Luigi Mangione trial: Lawyers withdraw psychiatric defence in murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
Luigi Mangione's lawyers were previously pursuing the defence he was suffering from "extreme emotional disturbance" when he shot and killed a health company chief.
In a stunning reversal, Luigi Mangione’s lawyers have told a judge that he will no longer be asserting a psychiatric defence at his state murder trial in the killing of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson.
The retraction on Thursday came a day after Mr Mangione’s lawyers told Judge Gregory Carro that they planned to pursue a defence involving claims that the 28-year-old Ivy League graduate was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the December 4, 2024 killing.
A message seeking comment was left with a spokesperson for Mr Mangione’s lawyers. The Manhattan district attorney’s office, which is prosecuting the state case, declined to comment.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Mr Mangione’s lawyers had faced a Thursday deadline to provide prosecutors with information to support the emotional disturbance claim. Also on Thursday, a transcript of a secret hearing held on the matter on June 3 was made public after Judge Carro ordered it unsealed.
If Mr Mangione were to have gone through with the extreme emotional disturbance defence, he would have effectively been admitting that he killed Mr Thompson but did so because of mitigating circumstances. It wouldn’t have absolved him of responsibility, but could have led to less time in prison.
If a jury accepts the defence, it is obligated to convict a defendant of manslaughter, which is punishable by up to 25 years in prison, instead of murder, which carries a potential life sentence.
In a letter to Judge Carro on Thursday, Mr Mangione’s lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo said the defence “respectfully withdraws” its notice under New York’s psychiatric defence statute.
Mr Mangione, 28, has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges. His state trial is scheduled to start September 8. His federal trial, which involves stalking charges, is set to begin on October 13.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Ms Friedman Agnifilo protested Judge Carro’s decision to unseal materials related to his psychiatric defence, saying it will be “prejudicial to his defence to the exact same facts” in his federal case, where an extreme emotional disturbance defence isn’t allowed.
An emotional disturbance defence is not the same as a not guilty by reason of insanity defence, which would allow a defendant to go to a psychiatric facility instead of prison.
Mr Thompson, 50, was killed as he walked to a Manhattan hotel for UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind. Police say “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
Mr Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a wealthy Maryland family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 370km west of Manhattan.
At a hearing in May, Judge Carro ruled that a gun and notebook that prosecutors say link Mr Mangione to the killing can be used as evidence against him.
The gun, a 3D-printed pistol, matches the one used to kill Thompson, prosecutors said. The notebook describes wanting to “wack” a health insurance executive and rebelling against “the deadly, greed fuelled health insurance cartel”.
