Mangione, accused CEO killer, withdraws mental health defence plans for now

NEW YORK, June 18 (Reuters) - Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down a health insurance executive on a Manhattan sidewalk, is for now withdrawing plans to introduce evidence at trial that he was undergoing an extreme mental health crisis at the time of the alleged killing, according to a Friday court filing.

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By Jack Queen

Mangione, 28, is accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a hotel in Midtown in December 2024. The brazen killing was widely condemned by public officials but became emblematic of Americans’ frustration with rising healthcare costs and health insurance industry practices.

Mangione pleaded not guilty in December 2024 to state murder, weapons and forgery charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg. His trial is set for September before Justice Gregory Carro in Manhattan.

In a letter to Carro Friday, Mangione’s lawyers said they were “at this time” withdrawing plans to introduce evidence at trial that Mangione had undergone an extreme mental health crisis.

Mangione’s legal team and Bragg’s office declined to comment Friday.

Under New York law, murder defendants can seek to convince a jury that their actions can be explained by an “extreme emotional disturbance” that reduces their criminal culpability.

The legal strategy allows juries to show leniency by reducing murder charges to the lesser crime of manslaughter, which does not carry a possible life sentence.

Legal experts said it could be difficult for Mangione to prevail with the defense due to evidence that he carefully planned the killing and evaded capture afterwards.

Carro would ultimately decide at trial whether there was enough evidence for the murder charge to be reduced.

Thompson led UnitedHealth Group’s UNH.N insurance unit before he was shot dead in the early morning outside a hotel where the company was holding an investor conference.

Graphic footage of the killing and a five-day manhunt for a suspect made the case a media fixture and social media sensation. Mangione was eventually arrested in Pennsylvania.

Mangione separately pleaded not guilty in April 2025 to murder, weapons and stalking charges brought by Manhattan federal prosecutors.

A judge threw out the murder and weapons charges over legal technicalities in a surprise ruling in January. That decision eliminated the possibility that Mangione would face the death penalty, though he still faces a possible sentence of life without parole if convicted of stalking.

Jury selection in that case is set to begin in September, and opening statements in the trial are scheduled for November.

(Reporting by Jack Queen in New York; Editing by Stephen Coates)

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