Luigi Mangione appeared in a packed Manhattan courtroom Tuesday for what is expected to be his final pretrial hearing before jury selection begins September 8 in his state murder trial for the ambush-style assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson — a case that has made Mangione one of the most polarizing criminal defendants in recent American history.
Judge Gregory Carro confirmed the September 8 start date at Tuesday's hearing, stating the trial would proceed even if outstanding defense motions remain unresolved. The trial is expected to run six to eight weeks. Mangione, 28, faces charges of second-degree murder, possession of a forged instrument, and six weapons counts for the December 4, 2024, killing of Thompson outside the New York Hilton Midtown, where UnitedHealthcare was holding its annual investor conference. Prosecutors allege Mangione tracked Thompson's movements over several days, waited for him outside the hotel, shot him from behind, and fled — leaving behind a manifesto-style note expressing grievances against the health insurance industry. He was apprehended days later at a Pennsylvania McDonald's after a customer recognized him. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
"Any guilty pleas in these matters must account for the seriousness of defendant's offenses, the loss of an innocent life, the impact on the victim's family, and the other state interests implicated, including the sanctity of life principle that underpins the state homicide charges." — Manhattan prosecutor Joel Seidermann
Tuesday's hearing also addressed the media access dispute that has consumed significant pretrial attention. Mangione's defense team has argued that the current media plan — limiting jury selection coverage to six journalists with no overflow room — violates his constitutional right to a public trial and wants the proceedings livestreamed in full. Judge Carro rejected defense claims that prosecutors had improperly influenced the court's media access plan. About two dozen Mangione supporters, some wearing shirts declaring his innocence, filled the back rows of the courtroom. The prosecution has separately expressed concern that Mangione's online following — which has lionized him as a folk hero targeting a corrupt healthcare system — could attempt to intimidate witnesses or jurors if public access is expanded.
A separate federal trial on stalking charges is scheduled to begin January 5, 2027. Manhattan prosecutors have already signaled they will push for a stiffer sentence in the state case if Mangione pleads out of the federal proceedings, making a negotiated resolution appear unlikely. Mangione himself has spoken publicly only once outside a courtroom — calling the dual prosecutions "double jeopardy by any common sense" on his way out of a hearing earlier this year.
Brian Thompson, 50, was a father of two from Minnesota who had led UnitedHealthcare since 2021. He was killed on a Manhattan sidewalk as he walked to an investor conference his company was hosting. The case generated extraordinary public attention partly because of an outpouring of online sympathy for Mangione from people expressing rage at the American health insurance system — a dynamic that prosecutors say presents unique challenges for impartial jury selection in New York City.
Whatever grievances anyone holds about the American healthcare system, they do not justify premeditated murder — and the trial beginning September 8 will give a jury the opportunity to render that verdict clearly. Brian Thompson was a husband and a father who was shot in the back on a public sidewalk by a man who had never met him. The romanticization of his killer by corners of the internet is a cultural pathology that this trial should help put in its proper legal context. Justice for Thompson has been delayed long enough.