Murder Trial Could Prevent Future Killer Fan Copycats


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According to Judge Andrew Napolitano, a senior judicial analyst, the Justice Department faced significant pressure to bring federal charges against Luigi Mangione, the individual accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson earlier this month. Napolitano explained to “Wake Up America” on Newsmax that “the health care professional community pressured the Justice Department to indict him in the federal system so that he would be exposed to the death penalty as a message … to all these crazy kids who are following him as if he is a hero.”

Napolitano, citing The Wall Street Journal as his source, stated that there is widespread concern that one of Mangione’s admirers might attempt to emulate his alleged actions in murdering Thompson, as “people are terrified one of [the suspect’s admirers] is going to imitate” what he allegedly did.

While the federal charges against Mangione carry the possibility of the death penalty, the maximum sentence for the state charges he faces is life in prison without the possibility of parole. Napolitano noted that the order in which the two trials proceed is significant, though he expressed uncertainty about which one would go first.

“It does matter which one of the two trials goes first, and that “I’m not sure which one would go first,” Napolitano said.

However, he suggested that it might be preferable for the state trial to take place first, as “if [Mangione] is convicted of first-degree murder under the state system, then the feds would most likely not want to go through the time and expense of a second trial.”

On Monday, Mangione pleaded not guilty to murder and terror charges in a state case that will run parallel to his federal prosecution.

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