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A US judge has ruled that Luigi Mangione will not face the death penalty if he is convicted over the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
US District Judge Margaret Garnett dismissed a federal murder charge against Mangione, finding it was technically flawed.
She also dismissed a gun charge, but left in place stalking charges that carry a maximum punishment of life in prison. The 27-year-old has pleaded not guilty.
Mangione also faces nine counts in a case brought by New York state prosecutors, including second-degree murder and various weapons charges.
He has pleaded not guilty in that case too.
In order to seek the death penalty, prosecutors were required to show Mangione killed Mr Thompson while committing another “crime of violence”.
Judge Garnett said stalking did not fit that definition, citing case law and legal precedents.
She noted her decision to dismiss the federal murder charge was to “foreclose the death penalty as an available punishment to be considered by the jury”.
The ruling was a setback for the Trump administration, which had called Mr Thompson’s death a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination”.
Prosecutors have 30 days to appeal the ruling.
Judge Garnett also ruled that prosecutors would be able to use evidence collected from Mangione’s backpack during his arrest, which included a 9mm handgun and a notebook in which authorities said Mangione described his intent to “wack” an insurance executive.
Mangione’s lawyers had sought to dismiss that evidence from trial, arguing the search was illegal because police had not yet obtained a warrant.
Mr Thompson was killed on 4 December 2024 as he walked to a New York City hotel for his company’s annual investor conference.
Video footage showed a masked gunman shooting the 50-year-old from behind.
Police said the words “delay”, “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, an apparent reference to a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
Mangione, an Ivy League graduate, was arrested five days later in Pennsylvania.
After several days of court proceedings there, Mangione was transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he is currently being held.
Jury selection in the federal case is scheduled to begin on 8 September.
The state trial has not been scheduled yet.
However, the Manhattan district attorney’s office sent a letter on Wednesday urging the judge in that case to set a trial date of 1 July.
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The ruling comes a day after a 36-year-old man was charged with impersonating an FBI agent in an apparent bid to free Mangione from jail.
Authorities said Mark Anderson, from Minnesota, was arrested after claiming he was an FBI agent in possession of paperwork “signed by a judge” authorising the release of a specific inmate, whom a law enforcement source identified as Mangione.
After searching his bag, officers found a barbecue fork and a circular steel blade that resembled a pizza cutter, according to a complaint filed against Anderson.
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