Federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione should he be convicted in the shocking Dec. 4, 2024 murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Midtown hotel, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.
US Attorney General Pam Bondi described the case as “a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America” and “an act of political violence.”
“Mangione’s [alleged] actions involved 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,” Bondi said in a statement.
Mangione is accused of shooting Thompson dead outside a hotel on West 52nd Street on Dec. 4, 2024. The shooting and investigation that followed captivated the city and country after police recovered evidence suggesting the crime was a premeditated attack.
Police alleged that Mangione, a Maryland resident, came to New York in late November and plotted the assassination while staying at an Upper West Side hostel. He allegedly shot Thompson with a 3D-printed gun and silencer, and shell casings later recovered at the crime scenes had the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” written on them in marker — vernacular typically used in the health insurance industry when fighting claims.
Mangione was captured by police in Altoona, PA on Dec. 9, 2024; by then, he had become a cult hero for some fed up with the healthcare industry in America. Following his extradition back to New York to face state murder charges, adoring fans converged on the Manhattan Supreme Court building for his hearings, a number of whom publicly appealed “Free Luigi.”
In reality, Mangione is accused of committing capital murder. Federal prosecutors brought such charges against him on Dec. 19, 2024, during the waning days of the Biden administration — a time in which the president had imposed a moratorium on federal executions.
After returning to the White House on Jan. 20 of this year, President Trump lifted the moratorium, once again enabling federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for convictions on eligible offenses.
