US attorney public Pam Bondi on Tuesday directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione, the man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a New York City motel on December 4, 2024.
Mangione, 26, is facing both federal and state crime expenses in connection with the high-profile shooting that shocked the business world and intensified criticism of the health insurance sector.
The federal indictment includes costs of death through the use of a rifle, which carries the possibility of investment sentence. The state fees, which will probably get to test first, have a maximum sentence of life in prison, reported the news agency AP.
” Luigi Mangione’s death of Brian Thompson, an honest man and father of two younger kids, was a deliberate, cold-blooded death that frightened America”, Bondi said in a statement.
” After careful consideration, I have directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in this case as we carry out President Trump’s plan to stop aggressive violence and Make America Safe Again”, the statement added.
Mangione was arrested on December 9 at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five weeks after reportedly shooting Thompson outside the New York Hilton Midtown. Prosecutors said he was found with a firearm matching the crime tool and a false ID.
A notebook in his hands reportedly contained comments expressing hostility toward health coverage executives, with one from August 2024 stating that” the goal is plan” and another from October detailing a strategy to “wack” an insurance company CEO, according to The Guardian.
Surveillance footage showed the assailant fleeing the murder scene on a bike and fading into Central Park before the hunt ended with Mangione’s imprisonment. He has pleaded not guilty to state claims and has yet to provide a petition in the national event.
Thompson, 50, was on his approach to an investment event when he was ambushed and shot. United Healthcare, the largest health employer in the US, confirmed that Mangione was not a buyer.
The event also carries social implications. US President Donald Trump, who resumed office in January, signed an executive order reinstating the provincial death sentence on his first time again.
This reversed a ban put in place by his president, Joe Biden.
Mangione’s defence team has not commented on the decision to seek money abuse. His legal bills are being supported by around$ 775, 000 raised on the GiveSendGo program, through a plan organized by a team called the December 4th Legal Committee, reported The Guardian.
