A New York state judge dismissed murder in the first degree in furtherance of an act of terrorism and murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism charges against Luigi Mangione on Tuesday in the fatal shooting of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Mangione is still charged with second-degree murder in the case.
The judge, Gregory Carro, cited “legally insufficient” evidence in dismissing the two counts. Carro noted, though, that the prosecution “presented legally sufficient evidence of all other counts.”
“While the defendant was clearly expressing an animus toward UHC, and the health care industry generally, it does not follow that his goal was to ‘intimidate and coerce a civilian population,’ and indeed, there was no evidence presented of such a goal,” Carro wrote, regarding the terrorism charge.
Mangione, 27, is also facing a federal death penalty charge that alleges he stalked Thompson prior to shooting the 50-year-old health insurance executive in December. In directing federal prosecutors to seek capital punishment in April, Attorney General Pam Bondi called Thompson’s murder a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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