Luigi Mangione withdraws plans to use psychiatric defense in state murder case

BREAKING NEWSJun. 18, 2026, 10:06 PM UTCU.S. newsU.S. newsLuigi Mangione withdraws plans to use psychiatric defense in state murder caseThe filing comes one day after a judge said that Mangione’s lawyers planned to argue that he was experiencing “extreme emotional disturbance” when a UnitedHealthcare CEO was killed. Luigi Mangione appears for a pre-trial hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, on Wednesday.Angelina Katsanis / Pool / AFP via Getty ImagesShareAdd NBC News to GoogleBy Chloe Atkins and Tim StellohAttorneys for Luigi Mangione are withdrawing his psychiatric defense in the state murder trial in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, documents filed Thursday show.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.The development comes one day after a judge said that the defense team was planning to argue that Mangione was experiencing an extreme emotional disturbance at the time of the killing.Mangione faces nine felony charges, including second-degree murder, in connection with the fatal shooting of Thompson outside an annual investor conference in Manhattan on Dec. 4, 2024.Mangione also faces federal stalking charges and has pleaded not guilty.This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.ShareAdd NBC News to GoogleChloe AtkinsChloe Atkins reports for the NBC News National Security and Law Unit, based in New York.Tim StellohTim Stelloh is a breaking news reporter for NBC News Digital.