Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday said she has ordered federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione, the man accused in the December killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a midtown Manhattan hotel.
In a statement, Bondi said she has instructed Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky to seek the death penalty in the case.
“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. “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.”
Attorney General Pamela Bondi Directs Prosecutors to Seek Death Penalty for Luigi Mangione
— U.S. Department of Justice (@TheJusticeDept) April 1, 2025
🔗: https://t.co/4h453EbjJu pic.twitter.com/EdQQto8ezD
Mangione, 26, faces separate federal and state murder charges for Thompson’s killing, which occurred on Dec. 4. The federal charges include a charge of murder through use of a firearm, which carries the possibility of the death penalty. The federal murder charges were handed down on Dec. 19.
He also faces state criminal charges in Manhattan Supreme Court, which is a trial-level court.
A message by The Associated Press seeking comment was left for a spokesperson for Mangione’s lawyers
The death penalty for state crimes in New York was abolished in 2007. The maximum punishment on the state charges is life in prison. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to a state indictment; he has not entered a plea to the federal charges.
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