US prosecutors will seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, the Ivy League graduate accused of shooting dead a UnitedHealthcare CEO.
Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday morning directed prosecutors to pursue capital punishment for Mangione, 26, who has a sizable fanbase supporting his alleged anti-insurance company greed message.
‘Mangione’s murder of Brian Thompson – an innocent man and father of two young children – was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America,’ stated Bondi.
‘After careful consideration, I have directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in this case as we carry out President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again.’
One federal charge that Mangione faces, murder through use of a firearm, carries the death penalty if convicted. Federal prosecutors had been mulling whether to seek it since Mangione was accused of killing Thompson, 50, outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel on December 4.
Mangione has not entered a plea to the federal charges, but has pleaded not guilty to state charges which do not make him eligible for the death penalty if convicted. Mangione faces possible life in prison without parole for a first-degree murder charge brought by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.
President Donald Trump on the first day of his second term signed an executive order for the Justice Department to seek the death penalty for ‘crimes of a severity demanding its use’. By contrast, former President Joe Biden in 2021 placed a moratorium on executions at the federal level.
Mangione’s lawyers did not immediately comment on Bondi’s announcement.
A fundraiser for Magione’s legal defense has received more than $720,000 in donations.
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Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days after Thompson was gunned down while walking to his company’s investors’ conference at the New York Hilton Midtown.
Federal prosecutors in murder charges filed on December 14 alleged that Mangione ‘meticulously’ plotted the shooting. Authorities recovered a manifesto and notebook writings in which Mangione allegedly wrote of his intent to ‘wack’ an insurance company chief executive.
Mangione’s state case was expected to go to trial before his federal one, and it is not immediately clear if Bondi’s decision will affect that plan.
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