Luigi Mangione to appear in federal court, challenge death penalty

Jan. 9 (UPI) — Luigi Mangione is scheduled to appear in a federal courtroom Friday to begin a pre-trial hearing in the case against him.

Mangione, 27, is accused of murder in the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024 as Thompson, 50, was on his way to an investors’ meeting. Mangione was arrested five days later in an Altoona, Pa., McDonald’s. In the federal case, he faces the death penalty. He also faces state charges.

The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m.

In mid-December, Mangione appeared in a state evidentiary hearing, during which his attorneys tried to suppress evidence that Altoona police officers seized without a warrant and questioned him before reading his Miranda rights. That hearing ended Dec. 18, and a ruling is expected in May.

Prosecutors said in a letter Thursday no evidentiary hearing is necessary in the federal case.

“The Government searched the contents of the defendant’s notebook pursuant to a judicially authorized search warrant that expressly covered, among other things, handwritten materials, including notebook entries, contained within the defendant’s backpack,” prosecutor Sean Buckley wrote.

“To the extent that the defendant now seeks to challenge the validity of the Government’s warrant — an argument the defendant similarly did not make in either his moving or reply papers — that argument would also fail on the merits because the warrant, which disclosed the initial search of the defendant’s backpack by the Altoona Police Department, was supported by ample probable cause,” Buckley’s argument said.

Mangione’s lawyers want to have the death penalty removed because they believe Attorney General Pam Bondi has a conflict of interests. She still has a 401(k) from when she worked at lobbying firm Ballard Partners, which represents UnitedHealthcare.

But prosecutors have said that Ballard has not contributed to Bondi’s retirement fund since her confirmation as attorney general. They said she gains nothing from a “capital outcome” in the case.

Mangione is also challenging a stalking charge. He added Paresh Patel to his team. Patel is a federal public defender and an expert on the federal stalking statute. He is expected to argue that stalking is not a crime of violence and is an improper predicate to make the case death penalty eligible.