U.S. Lawyer Common Pam Bondi stated Tuesday she has directed federal prosecutors to hunt the demise penalty towards Luigi Mangione, the person accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outdoors a New York Metropolis lodge on Dec. 4 final 12 months.
Mangione, 26, faces separate federal and state homicide expenses for the killing, which rattled the enterprise group whereas additionally galvanizing medical health insurance critics. The federal expenses embody homicide by way of use of a firearm, which carries the potential for the demise penalty. The state expenses carry a most punishment of life in jail.
Prosecutors have stated the 2 instances will proceed on parallel tracks, with the state expenses anticipated to go to trial first. It wasn’t instantly clear if Bondi’s demise penalty announcement will change the order of how the instances are tried.
“Luigi Mangione’s homicide of Brian Thompson — an harmless man and father of two younger kids — was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America,” Bondi stated in an announcement.
“After cautious consideration, I’ve directed federal prosecutors to hunt the demise penalty on this case as we stock out President Trump’s agenda to cease violent crime and Make America Protected Once more.”
A message looking for remark was left for a spokesperson for Mangione’s legal professionals.
Mangione has pleaded not responsible
Mangione has pleaded not responsible to a state indictment and has not entered a plea to the federal expenses.
U.S. President Donald Trump, who oversaw an unprecedented run of executions on the finish of his first time period, signed an government order on his first day again in workplace on Jan. 20 that compels the Justice Division to hunt the demise penalty in federal instances the place relevant.
His predecessor, Joe Biden, had issued a moratorium on federal executions.
Luigi Mangione, the person accused of fatally taking pictures UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, pleaded not responsible on Monday to state homicide and terror expenses.
Thompson, 50, was ambushed and shot on a sidewalk as he walked to an investor convention at a lodge in midtown Manhattan.
Mangione was arrested 5 days later on Dec. 9 whereas consuming breakfast at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa.
Police stated he was carrying a gun that matched the one used within the taking pictures and a pretend ID. He additionally was carrying a pocket book expressing hostility towards the medical health insurance trade and particularly rich executives, authorities stated.
UnitedHealthcare is the biggest well being insurer within the U.S., although the corporate stated Mangione was by no means a consumer.
Among the many entries within the pocket book, prosecutors stated, was one from August 2024 that stated “the goal is insurance coverage” as a result of “it checks each field” and one from October that describes an intent to “wack” an insurance coverage firm CEO.
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