Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / AG Pam Bondi's Alleged Conflict of Interest Sparks Fight Over Death Penalty in Luigi Manginone Case | Crime Alert 6AM 12.22.25

Transcript

AG Pam Bondi's Alleged Conflict of Interest Sparks Fight Over Death Penalty in Luigi Manginone Case | Crime Alert 6AM 12.22.25 · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Crime Alert im s he Grace Breaking crime News now
• 0:03
  Speaker 1: straight out to Nicole Parton for.
• 0:05
  Speaker 2: The latest Nancy. Lawyers representing Luigi Mangioni are requesting the
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: death penalty be stopped in his federal murder trials, citing
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: a reported conflict of interest involving Attorney General Pambondi, as
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: detailed in a recent court submission. In a filing submitted overnight,
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: the defense team accused Pam Bondy of neglecting to reveal
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: her affiliations with the lobbying firm Ballard Partners, which regularly
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: represents United Healthcare, noting that she was personally benefiting from
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: the firm's profitable ties to UHG. Mangioni faces charges for
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: allegedly killing United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York
• 0:45
  Speaker 2: City in December twenty twenty four. He has entered a
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: not guilty plea in federal court for stalking and murdering Thompson,
• 0:54
  Speaker 2: and is contesting the government's intent to pursue capital punishment
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: should he be found guilty. The defense contended that this
• 1:02
  Speaker 2: situation creates a conflict of interest that should have prevented
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: Bondi from instructing prosecutors to seek the death penalty. Quote.
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: Upon transitioning from Ballard Partners to the role of Attorney
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: General in twenty twenty five, the first individual she chose
• 1:17
  Speaker 2: to pursue execution against was the defendant accused of murdering
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: the CEO of her previous client. The defense filing stated,
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: the attorneys argue that Pam Bondi's financial ties to UHG
• 1:29
  Speaker 2: constitute a conflict of interest, warranting her recusal from any
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: decision regarding the case. Quote. The Attorney General's financial relationship
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: with UHG raises serious concerns about mister Mangioni's due process rights,
• 1:45
  Speaker 2: as she stands to gain financially from the prosecution's outcome
• 1:49
  Speaker 2: she is advocating for, they said. The United States Attorney's
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: Office for the Southern District of New York typically refrains
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: from commenting on active cases and is anticipated to provide
• 2:00
  Speaker 2: a written reply to the defense's claims. Meanwhile, Mangioni's legal
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: team has been working to exclude certain evidence from his
• 2:08
  Speaker 2: upcoming state murder trial. The recent filing in the federal
• 2:12
  Speaker 2: case incorporated elements from the suppression hearing to argue the
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: exclusion of the evidence from the federal proceedings as well.
• 2:20
  Speaker 3: What I did not understand was how shocking it was
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: that this week on HBO in a documentary, I see
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: the chief of Detectives and the New York City Mayor,
• 2:31
  Speaker 3: full hair and makeup done, sitting down and giving an
• 2:34
  Speaker 3: interview for television and talking about the evidence in Luigi's case,
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: talking about police paperwork that we don't have, talking about
• 2:42
  Speaker 3: forensics that we have not yet received. I guess we
• 2:45
  Speaker 3: have now today, but I didn't when I was sitting
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: there learning about the case, hearing an actor play Luigi
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: reading from a journal that they say is Luigi's and
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: we have yet to receive it from the prosecution.
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: The defense claimed that the search of Mangione's backpack was
• 3:03
  Speaker 2: unlawful as he was handcuffed distance from the backpack and
• 3:06
  Speaker 2: surrounded by Altoona police officers at the time. Given the
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: circumstances where there was no feasible way for mister Mangeoni
• 3:14
  Speaker 2: to access his backpack while restrained by officers, Therefore, the
• 3:18
  Speaker 2: search conducted at the McDonald's cannot be justified as a
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: lawful search incident to arrest, The defense argued the pre
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: trial hearing for the state case wrapped up on Thursday,
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: with New York judge allowing the defense until January twenty
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: nine to submit final written arguments regarding evidence exclusion. Prosecutors
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: have until March five to respond, after which the defense
• 3:42
  Speaker 2: will have two weeks to reply. The judge expressed his
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: intention to announce his ruling on what evidence, if any,
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: will be excluded by May eighteen, at which time he
• 3:53
  Speaker 2: will also schedule the trial date.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: Nicole, thank you. More private justice needs after.
