Mangione faces two federal stalking charges related to the December 2024 death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
NEED TO KNOW
- Luigi Mangione’s federal trial is now set to begin in January 2027
- Mangione, 28, also faces state charges including murder, weapons possession and forgery
- He is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December 2024
Luigi Mangione's federal trial has been delayed until 2027.
On Monday, June 29, federal Judge Margaret Garnett ordered that Mangione's trial on two stalking charges, related to the December 2024 death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, be delayed until Jan. 25, 2027, according to ABC News and Fox News. Jury selection is set to begin on Jan. 5, Garnett said.
Garnett said the initially scheduled November 2026 start date had become infeasible, per the outlets. Mangione, 28, is also facing a concurrent state case where he is charged with second-degree murder as well as weapons possession and forgery. He has pleaded not guilty and is set to go on trial in New York State Supreme Court on Sept. 8.
He has also pleaded not guilty to the federal charges, though ABC News reported last week that his attorneys were discussing a potential plea bargain with the feds.
Federal prosecutors accuse the Ivy League graduate of stalking Thompson for days before opening fire outside a Manhattan hotel hosting an investors' conference on Dec. 4, 2024. Mangione was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pa., five days later.
In his backpack, police allegedly discovered a notebook containing a "manifesto" against the health insurance industry and describing a desire to kill an insurance CEO. Last month, a New York State judge made a key ruling allowing the contents of the notebook to be introduced in court; Mangione's attorneys had challenged the constitutionality of the search that produced the notebook, as well as a gun allegedly found in the bag.
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This month, Mangione's attorneys said they planned to mount a psychiatric defense for their client in state court, then quickly abandoned it.
Mangione has become one of the most high-profile and polarizing murder suspects in recent U.S. history, owing to Americans' broad dismay with their healthcare system. A December 2024 poll by Emerson College saw 41% of young people, ages 18 to 29, declare they found the actions of Thompson's killer "acceptable."
Mangione has since amassed an apparent cult following, with many supporters showing up to his court hearings.
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