The former Ivy League computer scientist turnedsuspected corporate killer likely won’t face federal charges, avoiding any risk of the death penalty since New York has none, experts say.
Murder is generally not a crime under federal jurisdiction, except under specific circumstances. Hiring a hitman to cross state lines to commit a hit man is a federal crime, but crossing state lines yourself to commit one is not.
Luigi Mangione26, faces a second-degree murder charge in New York state in connection with the ambush death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was shot by a masked killer outside a Hilton hotel on December 4 Manhattan. New York’s murder laws are broken down differently than most other states, and first-degree charges in the Empire State are typically reserved for special cases, including against the murder of a member of law enforcement or mass murders.
“It is possible, but not likely, that Mangione will be charged federally,” said Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor who now runs a private practice in Los Angeles. “The case has received a lot of attention, and it is uncertain what Trump’s Justice Department will do, but a federal prosecution would require federal jurisdiction, such as the commission of another federal crime or a substantial nexus to interstate commerce.”
TRUMP DESTROYS SUPPORT FOR MURDER SUSPECT UNITEDHEALTHCARE CEO
Luigi Mangione screams as officers restrain him as he arrives for his extradition hearing at the Blair County Courthouse in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania, on December 10, 2024. (David Dee Delgado for Fox News Digital)
Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks’ office already said it planned to move forward with the case against Mangione but would prioritize the more serious charges in New York.
“Most likely, the prosecution in the United States will be handled by the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg,” Rahmani said.
According to Nicole Parker, a former FBI agent, the FBI usually intervenes because they see a need to secure harsher penalties or because they can devote more resources to the job than a local department. But the NYPD is well equipped and has already built a strong case, she said.
“(The) NYPD is solid, and they will deal with it forcefully,” she told Fox News Digital. ‘The question is for the prosecutor. Will Alvin Bragg be gentle with this man?’
After his trial loss in the manslaughter case against Marine Daniel Penny, a case that drew criticism of Bragg’s priorities and politics, she expects his office to build a strong case against Mangione. Investigators reportedly matched his fingerprints and gun to the murder scene.
“My personal opinion is that it stays with the NYPD; they charge the case locally. It’s a solid case that they’ve worked hard on and I think they’ll get a very strong outcome,” she said.
That of New York The death penalty ended twenty years ago.
SUSPECTED CEO OF UNITEDHEALTHCARE ASSASSIN DRAWS UNABOMBER COMPARISON
Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare (AP Photo/UnitedHealth Group)
“New York banned the death penalty 20 years ago, so the death penalty is not an option there,” Rahmani said. “But even if Mangione is charged federally, the only aggravating factor supporting the death penalty is the fact that the murder involved substantial planning and premeditation.”
The death penalty is usually reserved for the worst criminal cases. Even if there were the death penalty in New York, no other causative factors exist in this case, such as additional victims, the suspect’s criminal history or whether the killing occurred during the commission of another crime, he said.
Luigi Mangione (Obtained by Fox News Digital)
“It was not an act of terrorism or a similar heinous crime,” he said. “Aside from all the attention it’s gotten, this wouldn’t normally be a death penalty case.”
Moreover, it is rare for the federal government to seek the death penalty, but it does happen in cases of extreme violence, such as the Boston Marathon bombing, which killed three and injured hundreds. Prosecutors can use it as leverage to extract a confession.
Sending bombs through the mail, like Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, is also a federal crime. He committed suicide in prison last year while serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Justice Department data show that the federal government has executed 16 people since 2001, starting with the death of the Oklahoma City bomber. Timothy McVeigh and eight days later the American drug trafficker Juan Raul Garza, who had two men murdered and a third himself executed.
The suspected gunman in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, believed to be Luigi Mangione, flirts with a hostel worker in surveillance footage before the Dec. 4 shooting. (NYPD)
It is striking that thirteen of those executions took place during President Trump’s first term in office. He will return to the White House next month and has indicated he would do so expand the death penalty.
According to the American newspaper The Guardian, there are currently forty federal prisoners on death row Death Penalty Information Centerand the list includes surviving Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev and Dylann Roof, who massacred nine parishioners at a South Carolina church.
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The transfer of hands from the Biden-Harris administration to Trump’s second administration could also hamper a potential federal case, Rahmani added.
“The other problem is that Trump’s new U.S. attorney in the Southern District of New York won’t be confirmed and sworn in for more than a month at the earliest, and the Manhattan district attorney’s office will be well into the case by then sit,” he said. . “Under the DOJ’s Petite Policy, federal prosecutors will not intervene in a pending state case unless there is a substantial federal interest not justified by the state prosecution.”
