NEW YORK: A US judge has barred prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down a health insurance CEO in New York in Dec 2024.

The judge dismissed two charges against Mangione on Friday that could carry the death penalty: murder and using a gun with a silencer. The 27-year-old suspect

is still charged with two counts of stalking in his federal case and faces state-level murder charges.

The decision “is solely to foreclose the death penalty as an available punishment to be considered by the jury”, judge Margaret Garnett wrote in a court filing.

Mangione faces life in prison without parole if convicted of the stalking charges. The federal trial is to begin with jury selection on Sept 8.

The murder of United Healthcare executive Brian Thompson, captured on surveillance video, shocked the United States and exposed public anger with the profit-driven private healthcare system.

Mangione was arrested five days after the killing at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, some 370 kilometres from the crime scene, following a tip from a staff member.

Published in Dawn, January 31st, 2026