Federal Judge Drops Death Penalty Eligibility for Luigi Mangione in UnitedHealthcare CEO Murder Case
NEW YORK – A federal judge ruled Friday that Luigi Mangione, the man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, would no longer face the death penalty. The decision came after the judge dropped two of the four charges against Mangione, making the case ineligible for capital punishment, according to NPR News.
Mangione is accused of killing Thompson on December 4, 2024, on a midtown Manhattan street as Thompson walked to his hotel for UnitedHealth Group's annual investor conference, NPR News reported. Police stated that the ammunition used in the shooting had the words "delay," "deny," and "depose" written on it.
In other news from the Justice Department, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche announced Friday the opening of a federal civil rights investigation into the shooting of Alex Pretti, a Minneapolis resident killed by Border Patrol officers. According to Fortune, the FBI is leading the investigation. "We’re looking at everything that would shed light on what happened that day and in the days and weeks leading up to what happened," Blanche said during a news conference, as reported by Fortune. Blanche noted that a similar probe was not warranted in the January 7 death of Renee Good, who was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis, Fortune reported.
Also on Friday, the Justice Department released more records from its investigative files on Jeffrey Epstein, Fortune reported. The disclosures are being made under a law intended to reveal what the government knew about Epstein's sexual abuse of young girls and his interactions with powerful figures. Blanche said the department would be releasing more than 3 million pages of documents, over 2,000 videos, and 180,000 images, according to Fortune. The files, posted to the department’s website, include records withheld from an initial release in December and concern some of Epstein's famous associates, Fortune reported.
Meanwhile, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz expressed skepticism about the Trump administration's statements regarding de-escalating its immigration crackdown in his state, NPR News reported. "I know who I'm dealing with. I know that they're not going to keep their word," Walz said, according to NPR News.
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