Luigi Mangione’s attorneys say death-eligible charge must be dismissed

Defense attorneys argued in a new lawsuit that the federal charge that makes accused killer Luigi Mangione eligible for the death penalty should be dismissed because it does not meet the statutory minimum.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to federal charges accusing him of shooting and killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December of 2024.

Federal prosecutors allege that Mangione stalked Thompson in Manhattan, where the executive was scheduled to attend an investor conference at the New York Hilton Midtown hotel. Mangione allegedly waited for Thompson to pass and then shot him at close range.

“It is clear that this crime, in its general form, can be committed without the use, attempted use, or threat of physical force against another person or property,” the defense said in the memorandum.

The defense also argued that evidence recovered from the backpack Mangione was carrying when he was arrested at a McDonald’s restaurant in Pennsylvania should be hidden.

“Altona Law Enforcement failed to follow basic Fourth Amendment case law (and basic police procedures) by failing to obtain a search warrant before searching Mr. Mangione’s backpack and the locked containers inside the backpack,” the defense said.

Prosecutors previously defended the police’s handling of the arrest and search, which led to the recovery of the alleged murder weapon and writings that investigators said helped explain the motive.

Mangione is accused of shooting and killing Thompson with a 9 mm handgun equipped with a silencer on a midtown Manhattan street on December 4, 2024.

After a multi-day manhunt, Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where police found a backpack that investigators said contained the alleged murder weapon, a fake ID, and a red notebook he used as a diary.

“I finally feel confident about what I’m going to do,” one participant said, according to authorities. “The goal is insurance. It checks every box.”

A federal grand jury indicted Mangione in April on two counts of stalking, felony involving a firearm and murder with a firearm, a charge that makes him eligible for the charge. Death penalty if convicted.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to charges filed against him in New York and Pennsylvania in addition to the federal charges. The simultaneous trials have put him in what his lawyers called an “untenable position,” and they asked Judge Gregory Caro to dismiss the state’s case, or at least put it on hold.

Mangione was also ordered to appear on file Pennsylvania courtroom Regarding those charges the state. While he is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, the Blair County District Attorney’s Office in Pennsylvania wants the accused killer to stand trial for a preliminary hearing scheduled for November 7.

In Pennsylvania, Mangione pleaded not guilty to charges of forgery, possession of an instrument of crime and giving a false ID to an officer.

In September, a New York judge dismissed two terrorist-related murder charges, including the most serious charge of first-degree murder. The judge said the evidence presented to the grand jury was insufficient to support the terrorism charge.

Mangione is scheduled to return to federal court in December.