America’s favorite alleged CEO murdering son, Luigi Mangione, may not have an open and shut case after all. According to some legal experts, pinning a first-degree murder charge on the young heartthrob might be more difficult than initially anticipated.
Mangione was charged with 11 counts related to the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Dec. 4. The charges includes two counts of second-degree murder, one of which describes the slaying as an act of terrorism; weapons charges; forgery charges and a charge of murder in the first degree.
In New York, a first-degree murder charge is rare because there are specific aggravating factors that need to be met. Under New York law, the victim must be “a police officer, peace officer, firefighter, or emergency medical services professional performing official duties” or it must be murder for hire, or an act of terrorism.
Criminal defense attorney Stacy Schneider told CNN that it’s going to be tough to get that charge to stick.
“This victim was shot in the back of the head, not the front of the head, on a quiet sidewalk, early in the morning, in the dark. It doesn’t appear from a defense attorney’s perspective that this was intended to be a terroristic type of murder,” Schneider said.
Still, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg and other law enforcement officials banded together on Dec. 17 in a press conference and painted a picture of a cruel, calculating murder meant to “evoke terror.”
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch bemoaned the “praise for this cowardly attack” on social media. She called it a “cold and calculated crime.”
“We don’t celebrate murders, and we don’t lionize the killing of anyone, and any attempt to rationalize this is vile, reckless and offensive to our deeply held principles of justice.”
Mangione’s lawyer, Thomas Dickey, has so far said he hasn’t seen any evidence that links his client’s gun with the crime, per the BBC.
Tisch said Mangione’s fingerprints match those at the crime scene. When he was arrested, authorities recovered his “ghost gun,” made from untraceable parts; a fake ID, a passport and a document that demonstrated Mangione’s “motivation and mindset.”
Police also shared information about Mangione’s mother, who filed a missing person report for Luigi in November in San Francisco. When contacted by authorities, his mother didn’t identify Luigi as the suspect, but reportedly said the murder was “something that she could see her son doing.”
Mangione was charged in Pennsylvania, where he was spotted by someone who informed a McDonald’s employee, who then called it in. Officer Tyler Frye, who had only been with the Altoona Police Department for six months, responded to the call with his partner and “recognized [Mangione] immediately when he took off his mask.”
“We didn’t even think twice about it. We knew that was our guy,” he said. “It feels good to get a guy like that off the street, especially starting my career this way. It feels great.”
Whether or not the State Attorney will amend the charges from first degree murder remains to be seen.
Published: Dec 18, 2024 01:21 pm