Prosecutors File Notice to Seek Death Penalty for Luigi Mangione

Attorney General Pam Bondi previously directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Mangione.

Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, appears in Manhattan Supreme Court on New York state murder and terrorism charges on Feb. 21, 2025. Curtis Means/Reuters

Prosecutors on Thursday formally filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, the man accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York in December 2024.

The filing, submitted by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office for the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York, alleged that Mangione “presents a future danger because he expressed intent to target an entire industry, and rally political and social opposition to that industry, by engaging in an act of lethal violence.”

It alleged that Mangione “took steps to evade law enforcement, flee New York City immediately after the murder, and cross state lines while armed with a privately manufactured firearm and silencer.”

Prosecutors filed the notice just one day before Mangione, 26, is scheduled to appear in Manhattan federal court for an arraignment.

Mangione is facing both federal and state charges over the Dec. 4 death of Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two who was killed as he walked outside a hotel in Midtown Manhattan, where UnitedHealthcare was gathering for an investor conference. UnitedHealthcare is the insurance division of UnitedHealth Group.

Mangione, a prep school and Ivy League graduate, has pleaded not guilty to murder, terrorism, and other charges brought by the state prosecutors in New York.

He is to enter a plea for charges of murder and stalking in the federal case against him. If convicted in that case, the jury would determine in a separate phase of the trial whether or not to recommend the death penalty.

Any such recommendation would need to be unanimous, and the judge would be required to impose it.

Attorney General Pam Bondi directed federal prosecutors to seek capital punishment for Mangione on April 1.

In an April 1 statement, Bondi said the death of Thompson, who headed the biggest health insurer in the United States, was a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”

“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,” she said.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order in January directing the attorney general to help states obtain drugs to carry out executions and seek the death penalty in specific cases, such as when the crime is severe or involves the murder of law enforcement officers.

Mangione’s lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.

His attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, previously described seeking the death penalty for Mangione as “barbaric.”

“While claiming to protect against murder, the federal government moves to commit the pre-meditated, state-sponsored murder of Luigi,” Friedman Agnifilo said.

Mangione is currently being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center, a federal jail in Brooklyn.

The Department of Justice (DOJ) alleged last year that Mangione meticulously planned Thompson’s murder over several months “in an effort to initiate a public discussion about the healthcare industry.”

The killing sparked a nearly week-long manhunt that ended with Mangione’s arrest at a fast-food restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania. According to the DOJ, Mangione was found with, among other things, a 9 mm pistol and a sound suppressor consistent with the weapon used to kill Thompson, as well as multiple fake IDs.

Reuters contributed to this report.