US Judge Bars Prosecutors From Seeking Death Penalty Against Luigi Mangione

A US judge on Friday barred prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down a health insurance CEO in New York in December 2024.

The judge dismissed two charges against Mangione that could carry the death penalty: murder and using a gun with a silencer. The 27-year-old suspect is still charged with two counts of stalking in his federal case, and faces state-level murder charges.

He has pleaded not guilty to the state and federal charges.

Friday’s decision “is solely to foreclose the death penalty as an available punishment to be considered by the jury”, Judge Margaret Garnett wrote in a court filing.

Mangione faces life in prison without parole if convicted of the stalking charges. The federal trial is to begin with jury selection on September 8.

The murder of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson, captured on surveillance video, shocked the United States and exposed public anger with the profit-driven private healthcare system.

Mangione was arrested five days after the killing at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, some 230 miles (370 kilometres) from the crime scene, following a tip from a staff member.

In another significant ruling Friday, Garnett rejected Mangione’s lawyers’ efforts to suppress as evidence the police search of a backpack recovered at the time of his arrest.

Inside, officers found a handgun, a silencer, a magazine with bullets wrapped in underwear and a red notebook described as a “manifesto”.

The defence argued the search breached legal standards.

Following through on Donald Trump’s campaign promise to vigorously pursue capital punishment, Attorney General Pam Bondi had ordered Manhattan federal prosecutors last April to seek the death penalty against Mangione.

It was the first time the Justice Department was seeking to bring the death penalty in Trump’s second term.

He returned to office a year ago with a vow to resume federal executions after they were halted under his predecessor, former president Joe Biden.