Luigi Mangione's lawyers file motion to dismiss death penalty

Lawyers for Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year, filed a 114-page motion Friday night arguing federal prosecutors should be precluded from treating this as a death penalty case and that the indictment against him should be dismissed.

Lawyers for Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year, filed a 114-page motion Friday night arguing federal prosecutors should be precluded from treating this as a death penalty case and that the indictment against him should be dismissed.

Earlier this week, a New York state judge dismissed state terrorism charges against Mangione, but kept the second-degree murder charges. The 27-year-old also still faces federal charges and other state charges in Pennsylvania, all of which he has pleaded not guilty to.

On Dec. 4, a masked gunman shot and killed Thompson, 50, on the streets of midtown Manhattan, hours before he was set to speak at UnitedHealth Group’s investor conference. Mangione, 27, was arrested after a dayslong manhunt and charged with a slew of federal and state charges in connection with the killing.

In April, Attorney General Pam Bondi directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty.

Brian Thompson was named chief executive officer for UnitedHealthcare in April 2021. UnitedHealthcare'Purely political' In the lengthy document filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Friday, Mangione's lawyers argue that the decision to seek the death penalty was "purely political."