A Manhattan judge on Tuesday dismissed key counts — first-degree murder and terrorism offenses — against Luigi Mangione, the suspected killer of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, finding the Manhattan district attorney’s office put forth “legally insufficient” evidence before a grand jury.
The ruling is a significant win for Mangione, who still faces a second-degree murder count but no longer faces life without the possibility of parole on the state charges. State Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro announced his ruling from the bench, moments after Mangione, 27, was brought into the courtroom.
Around two dozen people, most of them women, packed the back rows of Carro’s 13th-floor courtroom at 100 Centre St., with more supporters camped outside bearing signs expressing solidarity with the suspected CEO killer. Mangione has attracted more public support than any New York City defendant in modern memory, raising more than $1 million toward his legal defense.
Flanked by armed officers, he walked into court just before 9:30 a.m. in beige prison garb, handcuffs and shackles around his ankles.
Mangione is accused of gunning down Thompson outside the Hilton Hotel in Midtown in the early morning hours of Dec. 4 as the health executive arrived for an annual healthcare conference and of planning the killing for months.
In his state and federal cases, prosecutors allege that Mangione’s motive was made clear by markings made on shell casings recovered at the scene, reading: deny, “delay,” and “defend,” in an apparent reference to the healthcare industry routinely denying claims to boost its bottom line.
Mangione allegedly fled the scene on a bicycle, seemingly vanishing into thin air as he entered Central Park. He was arrested more than 300 miles away at a McDonald’s in Altoona, PA, five days later after a coast-to-coast manhunt.
In his state case, which is being tried by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office, Mangione still faces second-degree murder and related offenses.
Federally, the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office has charged him with murder through the use of a firearm, stalking and related crimes. He could face the death penalty if convicted in that case, an almost unheard of outcome in New York that his lawyers are arguing to get taken off the table.
Mangione is incarcerated at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center.
This breaking story will be updated.
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