Judge Dismisses Terrorism Charges In Luigi Mangione's State Case

NEW YORK CITY — A judge has thrown out two terror-related charges against Luigi Mangione related to his state murder case.

Judge Gregory Carro dismissed charges of murder in the first degree as an act of terrorism and murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism.

The 27-year-old still faces second-degree murder, but no longer faces the possibility of life without parole.

In the ruling released on Tuesday, Carro found the evidence from the Manhattan District Attorney's Office that was presented to a grand jury to be “legally insufficient."

While the People place great emphasis on defendant’s ‘ideological’ motive, there is no indication in the statute that a murder committed for ideological reasons (in this case, the defendant’s apparent desire to draw attention to what he perceived as inequities or greed within the American health care system), fits within the definition of terrorism without establishing the necessary element of an intent to intimidate or coerce,” Carro wrote in his decision Tuesday.

The 27-year-old Maryland native is accused of murdering United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown this past December and then leading police on a five-day manhunt, Patch previously reported.

He has pleaded not guilty to other charges in his state case. Mangione has been indicted on four federal charges in connection with the shooting death of Thompson.

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 the police.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi told prosecutors to pursue the death penalty for Mangione in March, Patch previously reported.