Topline
Luigi Mangione will not face the death penalty for allegedly killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson when his case goes to trial later this year, a federal judge ruled Friday, throwing out two counts against the suspect that would have heightened the potential punishment for his alleged crimes.
Luigi Mangione appears in Manhattan Criminal Court for an evidence hearing on Dec. 18, 2025, in New York.
Associated Press
Key Facts
Judge Margaret Garnett ruled Friday to dismiss two charges against Mangione, for murder through use of a firearm and use of a firearm with a silencer to commit a “crime of violence.”
The murder count was punishable by the death penalty, so the “chief practical effect” of Garnett’s ruling is that a jury will no longer consider whether Mangione should be sentenced to the death penalty, the judge wrote.
Mangione still faces two charges, for interstate travel for the purpose of stalking Thompson, causing his death, and for use of electronic communications systems for the purpose of stalking Thompson, causing his death.
Both of those counts are punishable by life in prison without parole, making that now the maximum sentence that Mangione could face.
The other two counts were thrown out because Mangione could only face those charges if the two counts he still faces—the interstate travel and electronic communications charges—are considered to be “crimes of violence” under federal law, which Garnett determined they are not.
Garnett also separately ruled Friday that Mangione’s backpack, which police recovered when he was captured in Pennsylvania, can be used as evidence at trial.
When Will Mangione Go To Trial?
Jury selection in Mangione’s federal trial will begin September 8, with opening arguments starting October 13. The trial was poised to start later if Mangione had faced the death penalty. The suspect also will go to trial in state court, but it’s still unclear when. The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting the state case, asked the court earlier this week for that trial to begin in July, before the federal trial, which Mangione’s legal team opposes. The court has not yet ruled on when the trial will begin.
Tangent
Garnett’s ruling comes after a man was recently indicted for allegedly posing as an FBI agent to try and break Mangione out of jail. Mark Anderson, a 36-year-old from Minnesota, allegedly told prison workers he was “an FBI agent in possession of paperwork,” and was in possession of a steel blade that resembled a pizza cutter. Anderson was arrested and faces criminal charges for impersonating a federal agent.
Key Background
Mangione garnered national headlines in Dec. 2024 after he allegedly shot and killed Thompson in midtown Manhattan. The suspect was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after a days-long manhunt, and was indicted on both state and federal charges, which he has pleaded not guilty to. Attorney Pam Bondi said in April she directed prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Mangione, claiming his alleged act against Thompson was “political violence” that “involved substantial planning and premeditation” and “may have posed grave risk of death to additional persons.” Friday’s ruling came after Garnett held lengthy hearings in December over Mangione’s backpack, as the suspect’s legal team argued it should not be admissible at trial because police searched it without a warrant. The federal judge’s ruling dropping the murder charge against Mangione also comes after a state judge also dropped first degree murder charges against the suspect in his state case in September, which would have required prosecutors to prove Mangione acted with “terroristic intent.” He still faces charges for second degree murder.