Northeast
Death penalty off the table for Luigi Mangione after judge agrees to dismiss federal murder charge
Judge rules Luigi Mangione won’t face death penalty
Fox News’ Nate Foy reports as a judge agreed to throw out the most serious charge against Luigi Mangione and denied the defense’s request to suppress some evidence. Legal editor Kerri Urbahn discusses the judge’s decisions.
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A federal judge in New York has agreed to dismiss federal murder charges against Luigi Mangione. This takes the potential death penalty off the table.
Lawyers for accused assassin Luigi Mangione had continued to bolster their legal arguments to have the most serious charges against him thrown out.
Judge Margaret Garnett conceded to some “absurdity” in her decision.
“The Court would be remiss not to note at the outset the apparent absurdity of the inquiry,” she wrote. “The Defendant is charged with selecting a stranger to be killed based on his employment; carefully planning the killing, including identifying where and when the selected victim would be most vulnerable; traveling across multiple states to carry out that killing; and then gunning the victim down on a public street in midtown Manhattan, using a handgun equipped with a silencer. No one could seriously question that this is violent criminal conduct.”
ALVIN BRAGG’S ‘UNREALISTIC’ TIMELINE IN LUIGI MANGIONE CASE SETS UP SHOWDOWN WITH TRUMP DOJ
Luigi Mangione, charged with the murder of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, appears in State Supreme Court in Manhattan alongside attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo during an evidence suppression hearing in his case on Friday, December 12, 2025. (William Farrington for New York Post via Pool)
The ruling was one of two that came shortly before the 27-year-old was due back in court Friday morning for a status conference.
A separate motion to suppress evidence alleging police violated Mangione’s constitutional rights with the search of his backpack was denied. According to investigators, the suspected murder weapon and a manifesto were in the bag.
The defendant arrived around 11:10 a.m. in a tan jail jumpsuit and without handcuffs. The hearing kicked off a few minutes later.
Prosecutors said they were not yet ready to make a decision on whether they planned to appeal the judge’s decision. Much of the rest of the hearing focused on scheduling and questions about jury selection.
Read the judge’s order:
Although oral arguments already took place, the defense aggressively argued in subsequent filings that prosecutors failed to allege an underlying “crime of violence” necessary for the top charge of murder through use of a firearm. That was the only charge Mangione faced that carried the potential death penalty.
Prosecutors countered in an opposition filing that the defense is relying on irrelevant precedent, but the judge disagreed.
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UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is pictured in an undated portrait provided by UnitedHealth. The executive was shot from behind and killed on his way to an investor conference in New York City in what prosecutors have described as a politically motivated assassination. (AP Photo/UnitedHealth Group via AP)
In order to charge Mangione with the federal charge of murder through use of a firearm, prosecutors need an underlying crime of violence. They have alleged that crime to be stalking. However, according to legal analysts, if stalking can be done without violence, even if it wasn’t in the case alleged, the charge could fall apart.
Garnett wrote that she was bound by Supreme Court precedent.
“Over the course of the last two decades or so, the Supreme Court has embarked upon a legal journey, explained herein, that now requires lower courts to engage in an analysis totally divorced from the conduct at issue and centered on the hypothetically least serious conduct that the charged crime could possibly cover,” she wrote.
Luigi Mangione attends an evidentiary hearing in the murder case of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, at the Manhattan Supreme Court in New York, U.S., December 18, 2025. (Shannon Stapleton/Pool via Reuters)
JUDGE REVEALS EARLIEST POTENTIAL START TIMES FOR LUIGI MANGIONE’S FEDERAL MURDER TRIAL
Mangione is accused of stalking UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson before shooting him in the back outside a New York City hotel on the morning of a planned business conference.
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“It’s like a series of dominos — the only way that the federal government can get to a death penalty charge in their case is if the murder was committed during the course of a violent felony,” Joshua Ritter, a Los Angeles criminal defense attorney, previously told Fox News Digital. “And the reason that they need that is because they need what’s called a federal hook to get them federal jurisdiction.”
Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two from Minnesota, had come to the Big Apple to meet with Wall Street investors.
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Suspect Luigi Mangione is taken into the Blair County Courthouse on Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, in Hollidaysburg, Pa. (Janet Klingbeil via AP)
Surveillance cameras recorded the slaying. Video shows Thompson walking down the sidewalk outside the hotel when a man approaches from behind and opens fire.
Thompson suffered multiple gunshot wounds and collapsed to the ground. The gunman fled and was later spotted making his way uptown on a bicycle. There was at least one eyewitness, who appeared to be unharmed.
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Police arrested Mangione five days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where customers and staff said they recognized him from a wanted poster released in connection with Thompson’s murder.
Luigi Mangione is confronted by Altoona, Pennsylvania police in a McDonald’s shortly before his arrest for allegedly murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (Altoona Police Department)
Police said they found the suspected murder weapon and handwritten notes that were critical of the health insurance industry and may indicate Mangione’s alleged planning and a motive.
Jury selection is scheduled for Sept. 8, with a trial expected to kick off on Oct. 13.
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Separately, Manhattan prosecutors have requested a July 1 start date for Mangione’s state trial, which his lawyers have objected to as “unrealistic.”
In a letter to New York Judge Gregory Carro Wednesday, Assistant Manhattan DA Joel Seidemann wrote that the state has an interest, protected by federal law, in taking Mangione to trial first.
“That case is none of my concern,” Judge Garnett told the parties in court Firday.
This is a breaking news story. Stick with Fox News Digital for updates.
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Maine
A remote Maine town is ready to close its 5-student school
TOPSFIELD, Maine — Jenna Stoddard is not sure where her son will spend his days when he starts preschool next fall.
Sending him to East Range II School would be convenient and continue a legacy. Stoddard lives just down the street and her husband graduated eighth grade there in 2007, one in a class of three. Topsfield’s population has dropped since then. The school now has five students, two teachers, few extracurricular activities and nobody trained to teach music, art, gym or health.
Stoddard’s son is too young for her to worry about that now. But the school may not be open by the time he is ready to go. Topsfield, a town of just 175 residents, will vote on whether to close the school on April 30. If it closes, the boy would likely be sent to preschool up to 30 minutes away in Princeton or Baileyville.
“That’s a pretty fair distance for a kid, a 4-year-old, who is now on a bus all by himself,” she said. “[If] school starts at [7:45 a.m.], what time is the bus picking 4-year-olds up here? And what time is he going to get home at?”
Topsfield is an extreme example of how an aging, shrinking population and rising property taxes are forcing Maine towns to make difficult choices about their community institutions. Just over a dozen people came to a Wednesday hearing on the idea of closing the school. The crowd was mostly in favor of it.
“It is emotional to close the school in a town,” Superintendent Amanda Belanger of the sprawling Eastern Maine Area School System said then. “But we do feel it’s in the best interest of the students in the town.”
Teacher Paula Johnson walked a reporter through the building, which is small by Maine standards but cavernous for its five students. It has four classrooms, a small library, and a gymnasium. There is also a cook and a custodian for the tiny school.
A hallway trophy case serves as a reminder of when the school was big enough to field basketball teams. Topsfield’s student population has never been large, but the school’s population has dropped dramatically over the past few years. It had 25 students in 2023, with many coming from nearby Vanceboro, which closed its own school in 2015.
As the student population dwindled, the cost of sending students to Topsfield climbed. With fewer students to defray the costs, Vanceboro officials realized they would be paying $23,000 per student by the last school year. So they opted to direct students to nearby Danforth, where tuition was only $11,000 per student.
East Range lost seven students from Vanceboro, bringing its enrollment below 10. Under Maine law, that means the district may offer students the option to go elsewhere. Parents of the remaining students in grades 5 through 8 took the option and sent their kids to Baileyville. This school began the year with eight students; three have since pulled out.
