Mangione to be considered for death penalty if convicted in CEO killing, prosecutors confirm

Thomson Reuters

· Posted: Apr 25, 2025 9:37 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

U.S. prosecutors formally told a tribunal connected Thursday that they program to question the decease punishment for Luigi Mangione, who is accused of sidesplitting a UnitedHealth Group enforcement successful New York past year.

Mangione, 26, is owed to look successful Manhattan national tribunal for an arraignment connected Friday afternoon. He has pleaded not blameworthy to a abstracted New York authorities indictment helium faces implicit the sidesplitting of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth's security division. 

In justifying their decision, prosecutors wrote successful their filing that Mangione "presents a aboriginal information due to the fact that helium expressed an intent to people an full industry, and rally governmental and societal absorption to that industry, by engaging successful an enactment of lethal violence." 

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this period announced that the Justice Department would question the decease punishment for Mangione. The tribunal filing connected Thursday by the Manhattan U.S. attorney's bureau formalizes prosecutors' intent to enforce the decease penalty.

Mangione's lawyers person said Bondi's April 1 announcement was "unapologetically political" and breached authorities protocols for decease punishment decisions.

If Mangione is convicted successful the national case, the assemblage would find successful a abstracted signifier of the proceedings whether to urge the decease penalty. Any specified proposal indispensable beryllium unanimous, and the justice would beryllium required to enforce it. 

WATCH l UnitedHealth enforcement understands vexation astatine 'patchwork' security system: 

Thompson was changeable dormant connected Dec. 4 extracurricular a edifice successful midtown Manhattan, wherever the institution was gathering for an capitalist conference. The brazen sidesplitting and ensuing five-day manhunt captivated Americans.

Police officers successful Altoona, Pa., recovered Mangione with a 9-mm pistol and silencer, covering that matched the apparel worn by Thompson's shooter successful surveillance footage and a notebook describing an intent to "wack" an security institution CEO, according to a tribunal filing.

Some Americans person cheered Mangione, who was not known to beryllium a UnitedHealth lawsuit oregon client, saying helium drew attraction to steep U.S. health-care costs and the powerfulness of wellness insurers to garbage outgo for immoderate treatments. 

Mangione is  being held successful national lockup successful Brooklyn.

WATCH | People flock to New York courthouse wherever Mangione is appearing: 

The determination to question the decease punishment revives a signifier seen successful the archetypal Donald Trump administration, erstwhile 13 executions were carried retired betwixt July 2020 and January 2021.

Prior to that, there'd been 17-year intermission successful executions of national inmates, with nary carried retired during the presidency of Barack Obama or during the 2nd word of George W. Bush.

Attorney General Merrick Garland successful Joe Biden's medication instituted a moratorium connected national executions successful 2021 pending a reappraisal of procedures, though 2 decease punishment cases with origins that predated the Biden presidency continued — 1 involving an antisemitic gunman who murdered 11 radical astatine a Pittsburgh synagogue successful 2018 and different for the accused successful a Buffalo supermarket wide shooting.

The Justice Department nether Garland declined to prosecute the decease punishment successful different wide killings, including the gunman motivated by a hatred of immigrants who killed 23 radical astatine a Walmart successful El Paso, Texas, successful 2019. That gunman, Patrick Crusius, was sentenced this week to beingness successful prison.