Luigi Mangione will NOT face death penalty if he’s convicted of murdering CEO Brian Thompson, judge rules

The judge ruled that Luigi Mangione will not face the death penalty if convicted of murdering healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Judge Margaret Garnett ruled against prosecutors seeking the death penalty for the alleged assassin.

In Friday’s decision, the judge also decided to allow jurors to see evidence removed from Mangione’s backpack during his arrest in December 2024.

Evidence seized from the backpack included a handgun, a loaded magazine and an alleged manifesto, which Mangione’s lawyers argue should be barred from the trial because they say they were obtained illegally without a search warrant.

This came a day after a Minnesota man identified as Mark Anderson, 36, was charged with allegedly trying to break Mangione out of prison in New York by posing as an FBI agent in a brazen plot that was ultimately thwarted.

Anderson allegedly attempted to approach an entrance area within the prison to approach Mangione and presented paperwork to prison staff, claiming the judge had ordered the prisoner’s release.

This plan reportedly collapsed when Bureau of Prisons staff demanded to see Anderson’s credentials, which led to him flashing his Minnesota driver’s license and throwing “a large number of documents” at staff.

According to the criminal complaint against Anderson, Anderson then allegedly warned staff that he had a gun in his bag, and a search of his belongings turned up a barbecue fork and a tool that resembled a pizza cutter.

The ruling then came a day after a Minnesota man identified as Mark Anderson (seen on his driver’s license) allegedly tried to bail Mangione out of a New York City Jail and was caught with a barbecue fork and pizza cutter in his purse. Those items are included in the criminal complaint filed Thursday against Anderson.

The official start date for Mangione’s high-profile trial has not yet been set, but Garnett said he expects jury selection to begin in September.

Earlier this month, Mangione appeared to be playing tricks for the cameras as he appeared in court for a pre-trial hearing, flashing a boyish grin as his hordes of female fans looked on from the gallery.

Friday’s decision to allow evidence from Mangione’s arrest to be included in the trial was a severe blow to the alleged killer.

His lawyers tried to convince the judge that evidence seized during Mangione’s arrest was corrupted by a botched investigation, which they said should be inadmissible.

They claimed that the chain of custody for the evidence found in the backpack was not properly followed and that their Miranda Rights were not read.

Mangione allegedly shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan sidewalk in the early hours of December 4, 2024

Officers allegedly found a gun in Mangione’s backpack that matched the firearm description of the gun used to kill Thompson

Mangione allegedly shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a Manhattan sidewalk in the early hours of Dec. 4, 2024, before fleeing the scene on a bicycle.

He was arrested almost a week later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, a small town 300 miles from the scene.

Police said they found a manifesto and a gun in his backpack when he was arrested, as well as notes written to himself “to check reports on the current situation”; This is a possible reference to the news that made headlines after Thompson’s death.

Prosecutors said the backpack was legally searched because Altoona police protocols required the suspect’s property to be immediately searched for hazardous materials at the time of his arrest, and police later obtained a search warrant for evidence.

Officers later said they initially found only a loaded magazine in the bag, but later found a gun and a silencer during a search of the police station.

A subsequent inventory search found a notebook and other notes, including a “to-do list” that Mangione would allegedly follow after the shooting.

Evidence presented at the pretrial hearing included a Philadelphia transit pass purchased at 1:06 p.m., just over six hours after the shooting, and a Greyhound bus ticket booked under the name Sam Dawson, leaving Philadelphia at 6:30 p.m. and arriving at SSSS at 11:55 p.m.

Among the notes presented to the hearing was a note titled ’12/5′ and a starred entry reading ‘Buy black shoes (white stripes are very noticeable)’.

Mangione was arrested five days after Thompson was shot while eating breakfast at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after suspicious customers recognized him and alerted staff who called 911.

Prosecutors also seized a handwritten diary from Mangione’s purse during his arrest in Altoona, Pennsylvania, which his attorneys tried to hide from jurors.

Another, also written in bucket list style, suggested staying away from security cameras for more than three hours and using different modes of transport to ‘break the CAM continuum’ and avoid tracking.

Below that it said ‘Check reports for current status’, a possible reference to news reports about the search for Thompson’s killer.

A note titled ’12/8′ lists a number of tasks, including an apparent trip to Best Buy to buy a digital camera and accessories, ‘hot food + water bottles’ and ‘garbage bags’.

Under the heading ’12/9′, the day of Mangione’s arrest, the note lists posts such as ‘Sheetz’, an Altoona-based grocery chain, ‘masks’ and ‘AAA bats’. Police officers testified that Mangione had a Sheetz hoagie in his backpack when he was arrested, along with a loaf of Italian bread from a local deli.

A note titled ‘Future TO DO’ listed ‘intelligence control’ and ‘survival kit’.