Mangione to use ‘psychiatric defense’ in CEO murder trial, judge says
In New York City, the judge presiding over the state murder trial of Luigi Mangione, accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, announces Mangione will use ‘psychiatric defense.’ Fox News senior correspondent Eric Shawn details how lawyers will argue Mangione suffered ‘extreme emotional disturbance’ at the time of the alleged December 2024 crime. This development could lead to psychiatric treatment instead of prison if successful.
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Luigi Mangione has abruptly withdrawn the psychiatric defense that threatened to become a central battleground in his upcoming murder trial over the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, according to new court filings obtained Thursday.
In a one-sentence letter to the court, Mangione’s attorneys informed Judge Gregory Carro that they were withdrawing a previously filed notice signaling plans to pursue a psychiatric-based defense in his state case. The filing offered no explanation for the sudden reversal.
The move comes two weeks after court proceedings focused on the defense strategy were conducted under seal, sparking objections from media organizations seeking public access to the records.
In a separate order issued Thursday, Carro ruled that the court’s previous sealing order covering certain transcripts, emails and documents will remain in effect now that Mangione has withdrawn his notice about pursuing a psychiatric defense.
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Luigi Mangione appears at a pretrial hearing in Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City on June 17, 2026. Mangione is accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Bryan Thompson in December 2024. (Barry Williams/New York Daily News)
The reversal marks a dramatic shift in a case that had raised the prospect of an “extreme emotional disturbance” defense — a strategy that, if accepted by jurors after a conviction, could reduce a murder verdict to first-degree manslaughter under New York law.
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Legal observers previously told Fox News Digital that pursuing such a defense would have required Mangione’s attorneys to convince jurors that he experienced a loss of self-control stemming from an intense emotional disturbance at the time Thompson was gunned down outside a Manhattan business conference.
Luigi Mangione appears in State Supreme Court in Manhattan during an evidence suppression hearing in his murder case on Dec. 12, 2025. (William Farrington/New York Post)
Prosecutors, meanwhile, have alleged that Mangione meticulously planned the killing for months, documenting his thoughts in journals and traveling across the country before ambushing Thompson in New York City.
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The withdrawal leaves unanswered questions about what evidence or evaluations may have been developed behind closed doors — records that will now remain sealed under the judge’s order.
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, left, pictured in a corporate headshot. He was killed on Dec. 4, 2024, outside a Manhattan hotel while on his way to a shareholder conference. The suspect, Luigi Mangione, is pictured in court on the right. (Businesswire, Steven Hirsch for New York Post via Pool)
Mangione, 28, has pleaded not guilty and faces both state and federal prosecutions in the high-profile case. His New York murder trial is scheduled to begin in September, with federal proceedings expected to follow next year.