Could UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione face death penalty?
The former Ivy League computer scientist-turned-suspected corporate assassin likely won't face federal charges, preventing any risk of the death penalty since New York doesn't have one, experts say.
Murder is typically not a crime that falls under federal jurisdiction, except under specific circumstances. Hiring a hitman who crosses state lines to commit a murder-for-hire is a federal crime, but crossing state lines yourself to commit one is not.
Luigi Mangione, 26, faces a second-degree murder charge in New York state in connection with the ambush shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was gunned down by a masked assassin outside a Manhattan Hilton hotel on Dec. 4. 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 slaying of a member of law enforcement or mass murders.
"It's possible, but not likely, that Mangione is charged federally," said Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor who now runs a private practice in Los Angeles. "The case has gotten a lot of attention, and there is no knowing what Trump's Department of Justice will do, but a federal prosecution requires a federal jurisdictional hook, like the commission of another federal crime or a substantial nexus to interstate commerce."
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Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks' office already said it planned to move forward with its case against Mangione but would allow the more serious charges in New York to take precedence.
"Most likely the prosecution will be handled stateside by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office," Rahmani said.
The feds usually step in because they see a need to secure a stricter punishment or because they can bring more resources to the job than a local department, according to Nicole Parker, a former FBI agent. But the NYPD is well-equipped and has already built a strong case, she said.
"[The] NYPD is solid, and they’ll handle it strongly," she told Fox News Digital. "The question is the prosecutor. Is Alvin Bragg going to go soft on this guy?"
On the heels of his loss at trial in the manslaughter case against Marine veteran 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 have allegedly matched his fingerprints and weapon to the murder scene.
"My personal opinion is it stays with the NYPD; they charge it locally. It’s a solid case they’ve worked their tails off [on], and I think they’ll get a very strong outcome," she said.
New York's death penalty ended two decades ago.
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"New York outlawed the death penalty 20 years ago, so capital punishment is not an option there," Rahmani said. "But even if Mangione is charged federally, the only aggravating factor to support the death penalty is that the murder involved substantial planning and premeditation."
Capital punishment is typically reserved for the worst of the worst criminal cases. Even if New York had a death penalty, other aggravators such as additional victims, the defendant's criminal history or that the murder took place during the commission of another felony don't exist in this case, he said.
"It wasn’t an act of terrorism or similarly heinous offense," he said. "Aside from all the attention it has received, this would normally not be a death penalty case."
On top of that, it's rare for the federal government to seek the death penalty, but it does happen in cases of extreme violence, such as in the Boston Marathon bombing, which killed three and wounded hundreds. Prosecutors can use it as leverage to get a confession.
Sending bombs through the mail, like the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, is also a federal crime. He killed himself in prison last year while serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.
Justice Department records show the federal government has executed 16 people since 2001, beginning with the deaths of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and, eight days later, American drug trafficker Juan Raul Garza, who had two men killed and executed a third himself.
Notably, 13 of those executions came during President Trump's first term in office. He returns to the White House next month and has signaled that he would expand the death penalty.
There are currently 40 federal inmates on death row, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, and the list includes surviving Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as well as Dylann Roof, who massacred nine parishioners in a South Carolina church.
The changing of hands from the Biden-Harris administration to Trump's second administration could also hinder a potential federal case, Rahmani added.
"The other wrinkle is 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 DA’s Office will be well into the case by then," he said. "Under the DOJ’s ‘Petite Policy,’ federal prosecutors don’t step into a pending state case unless there is a substantial federal interest that isn’t vindicated in the state prosecution."