Luigi Mangione’s federal death penalty trial could start before the end
of the year
[January 10, 2026]
By MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER
NEW YORK (AP) — Luigi Mangione’s federal death penalty trial in the
killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson could begin before the
end of the year, a judge said Friday while weighing a defense bid to bar
the government from making it a capital case.
U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett said she expects Mangione’s trial
to begin in December — or possibly January 2027, as federal prosecutors
suggested — if the death penalty is still on the table. If not, she
said, Mangione could stand trial in October.
Either way, Garnett said, she expects jury selection to begin around
Sept. 8. No trial date has been scheduled in Mangione’s parallel state
murder case. Prosecutors previously said they anticipated the state
trial to be first.
Garnett said she would issue a written schedule after looking at her
calendar and reviewing notes of conversations she's had with the court’s
jury coordinator.
The judge said she would rule at a later date on the defense's requests
to prevent prosecutors from seeking the death penalty, throw out some
charges and exclude certain evidence. Another pretrial conference is
scheduled for Jan. 30.
Mangione’s lawyers contend that authorities prejudiced his case by
turning his December 2024 arrest into a “Marvel movie” spectacle and by
publicly declaring their desire to see him executed even before he was
formally indicted.
At the same time, they are asking Garnett to throw out two of the four
charges against him, including the murder by firearm charge that has
enabled the government to seek the death penalty. They argue that it is
legally flawed.
Federal prosecutors say Mangione’s lawyers are wrong on both fronts,
countering that the murder charge is legally sufficient and that
“pretrial publicity, even when intense” is hardly a constitutional
crisis. Any concerns about public perceptions can be alleviated by
carefully questioning prospective jurors about their knowledge of the
case, prosecutors wrote in a court filing.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to federal and state murder charges,
which carry the possibility of life in prison.
Friday's hearing was Mangione’s first trip to Manhattan federal court
since his April 25 arraignment.
A cause célèbre for people upset with the health insurance industry,
Mangione again drew supporters to the courthouse. Some wore green
clothing and carried signs such as “Free Luigi" and “No Death For Luigi
Mangione."
Mangione, wearing a beige jail uniform, was attentive but didn’t speak
once during the nearly three-hour proceeding. After entering the
courtroom, he greeted his lead attorneys, Karen Friedman Agnifilo and
Marc Agnifilo, with handshakes. He nodded along while reading documents,
sometimes sipping from a plastic water bottle.
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In this courtroom sketch, Luigi Mangione, center, flanked by his
attorneys Karen Agnifilo, left and Marc Agnifilo, right, during his
court appearance in Manhattan federal court, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026,
in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
In addition to the death penalty issue, Garnett is weighing a
defense request — similar to one in his state case — to bar the
government from using certain items found in a backpack during his
arrest. The defense argues that the search was illegal because
police had not yet obtained a warrant.
Those items include a gun that police said matched the one used to
kill Thompson and a notebook in which Mangione purportedly described
his intent to “wack” a health insurance executive.
Garnett said she is not inclined to hold a separate hearing on the
evidence issue like one last month that took three weeks in
Mangione’s state murder case. The judge in that case said he won’t
rule until May.
Prosecutors contend police were justified in searching the backpack
to make sure there were no dangerous items and that the gun,
notebook and other evidence would have eventually been found anyway.
Thompson, 50, was killed Dec. 4, 2024, 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.
Mangione, 27, the Ivy League-educated scion of a wealthy Maryland
family, was arrested five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona,
Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of
Manhattan.
He's already had success paring down his state case. In September, a
judge threw out state terrorism charges against him.
U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi announced last year that she was
directing federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty, declaring
that capital punishment was warranted for a “premeditated,
cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”
Mangione’s lawyers argue that Bondi’s announcement, which she
followed with Instagram posts and a TV appearance, showed the
decision was “based on politics, not merit.” Her remarks tainted the
grand jury process that resulted in his indictment a few weeks
later, they said.
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