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Inside Luigi Mangione's legal strategy before his federal guilty plea
By
Samantha Max
Published Oct 20, 2026 at 12:37 p.m. ET
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Photo by William Farrington-Pool/Getty Images
By
Samantha Max
Published Oct 20, 2026 at 12:37 p.m. ET
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As Luigi Mangione’s state murder trial approached, his attorneys had decisions to make.
One of the most consequential was whether he should argue he killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson because of an “extreme emotional disturbance.”
That strategy, if successful, could have spared the 28-year-old Ivy League graduate from the lengthiest possible sentence in state prison. But it also posed a serious risk, because it would essentially require Mangione to admit he’d committed the killing before he faced a separate trial in federal court, where there is no extreme emotional disturbance defense. His lawyers wanted to keep it a secret that he was even considering such a strategy.
Attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo told a state judge in early June that any publicity about a mental health defense could hurt her client and taint the jury pool.
“And this is important, because we are still in the process of testing Mr. Mangione to determine what we will be doing,” she said, according to the transcripts.
The new details came to light in recent court filings and newly unsealed transcripts in the state case. Taken together, they offer a glimpse into the complicated calculations Mangione’s attorneys were making in the months leading up to his federal guilty plea. A spokesperson for the defense team declined to comment on the new filings.
Prosecutors have accused Mangione of following the health insurance executive to New York City and fatally shooting him outside a Midtown hotel in December 2024. A security camera captured the shooting, and the footage quickly went viral. Police arrested Mangione in Altoona, Pennsylvania, days later, after the manager of a local McDonald’s recognized him. Mangione has become an international celebrity, with fans who consider him a hero for those plagued by the healthcare industry, and critics who condemn what they see as a celebration of violence.
Complications over mental health defense
In the lead-up to the state trial, which was scheduled to begin in September, Justice Gregory Carro revealed in court that Mangione planned to pursue a mental health defense — a dramatic twist in the closely watched legal saga. The revelation dominated the news cycle before Mangione’s defense attorneys doubled back on those plans just a day later.
New York law allows people accused of crimes to argue that they were extremely emotionally disturbed when they committed a crime and should face less serious punishment.
Friedman Agnifilo told the state judge in early June that it was “pretty self-evident” the case “had a potential for a psychiatric defense,” according to a transcript of a June 3 court conference. She cited Mangione’s medical records and “extensive writings.” Prosecutors said police found a notebook and a letter addressed “To the Feds” when they arrested him.
But the attorney said she had faced “immense” logistical hurdles as she tried to secure psychological testing for her client, the transcripts show. Friedman Agnifilo said the testing was necessary to figure out the extent of any mental health issues Mangione may have been facing at the time of the crime. Some doctors who treated him in the past had also “refused to cooperate,” she told Carro, “because of the notoriety of this case.”
Gary Galperin, an adjunct professor at Cardozo Law School and former prosecutor in the Manhattan district attorney's office, said using an extreme emotional disturbance defense would have put Mangione in a bind. If he had gone with that tactic, he would essentially have to admit that he was guilty, the former prosecutor said. That information could have been used against him at his federal trial, Galperin said.
“ That could be very prejudicial to Mangione, because the defense means that he's implicitly, or I would say directly, acknowledging he committed the crime,” he said.
‘He ran out of viable options’
Galperin said pleading guilty in federal court, then trying to get the state charges dismissed, became Mangione’s best option — but the path ahead was still uncertain.
As the state trial approached, he said, it was “time to face the music, time to bite the bullet.”
“He ran out of viable options,” Galperin said.
In August, Mangione admitted in federal court to fatally shooting Thompson and pleaded guilty to two federal stalking charges. Moments later, his attorneys asked a judge to dismiss the remaining murder and weapon charges in his state case. They said New York law should protect him from more prosecution related to Thompson’s killing.
In a motion submitted the day Mangione pleaded guilty in his federal case, the defense said his state charges should be dismissed because of a legal concept called double jeopardy. The basic idea is that someone shouldn’t be prosecuted twice for the same misconduct. New York is known to have particularly strong double jeopardy protections.
Mangione’s attorneys argued that he shouldn’t have been charged in two separate cases, and that federal and state prosecutors have violated his rights by heaping on charges.
At a state court appearance in February, Mangione made a rare public statement that echoed his defense attorneys’ claims.
“It’s the same trial twice,” he said, according to a transcript published by the DA’s office. “One plus one is two. Double jeopardy by any common-sense definition.”
The Manhattan DA’s office wants its day in court
State prosecutors said in court papers that they should still be allowed to take Mangione to trial. They argued that the two cases are based on different crimes, which were designed to prevent substantially different kinds of “harm or evil.” That means double jeopardy protections shouldn’t apply, the DA’s office said.
Galperin said it’s natural that state prosecutors would want to move forward with their case even if Mangione gets a long prison sentence in federal court.
“There’s a state murder indictment. You just don't ignore that or dismiss that,” he said. “And the Thompson family is entitled to justice for the, really, state crime that it is.”
In court, Seidemann said Thompson’s mother wanted Mangione to go to trial in state court first.
Soon, Carro will decide whether the state charges should move forward or be thrown out. Either decision is likely to be appealed by the other side, Galperin said.
Tagged
healthcare
manhattan
public safety
Samantha Max
Samantha reports on whether New Yorkers feel safe and whether the institutions that are supposed to protect them are working. Before coming to WNYC/Gothamist, she spent three years covering the criminal justice system in Tennessee for Nashville Public Radio. Her reporting on Nashville's police department received multiple awards, including the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize. Samantha was also part of the inaugural class of Report for America, a service journalism program that sends up-and-coming reporters to local newsrooms across the country. She is a Northwestern University grad, a Baltimore native and fluent in Spanish. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal: samanthamaxwnyc.93.
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