(New York) Luigi Mangione, suspected of the murder of the boss of the largest American health insurance group in New York in 2024, cannot be sentenced to the death penalty, a federal judge decided on Friday.
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This rejected the two counts for which the prosecution requested the death penalty: murder and the use of a pistol equipped with a silencer. There remain two counts of harassment, relating to stalking the victim, punishable by life in prison.
This choice “aims solely to exclude the death penalty as a punishment that the jury could consider,” justified Judge Margaret Garnett in her decision.
The 27-year-old man, however, remains charged with murder in another procedure at the New York State level, in which he also risks life in prison.
Jury selection for his federal trial will begin on September 8 and proceedings on October 13.
A date for his trial in New York State has not yet been set.
In both cases, he pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.
This son of a wealthy Baltimore family is accused of having shot UnitedHealthcare director Brian Thompson, 50, in cold blood on a street in Manhattan on December 4, 2024.
He then fled before being arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania, approximately 370 kilometers from the crime scene.
PHOTO ANGELINA KATSANIS, REUTERS ARCHIVES
A Luigi Mangione supporter protests against the use of the death penalty in Manhattan federal court, where Mangione was scheduled to appear on January 9, 2026.
Luigi Mangione has become, for some, the symbol of Americans’ anger towards health insurance companies, accused of prioritizing their profits to the detriment of care.
His appearances in court are systematically accompanied by the presence of supporters, most often young women.
