US judge rules out death penalty for Luigi Mangione over health CEO murder

A US judge has barred prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down a health insurance CEO in New York in December 2024.

The judge dismissed two charges against Mangione that could carry the death penalty: murder and using a gun with a silencer. The 27-year-old suspect is still charged with two counts of stalking in his federal case, and faces state-level murder charges.

The decision “is solely to foreclose the death penalty as an available punishment to be considered by the jury”, Judge Margaret Garnett wrote in a court filing.

Mangione faces life in prison without parole if convicted of the stalking charges. The federal trial is to begin with jury selection on September 8 (local time).

The murder of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson, captured on surveillance video, shocked the United States and exposed public anger with the profit-driven private healthcare system.

Mangione was arrested five days after the killing at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, around 370km from the crime scene, following a tip from a staff member.

In another significant ruling, Garnett rejected Mangione’s lawyers’ efforts to suppress as evidence the police search of a backpack recovered at the time of his arrest.

Inside, officers found a handgun, a silencer, a magazine with bullets wrapped in underwear and a red notebook described as a “manifesto”.

The defence argued the search breached legal standards.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to the state and federal charges.

- AFP