Federal judge throws out death penalty against Luigi Mangione

A federal judge on Friday put the brakes on the option for prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, charged in the shooting and death of the CEO of a health insurance in New York in 2024.

The victim, Brian Thompson, 50, an executive at UnitedHealthcare, was shot on Dec. 4 of that year on a street in Manhattan, just as he was leaving his hotel.

Judge Margaret Garnett vacated two federal charges, murder and possession of a weapon equipped with a silencer, which could have put Mangione at risk for capital punishment. This option "aims only to rule out the death penalty as a punishment that might be considered by the jury," the magistrate justified in her decision.

"Crime of violence"

The judge admitted that "the court cannot fail to note at the outset the apparent absurdity of this question."

Although oral arguments had already been held, the defense insisted in later briefs that prosecutors failed to allege an underlying "crime of violence," a necessary prerequisite for the main charge of murder by use of a firearm. That was the only charge Mangione faced that could carry the death penalty.

Prosecutors responded in an opposition brief that the defense relied on irrelevant precedent, but the judge disagreed.

Mangione has pleaded "not guilty"

The 27-year-old suspect still faces charges in his federal case for stalking, and at the state level for murder, which could give him life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Jury selection in his federal trial will begin Sept. 8 and opening arguments are scheduled for Oct. 13, while Mangione's state-level trial date has yet to be determined.

In both cases, the man has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

Mangione is charged with coldly shooting Thompson before fleeing. Five days later he was arrested at a fast-food restaurant in Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (370Km) from the crime scene.