Assassination of an insurance boss | Luigi Mangione’s lawyers call for federal charges to be dropped

(New York) Lawyers for Luigi Mangione asked a New York federal judge on Saturday to drop certain criminal charges, including the only count punishable by the death penalty, against him in a federal indictment for the assassination of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive in December.

In papers filed in Manhattan federal court, lawyers said the prosecution should also be barred from using at trial his statements to law enforcement as well as his backpack where a gun and ammunition were found.

They claimed that Mangione was not informed of his rights before his questioning by law enforcement, who arrested him after Brian Thompson was fatally shot upon arrival at a Manhattan hotel.

They added that officers did not obtain a warrant before searching the defendant’s backpack.

Mangione, 27, has pleaded not guilty to federal and state charges in the Dec. 4 killing of Brian Thompson as he arrived at a Manhattan hotel for his company’s annual investor conference.

The killing sparked a multistate investigation. The suspected shooter fled the scene and cycled to Central Park, before taking a taxi to a bus station serving several neighboring states.

Five days later, a tip from a McDonald’s about 230 miles away in Altoona, Pennsylvania, led police to arrest Mangione. He has been held without bail since.

In their motion, defense attorneys provided a detailed description of how officers apprehended Mangione.

They said the accused was first approached by two “fully armed” police officers. One of them told him they were responding to a call from someone who described him as suspicious. When officers asked to see his identification, Mangione handed over a New Jersey driver’s license bearing another person’s name, according to documents in his case.

As Mangione prepared to eat, the officers asked him to stand up with his hands on his head so they could search him, the attorneys wrote.

Shortly afterward, one of the officers went outside to call other officers, telling a colleague that he was “100 percent” convinced that Mangione was the suspect they were looking for, the attorneys said. Within minutes, nearly half a dozen additional police officers arrived.

Last month, Mangione’s lawyers requested that federal charges against him be dropped and the death penalty dropped, following public statements by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. In April, M^me Bondi ordered New York prosecutors to seek the death penalty.

Documents filed early Saturday morning argued that charge should be dropped because prosecutors failed to identify other offenses necessary for his conviction, saying the other alleged crime — harassment — was not a violent crime.

The assassination and its aftermath captured the American imagination, sparking a wave of online resentment and virulence against America’s health insurance companies, while unsettling business executives concerned about their security.

After the murder, investigators found the words “delay,” “refuse” and “drop” written in permanent marker on ammunition at the scene. These words mimic a phrase used by critics of the insurance industry.