A U.S. federal judge dismissed the federal murder and firearm charges related to the assassination of Brian Thompson, CEO of a major health insurance company, thereby sparing Luigi Mangione from the death penalty.
On Friday, 30 January, U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett in New York City ruled that the court was bound by U.S. Supreme Court precedents and could not proceed with the federal murder charges, as they did not legally align with the two interstate stalking charges that remain in the case.
However, Mangione still faces separate murder charges brought by New York state prosecutors, which carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Judge Garnett explained that federal murder law requires the charges to be linked to other violent crimes, but the stalking charges do not qualify as violent crimes and do not necessarily involve intent to use violence, so they cannot support federal murder charges.
She acknowledged that the ruling might confuse the public and seem counterintuitive legally, since the alleged conduct—involving crossing state lines to assassinate a health insurance executive while carrying a silenced gun—clearly appears violent.
But she emphasized that the court must strictly adhere to the Supreme Court’s legal precedents.
Although spared the death penalty, 27-year-old Mangione still faces life imprisonment without parole if convicted of the interstate stalking charges.
Federal prosecutor Dominic Gentile stated at the hearing that the government had not yet decided whether to appeal the ruling.
Mangione’s attorney Karen Agnifilo told reporters after the hearing, “We are very grateful to the judge for this remarkable decision, and my client is greatly relieved.”
Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealth Group, was shot dead on 4 December 2024 outside the Hilton Hotel in central Manhattan. Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania five days later and has denied all charges.
Despite widespread condemnation of the killing by officials and politicians, online some Americans have hailed Mangione as a hero, expressing dissatisfaction with high medical costs and health insurance company practices.
Mangione continues to deny murder, firearm, and document forgery charges in the New York state case, which has no trial date yet. Previously, prosecutors suffered a setback when terrorism charges were dismissed in September.
The federal court scheduled jury selection for September, with trial set to begin on 12 October.
. BBC
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