Luigi Mangione’s Lawyers Withdraw Psychiatric Defense in State Murder Trial

Lawyers for Luigi Mangione, the man accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, notified the court on June 18 they will no longer pursue a psychiatric defense in his state murder trial.

In a letter to Judge Gregory Carro, his lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo said the defense “respectfully withdraws” its notice under New York’s psychiatric defense statute “at this time.”

The defense previously told Carro it planned to pursue a defense claiming that Mangione was suffering from extreme emotional disturbance when the killing occurred.

Mangione’s lawyers had until June 18 to give prosecutors information supporting the claim.

At a June 17 hearing, Mangione’s lawyer protested the judge’s decision to unseal materials related to the psychiatric defense, saying the disclosure will be “prejudicial to his defense to the exact same facts” in his federal case, which does not allow an emotional disturbance defense.

Carro on June 18 rescinded his order to unseal the materials after Mangione’s lawyers decided to withdraw the psychiatric defense.

The Epoch Times reached out to Mangione’s lawyer for comment but did not receive a response by publication time.

Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland family, was charged with murder in connection with the fatal shooting of Thompson that took place outside a hotel in Midtown Manhattan on Dec. 4, 2024. He was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days after the shooting occurred. Authorities said Mangione allegedly traveled across state lines and shot Thompson from behind as he walked into a Midtown Manhattan hotel.

Authorities seized a backpack from Mangione when he was arrested, which allegedly contained a 3D-printed gun, a notebook, and other writings detailing his grievances with the private health care system in the United States. The New York City Police Department said last December that there is no indication that Mangione was a client of UnitedHealthcare, known as the largest health insurer in the United States.

He has pleaded not guilty to state and federal charges. His state trial was scheduled to start Sept. 8, followed by his federal trial on Oct. 13.

In April 2025, then-Attorney General Pamela Bondi said she had directed federal prosecutors to pursue the death penalty in Mangione’s case, calling Thompson’s killing a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination.”

U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett of the Southern District of New York ruled on Jan. 30 that prosecutors could not seek the death penalty in Mangione’s federal trial and dismissed two of the four federal counts against him, including murder through the use of a firearm in relation to stalking and a separate count of using a firearm during stalking.

The Associated Press and Bill Pan contributed to this report.