By Jack Queen
NEW YORK, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Luigi Mangione, the man accused of fatally shooting a health insurance executive outside a hotel in New York City, will face trial for murder on June 8 in state court in Manhattan, a judge said on Friday.
Mangione, 27, is accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a sidewalk in Midtown Manhattan. Public officials condemned the assassination, but it sparked an outpouring of criticism of U.S. health insurance industry practices.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to murder, weapons and forgery charges. He also pleaded not guilty to stalking charges in a separate federal case that is set to go to trial on October 13.
Supreme Court Justice Gregory Carro set a trial date in the state case at a hearing on Friday where Mangione was present with his lawyers.
Prosecutors with the office of Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg have been pushing for a speedy trial in hopes of going before federal prosecutors.
Thompson, who led UnitedHealth Group's UNH.N health insurance business, was shot and killed on December 4, 2024 outside the Hilton hotel where he was staying for an investors’ meeting.
Mangione was arrested in Pennsylvania after a five-day manhunt and has been jailed ever since. He became an online folk hero for some Americans who decry steep healthcare costs and claim denial practices by insurance companies.
State prosecutors initially charged Mangione with terrorism, but Carro threw out that charge after finding there was not enough evidence to show Mangione’s alleged actions were aimed at influencing public policy.
Federal prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York separately brought murder, weapons and stalking charges against Mangione and said they would seek the death penalty.
The judge overseeing that case threw out the murder and weapons charges on a legal technicality in January. That eliminated the possibility of the death penalty, but Mangione could face life in prison if he is convicted of stalking.
(Reporting by Jack Queen in New York; Editing by Chris Reese)