Federal prosecutors to seek death penalty for Luigi Mangione in UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing

NEW YORK (AP) — United States Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday that she has directed prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione, the man accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, following through on the president’s campaign promise to vigorously pursue capital punishment.

It is the first time the Justice Department has sought to bring the death penalty since President Donald Trump returned to office in January with a vow to resume federal executions. Bondi’s decision to do so in the high-profile case against Mangione, who has drawn a following of supporters upset with the health care industry, underscores the attorney general’s commitment to carrying out the president’s push for new death penalty cases.

Trump oversaw an unprecedented run of executions at the end of his first term and has been an outspoken proponent of expanding capital punishment. Bondi’s order comes weeks after she lifted a moratorium on the federal death penalty that that had been imposed under former President Joe Biden’s administration.

“Luigi Mangione’s murder of Brian Thompson — an innocent man and father of two young children — was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America,” Bondi said in a statement that described Thompson’s killing as “an act of political violence.”

Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate, is accused of gunning down Thompson in December outside a Manhattan hotel where UnitedHealthcare was about to hold an investor conference. Thompson, who was 50 and had two children in high school, worked for decades within UnitedHealthcare and its parent company.

Mangione, faces separate federal and state murder charges for the killing, which rattled the business community while galvanizing health insurance critics.

The federal charges include murder through use of a firearm, which carries the possibility of the death penalty. The state charges carry a maximum punishment of life in prison. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to a state indictment and has not entered a plea to the federal charges.

Prosecutors have said the two cases will proceed on parallel tracks, with the state case expected to go to trial first. It wasn’t immediately clear if Bondi’s announcement will change the order.

A message seeking comment was left for a spokesperson for Mangione’s lawyers.

Thompson’s killing alarmed the corporate world, where some health insurers hastily switched to remote work or online shareholder meetings. The case also channelled some Americans’ frustrations with health insurance companies. Mangione’s writings and words on bullets recovered from the scene reflected animus toward health insurers and corporate America, authorities have said.

Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson from behind. Police say the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were scrawled on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase commonly used to describe insurer tactics to avoid paying claims.

Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometres) west of New York City, after a five-day manhunt.

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