A Manhattan judge on Tuesday dismissed the most serious charges against the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, tossing out two terrorism-related murder counts but leaving a raft of other allegations intact as the high-profile case moves forward.
Luigi Mangione, 27, appeared in a Manhattan courtroom for the first time in five months, wearing shackles and beige jail-issued clothing over a brown T-shirt. He remained silent during the brief proceeding, where Judge Gregory Carro ruled that prosecutors had failed to prove their most sweeping theory: that Thompson’s death amounted to an act of terrorism.
Carro said the evidence presented to a grand jury was “legally insufficient” to sustain terrorism charges, including first-degree murder.
“While the defendant was clea