Luigi Mangione Won't Face the Death Penalty After Judge Tosses Two Federal Counts

Luigi Mangione will not face the death penalty for allegedly fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Judge Margaret M. Garnett dismissed two of the four federal counts against Mangione on Friday, January 30, including murder through use of a firearm, which carried a potential death sentence.

Mangione, 27, still faces two federal stalking counts, which could result in a maximum prison sentence of life without the possibility of parole. He has pleaded not guilty.

The judge also ruled that Mangione’s federal trial can feature evidence obtained from the backpack he had on him when he arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Penn.

Mangione's lawyers attempted to suppress the evidence seized from the backpack, which included a gun, fake IDs and a notebook with a "manifesto" decrying the health insurance industry.

His legal team argued that the arresting officers didn't have a warrant. However, Judge Garnett wrote in her decision on Friday: "The search was reasonable under the facts of this case."

Garnett’s vital rulings came a day after a 35-year-old Minnesota man was arrested to attempting to free the accused killer from prison in Brooklyn on Wednesday, January 28.

Mangione fan Mark Anderson was charged with impersonating an FBI agent after prison workers asked for his credentials.

The man reportedly handed over a driver's license, but claimed he was a federal agent "in possession of paperwork signed by a judge" authorizing the release of Mangione.

Anderson was carrying a backpack that contained a barbecue fork and an "object that resembled a pizza cutter." He had reportedly had been working at a pizzeria.

Mangione was apprehended and charged with murder five days after the UnitedHealthcare CEO was shot to death in New York City on December 4, 2024.

Police said they discovered incriminating notes, along with various other items, in the aforementioned backpack after seizing it on December 9, 2024.

"Keep momentum, FBI slower overnight," one note read, while another said, "Change hat, shoes, pluck eyebrows."

The assumed killer's lawyers haven't argued the authenticity of the notes or other items found on his person, which also included a ammunition, a silencer, a pocket knife and flash drives.

In the bodycam footage from the day of his arrest, a police offer could be seen sifting through his black backpack as a handcuffed Mangione — a former data engineer — stood close by.

The cop smiled as she found a loaded magazine wrapped in "wet" underwear, while another officer could be heard uttering, "it's f------ him, 100 percent."