Prosecutors have filed a notice to seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
The filing says that “a sentence of death is justified” and that the “United States will seek the sentence of death for this offense: Murder through Use of a Firearm, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 924(j), which carries a possible sentence of death.”
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,” the filing says, noting that he “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.”
The filing comes as Attorney General Pam Bondi previously directed prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Mangione.
“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. “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.”
The Justice Department described Mangione’s action as “political violence” that required “substantial planning and premeditation and because the murder took place in public with bystanders nearby, may have posed grave risk of death to additional persons.”
Former Judge Andrew Napolitano said in December that Mangione could face the death penalty if federal prosecutors pursue charges of murder as an act of terrorism.
