Luigi Mangione Still Facing Death Penalty, Trial Could Start Later This Year

NEW YORK CITY — The federal trial for Luigi Mangione, a Maryland native accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, could begin as soon as September, while a judge is still weighing whether to bar the government from making it a capital case, according to multiple reports.

Mangione appeared in a New York City courtroom Friday, just over a year after authorities said he fatally shot Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to federal and state murder charges, which carry the possibility of life in prison.

U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett said she expects Mangione’s trial to begin in December — or possibly January 2027, as federal prosecutors suggested — if the death penalty is still on the table, The Associated Press reported. If not, she said, Mangione could stand trial in October.

Either way, Garnett said, she expects jury selection to begin around Sept. 8. No trial date has been scheduled in Mangione’s parallel state murder case. Prosecutors previously said they anticipated the state trial to be first.

Garnett said she would issue a written schedule after looking at her calendar and reviewing notes of conversations she's had with the court’s jury coordinator.

Garnett said she will also consider whether two of four federal charges against him, as requested by his attorneys, NBC News reported. The charges include one count of murder through the use of a firearm and one count known as a firearms offense. The federal criminal complaint also charges Mangione with two stalking counts.

Garnett said she would rule at a later date to dismiss the charges, as well as on whether to prevent prosecutors from seeking the death penalty and exclude certain evidence. Another pretrial conference is scheduled for Jan. 30.

In September, a judge also dismissed charges against Mangione, including murder in the first degree as an act of terrorism and murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism.

Mangione is still charged with second-degree murder, but no longer faces the possibility of life without parole. In addition to the two New York cases, Mangione has a case in Pennsylvania for possessing an illegal gun and giving a fake ID to police.

The 27-year-old Towson native is accused of murdering Thompson this past December before leading police on a five-day manhunt, Patch previously reported.

Mangione is a 2016 graduate of Gilman School in Baltimore, an elite all-boys prep school where he was class valedictorian. Mangione is from an affluent business family, who said he seemed to struggle following a back surgery.

Family and friends said Mangione lost contact with them in the months leading up to Thompson's shooting, and Mangione's social media accounts reflected a shift from posts on books he read, workout routines and his travels to a person in pain who was unhappy with the healthcare system.

A cause célèbre for people upset with the health insurance industry, Mangione again drew supporters to the courthouse on Friday. Some wore green clothing and carried signs such as “Free Luigi" and “No Death For Luigi Mangione."

The Associated Press contributed reporting.