He is now being held at the same facility as Mangione.
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