Luigi Mangione seeks ‘extreme emotional disturbance’ defence in UnitedHealth CEO killing case

NEW YORK – Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down a health insurance executive in Manhattan, plans to argue at trial that he was in a state of “extreme emotional disturbance” when he allegedly committed the crime, a judge revealed at a court hearing on June 17.

Mangione is accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson outside a hotel in Midtown in December 2024.

The brazen killing was widely condemned by public officials but became emblematic of Americans’ frustration with rising healthcare costs and health insurance industry practices.

Mangione pleaded not guilty in December 2024 to state murder, weapons and forgery charges brought by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.

His trial is set for September before Justice Gregory Carro in Manhattan.

New York law allows murder defendants to argue that they cannot be held fully responsible for their actions because they were in a state of extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the killing. Defendants who prevail can reduce their conviction from murder to manslaughter, which carries significantly lower sentences.

Thompson led UnitedHealth Group’s insurance unit before he was shot dead in the early morning outside a hotel where he was staying for an investor conference. Graphic footage of the killing and a five-day manhunt for a suspect made the case a media fixture and social media sensation.

Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania. He separately pleaded not guilty in April 2025 to murder, weapons and stalking charges brought by Manhattan federal prosecutors.

US District Judge Margaret Garnett, who is overseeing that case, threw out the murder and weapons charges over legal technicalities in a surprise ruling in January. That decision eliminated the possibility that Mangione would face the death penalty, though he still faces a possible sentence of life without parole if convicted of stalking.

Jury selection in that case is set to begin in September, and opening statements in the trial are scheduled for November. REUTERS