Luigi Mangione, the man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, faces two high-profile criminal prosecutions this year. He is set to stand trial in both state and federal court, where the charges differ.
Thompson was shot and killed outside the New York Hilton Midtown hotel on the morning of Dec. 4, 2024, as he was on his way to an investors conference. Five days later, amid a frantic manhunt, Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
The business executive’s killing, which was recorded by a closed-circuit television camera, shocked people nationwide. It also turned his accused assassin into a cause célèbre and an avatar for public fury over the private health insurance industry.
Here’s what you need to know about the status of the two cases. Mangione, 27, pleaded not guilty in both proceedings.
What are the charges and potential sentences?
In the state case, Mangione faces nine felony charges, including second-degree murder and various counts related to criminal possession of a weapon.
“This type of premeditated, targeted gun violence cannot and will not be tolerated, and my office has been working day in and day out to bring the defendant to justice,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in December 2024.
New York state prosecutors initially attempted to prosecute Mangione on two other charges — first-degree murder “in furtherance of terrorism” and second-degree murder “as an act of terrorism” — but a judge tossed those counts last year, ruling they were “legally insufficient.”
The state charges carry the possibility of life in prison. (New York does not have the death penalty after its capital punishment statute was declared unconstitutional in 2004.)
In the federal case, Mangione faces two counts of stalking, which carry a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The federal government originally charged Mangione with two other offenses — murder through use of a firearm, which carried a potential death sentence, and a related firearms count — but a judge dismissed those charges in late January.
U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett ruled that the murder charge can only be used in tandem with a “crime of violence.” She found that Mangione’s alleged stalking of Thompson did not meet that standard, effectively blocking prosecutors from seeking the death penalty.
Karen Agnifilo, one of Mangione’s lawyers, applauded that ruling and told reporters his defense team was “very relieved.”
What evidence can be used?
In both cases, prosecutors are expected to put particular emphasis on the evidence seized from Mangione’s backpack on Dec. 9, 2024, when he was arrested at a McDonald’s nearly 300 miles away from the block where Thompson was killed.
Authorities have said Mangione’s backpack contained a handgun, a silencer, a magazine with bullets wrapped in underwear, fake identification cards, a red notebook and other writings detailing his grievances against the private health care system in the United States.
Mangione’s lawyers tried to block that evidence from the federal trial, arguing in part that the arresting officers carried out an illegal search. But the prosecution team rebutted that contention, and Garnett ultimately concluded “the search was reasonable under the facts.”
It remains to be seen whether the items found in Mangione’s backpack will be admissible in the state trial. That’s the subject of a pretrial hearing scheduled for May 18.
The prosecution teams in both cases may also highlight evidence found at the scene of Thompson’s killing. Two spent shell casings had the words “deny” and “depose” written on them, and a bullet was found with “delay” written on it, authorities have said.
Where is Mangione being held?
Mangione has been detained at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn since December 2024. The same facility also houses deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and hip-hop artist Tekashi 6ix9ine, whose real name is Daniel Hernandez.
In a bizarre episode in late January, a Minnesota man was charged with impersonating an FBI agent after he showed up at the prison claiming to have a court order to release an inmate, identified by a law enforcement source as Mangione.
When do the trials begin?
The state case is scheduled to start June 8. In the federal case, jury selection is tentatively set to begin Sept. 8.
