Luigi Mangione's Federal Trial Delayed Until October, Judge Rules

NEW YORK CITY — A judge on Wednesday pushed back the federal trial of Luigi Mangione, the Maryland native accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, moving it from September to October instead of next year.

U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett disclosed that jury selection will begin on Oct. 5, with presentation of evidence expected on Oct. 26.

Garnett tied her decision to the schedule of Mangione’s state murder trial, which is set to begin June 8 and take four to six weeks. She rejected a defense request to postpone the federal case until January or February 2027 so that it could then seek to delay the state case until September.

Mangione’s lawyers had argued that back-to-back trials on a compressed timeline would violate his constitutional rights. However, Garnett said their proposal to push the federal case into 2027 and slot the state case in its place doesn’t "solve any of these problems because it shifts the very same problems from the summer to the fall.”

Mangione is a Towson native and a 2016 graduate of Gilman School in Baltimore, an elite all-boys prep school where he was class valedictorian. Mangione is from an affluent business family, who said he seemed to struggle following a back surgery.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to a slew of state and federal charges, including murder. In September 2025, a judge dropped two state terrorism charges against him.

Mangione faces the possibility of life in prison if he’s convicted in either case, which are set to be tried two blocks apart in lower Manhattan.

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Thompson, 50, was killed on Dec. 4, 2024, as he walked to UnitedHealth Group’s annual investor conference. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting him from behind.

Police say the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were written on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase used by critics to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.

Mangione was arrested five days after the shooting at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

Family and friends said Mangione lost contact with them in the months leading up to Thompson's shooting, and Mangione's social media accounts reflected a shift from posts on books he read, workout routines and his travels to a person in pain who was unhappy with the healthcare system.

The Associated Press contributed reporting.