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: This doctor Helen Gray Sanchez was found by an employee
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: inside a walk in freezer at a store in Miami.
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: The thirty two year old and an esthesiologist was found
• 4:16
  Speaker 2: inside the freezer of a dollar store in Miami on
• 4:20
  Speaker 2: December four. For the first time since her death, sanchez
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: family has broken their silence, saying they need answers and
• 4:27
  Speaker 2: want to have a proper funeral and resting place for
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: their loved one. They say they're waiting for authorities to
• 4:33
  Speaker 2: tell them what could have happened. The thing that the
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: family says they have been question is why was the
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: doctor not found until a day after she walked into
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: a freezer at a local store. Despite the unusual and
• 4:47
  Speaker 2: unclear circumstances of her death. Miami police say they are
• 4:51
  Speaker 2: not suspecting foul play, but that the investigation is ongoing.
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: Surveillance footage from the scene on the evening of December
• 4:58
  Speaker 2: thirteen shows the doctor walking into the walk in freezer
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: at a Dollar Tree store in Little Havana, a neighborhood
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: near Miami, just before they closed at ten pm. It
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: was the following morning that an employee found the body
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: of a naked woman in the cooler in the stockroom
• 5:14
  Speaker 2: and immediately called nine to one one. Investigators say they
• 5:18
  Speaker 2: are still waiting for the medical examiner's report into the
• 5:21
  Speaker 2: cause of death, which is currently listed as undetermined. It
• 5:25
  Speaker 2: is possible that after being trapped inside the freezer, she
• 5:28
  Speaker 2: suffered from hypothermia, which could cause paradoxical undressing before death.
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: This is a case where the sufferer becomes so cold
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: that they begin to feel as if they overheat, and
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: so often can strip off their clothing. Both of Helen's
• 5:44
  Speaker 2: children are from Nicaragua and have flown to Miami to
• 5:48
  Speaker 2: find out what happened to their mother. We remember her
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: as a loving woman and amazing doctor, and have no
• 5:55
  Speaker 2: idea how or why she wandered into a walk in
• 5:59
  Speaker 2: freezer in the Dollar Tree. They are cooperating fully with authorities.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: The family is also saying that they're waiting for answers
• 6:08
  Speaker 2: wondering what happened to the doctor.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: Tensions high between Chantelle Hudson and her mom after they
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: moved from Bishop, California to Dayton, Nevada. Just after Chantelle
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: starts her junior year of high school, Chantelle's mom thinks
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: her teen girl has fallen in with the wrong crowd
• 6:26
  Speaker 1: at her new school. Seven thirty Monday morning, Chantelle leaves
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: home on foot after an argument. Her mom reports Chantelle
• 6:34
  Speaker 1: missing when she's marked absent from school. Searches of Chantelle's
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: route to school turn up nothing. Several reported sightings turn
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: out to be misidentifications. Chantelle's social Security number no activity,
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: and extensive driver's license searches don't provide any leads. Chantale
• 6:53
  Speaker 1: Hudson now missing thirty six years. Chantale native American, five
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: to five, brown hair, brown eyes, glasses, has a scar
• 7:03
  Speaker 1: on her left ring finger a birthmark on her lower back.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: If you have info on Chantal Hudson, call Lion County,
• 7:13
  Speaker 1: Nevada Sheriffs seven seven five five seven seven five zero
• 7:19
  Speaker 1: two three. For the latest crime injustice news, go to
• 7:21
  Speaker 1: crime Ononline dot com and please join us for our
• 7:24
  Speaker 1: daily podcast, Crime Stories, where we do our best to
• 7:27
  Speaker 1: find missing people, especially children, and help solve unsolved homicides.
• 7:32
  Speaker 1: With this crime alert, I'm Nancy Grace.