WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FIRST-DEGREE MURDER CHARGES AGAINST LUIGI MANGIONE?

Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline

True Crime, News

3.9 • 7.6K Ratings

🗓️ 2 November 2025

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

A New York judge has dismissed two state-level terrorism-related murder charges against Luigi Mangione.

The dismissed charges were first-degree murder in furtherance of an act of terrorism and second-degree murder as a crime of terrorism. The judge ruled that state prosecutors did not present sufficient evidence to the grand jury to support the claim that Mangione intended to "intimidate and coerce a civilian population" or influence government policy. That is the legal threshold for state terrorism charges.

Mangione still faces several other serious charges, including a second-degree murder charge and federal charges that could carry the death penalty.

Attorney General Pam Bondi directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty, which marks the first such directive by the Trump administration. New York, where the murder occurred, has abolished the death penalty, and Mangione's lawyers are attempting to block the federal death penalty pursuit, arguing the move is a political stunt.

JOINING NANCY GRACE TODAY:

Matthew Mangino - Attorney, Former District Attorney (Lawrence County); Author: "The Executioner's Toll: The Crimes, Arrests, Trials, Appeals, Last Meals, Final Words and Executions of 46 Persons in the United States"
Dr. Bethany Marshall - Psychoanalyst, Author: "Deal Breaker," and featured in hit show "Paris in Love" on Peacock; Instagram & TikTok: drbethanymarshall, X: @DrBethanyLive
Tom Smith - Former NYPD Detective, Former Member of FBI/NYPD Joint Terrorism Task Force, and Co-Host of the GOLD SHIELDS Podcast; FB & Instagram: @thegoldshieldshow
Sheryl McCollum - Cold Case Investigative Research Institute Founder, and Host of "Zone 7;" X: @149zone7
Joseph Scott Morgan - Professor of Forensics: Jacksonville State University, Author of "Blood Beneath My Feet," and Host: "Body Bags with Joseph Scott Morgan;" X:@JoScottForensic
Christina Aguayo - National News Anchor, Salem News Channel; Facebook: @ChristinaAguayoNews, Instagram: @Christina.AguayoNew

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is an I-Heart podcast.
0:04.6	Crime Stories with Nancy Grace.
0:11.3	Thousands of Luigi Mangione fans are thrilled and celebrate openly in the street as a judge dismisses terrorism charges.
0:26.4	This, as the same fans are outraged at comparisons between Luigi Mangione and the Charlie Kirk
0:36.7	killer. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. I want to thank you. Manjione and the Charlie Kirk Killer.
0:38.1	I'm Nancy Grace.
0:39.4	This is Crime Stories.
0:40.8	I want to thank you for being with us.
0:43.5	First of all, Luigi Mangione is caught on video, gunning down a health care boss.
0:53.3	Right.
0:53.8	Brian Thompson, minding his own business, going to some sort
0:57.5	of a conference in downtown Manhattan, when Mangione, according to the video, comes up behind him
1:04.1	and shoots him dead on the sidewalk. Remember, father of two. Now the Mangione fans are thrilled when a judge dismisses two of the most serious
1:17.8	charges against Mangione. What judge? Judge Gregory Caro claiming the evidence was legally
1:25.1	insufficient for murder in the first degree. What?
1:29.6	But isn't that up to a jury? This leaves him with one count of murder in the second degree.
1:36.7	How has this happened? This is a huge legal win for Mangione.
1:42.1	Mangione paraded into the Manhattan Supreme Court looking stoic and then got the good news.
1:50.2	This is supporters thronged the outside of the downtown Manhattan courthouse. This was Mangione's
1:57.3	first appearance since the murder of Charlie Kirk, another high-profile
2:03.0	case that has been compared to Mangione's.
2:08.4	And like the Kirk assassin, Mangione wrote, Deny, Depose, and Delay on the Bullets. Wow. What a wakadoodle. These are the facts.
	...

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