In Topsfield, Johnson teaches four of the remaining five, holding lessons for pre-K through second grade in one classroom. Another one down the short hallway is home base for the other teacher. She focuses on the school’s lone fourth grader and occasionally teaches one of Johnson’s first graders, who is learning at an advanced level.
The other teacher, who holds a special education certificate despite having no students with those needs, plans to leave at the end of the school year. If the school stays open, that will leave Johnson responsible for educating Topsfield’s youngest students, though the school will need to budget for a part-time special education teacher just in case.

After 11 years at the school, Johnson is not sure what she will do if voters shut it down.
“We’ll see what happens here,” she said.
Topsfield’s school board, which operates as a part of the Eastern Maine Area School System, is offering its residents a choice: continue funding the school only for students between preschool and second grade at an estimated cost of $434,000 next year or send all students elsewhere, which would cost less than $200,000.
At Wednesday’s hearing, the attendees leaned heavily toward the latter option. Deborah Mello said she moved from Rhode Island to Topsfield years ago to escape high taxes.
“It’s not feasible for the town of Topsfield,” she said. “We cannot afford it and it’s not like the children don’t have a school to go to.”
Others bemoaned the burden of legal requirements for the small district, including the need to provide special education teachers even if they don’t need one. Board members also mentioned that in 2028, the district will become responsible for educating 3-year-olds under a new state law. That adds another layer of uncertainty to future budgeting.

“It sounds like we’ve been burdened something severely by this program and that program by the Department of Education, to the point where a small school can’t even exist,” resident Alan Harriman said.
“And that’s been happening for a long time,” East Range board chair Peggy White responded.
Daniel O’Connor is a Report for America corps member who covers rural government as part of the partnership between the Bangor Daily News and The Maine Monitor, with additional support from BDN and Monitor readers.
New Hampshire
NH Lottery Pick 3 Day, Pick 3 Evening winning numbers for April 19, 2026
The New Hampshire Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at Sunday, April 19, 2026 results for each game:
Winning Pick 3 numbers from April 19 drawing
Day: 8-6-2
Evening: 8-8-9
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 numbers from April 19 drawing
Day: 7-6-9-2
Evening: 6-5-8-4
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the New Hampshire Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 10:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Pick 3, 4: 1:10 p.m. and 6:55 p.m. daily.
- Mega Millions: 11:00 p.m. Tuesday and Friday.
- Megabucks Plus: 7:59 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Lucky for Life: 10:38 p.m. daily.
- Gimme 5: 6:55 p.m. Monday through Friday.
- Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a New Hampshire managing editor. You can send feedback using this form.
New Jersey
NJ Lottery Pick-3, Pick-4, Cash 5, Millionaire for Life winning numbers for Sunday, April 19
The New Jersey Lottery offers multiple draw games for people looking to strike it rich.
Here’s a look at April 19, 2026, results for each game:
Pick-3
Midday: 8-7-3, Fireball: 9
Evening: 5-0-8, Fireball: 0
Check Pick-3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Pick-4
Midday: 4-7-7-9, Fireball: 9
Evening: 5-9-7-8, Fireball: 0
Check Pick-4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Jersey Cash 5
20-25-35-38-45, Xtra: 35
Check Jersey Cash 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Millionaire for Life
32-42-52-53-55, Bonus: 05
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Quick Draw
Drawings are held every four minutes. Check winning numbers here.
Cash Pop
Drawings are held every four minutes. Check winning numbers here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the New Jersey Lottery drawings held?
- Pick-3: 12:59 p.m. and 10:57 p.m. daily.
- Pick-4: 12:59 p.m. and 10:57 p.m. daily.
- Jersey Cash 5: 10:57 p.m. daily.
- Pick-6: 10:57 p.m. Monday and Thursday.
- Millionaire for Life: 11:15 p.m. daily
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a New Jersey Sr Breaking News Editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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