Federal prosecutors cannot seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, who is charged with murdering a UnitedHealthcare executive. The court upheld the charge of stalking with a possible life sentence.
Federal prosecutors in the US cannot seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, the defendant in the murder of the director of the health insurance company UnitedHealthcare, the court ruled on Friday. TASR informs about it according to AP and Reuters reports.
- A US court rejected the death penalty for Luigi Mangione.
- The judge called the federal murder charges technically flawed.
- Defendant Mangione faces a maximum sentence of life in prison for stalking.
- The victim was an insurance executive, Mangione maintains that he is innocent.
- The murder sparked a wave of hatred against insurance companies and supporters of the defendant.
Judge Margaret Garnett dismissed the federal murder and silenced gun charges against Mangione, saying they were technically defective. It upheld the federal charges of dangerous stalking, which carry a maximum of life in prison.
Murder in New York
Mangione is accused of shooting Brian Thompson multiple times on a street in Manhattan, New York on December 4, 2024, and fleeing the scene on a bicycle. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Prosecutors at Mangion’s first hearing said the words “deny”, “defend” and “depose” were engraved on the cartridges that struck Thompson. This is part of the insurance company’s tactic to avoid paying out compensation. Mangione also mused in his diary about rebelling against the “deadly, greed-driven health insurance cartel.”
Dolapenie Mangioneho
Mangione was caught five days after the murder in the city of Altoona, 370 kilometers from Manhattan. In court, they played the recordings of his arrest at the McDonald’s restaurant. They also played a recording of the restaurant manager’s phone call at the hearing. He called the police because customers recognized Mangione as a suspect in the murder.
Thompson’s murder sparked outrage and a wave of hateful comments online about American health insurance companies for allegedly enriching themselves at the expense of patients. Some comments even hailed Mangione as a hero. Several dozen of his supporters watched the hearing directly in the courtroom.
