**Video is previous coverage of Luigi Mangione pleading not guilty to charges in December 2024**
NEW YORK (AP) — Attorneys representing Luigi Mangione have requested a New York federal judge on Saturday to remove certain criminal allegations, notably the sole charge that carries the death penalty, from a federal indictment related to the alleged December assassination of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO.
In filings submitted to the Manhattan federal court, the defense asserted that prosecutors should be barred from presenting Mangione’s statements to law enforcement and his seized backpack containing a firearm and ammunition as evidence during the trial.
The defense contends that Mangione was not advised of his rights prior to being interrogated by the police, who detained him following the fatal shooting of Brian Thompson as he was checking into a Manhattan hotel for an investor event.
They added that officers did not obtain a warrant before searching Mangione’s backpack.
Mangione, 27, has entered a plea of not guilty concerning the state and federal charges linked to the December 4 shooting death of Brian Thompson at a Manhattan hotel where Thompson was set to attend the company’s annual investor gathering.
The incident prompted a search across multiple states after the assailant fled the scene on a bicycle to Central Park and then took a cab to a bus terminal servicing various nearby states.
Five days thereafter, a tip from a McDonald’s located approximately 233 miles (375 kilometers) away in Altoona, Pennsylvania, led authorities to capture Mangione. He has remained in custody without the option of bail since his arrest.
Last month, lawyers for Mangione asked that his federal charges be dismissed and the death penalty be taken off the table as a result of public comments by U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi. In April, Bondi directed prosecutors in New York to seek the death penalty, calling the killing of Thompson a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”
Murder cases are usually tried in state courts, but prosecutors have also charged Mangione under a federal law on murders committed with firearms as part of other “crimes of violence.” It’s the only charge for which Mangione could face the death penalty, since it’s not used in New York state.
The papers filed early Saturday morning argued that this charge should be dismissed because prosecutors have failed to identify the other offenses that would be required to convict him, saying that the alleged other crime — stalking — is not a crime of violence.
The assassination and its aftermath has captured the American imagination, setting off a cascade of resentment and online vitriol toward U.S. health insurers while rattling corporate executives concerned about security.
After the killing, investigators found the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose,” written in permanent marker on ammunition at the scene. The words mimic a phrase used by insurance industry critics.
