U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi has ordered federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, the man accused of shooting and killing Brian Thompson, the chief executive of insurer UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N), in New York last year.
Mangione has pleaded not guilty to New York state charges of murder as an act of terrorism and possession of a weapon. If convicted, he could face life in prison without the possibility of parole. New York does not have the death penalty on state charges.
Mangione also faces a parallel federal indictment in Manhattan federal court in connection with Thompson’s murder. If convicted, he could face the death penalty. He has not yet been called to enter a plea to the federal charge. If convicted in the federal case, a jury would decide in a separate trial whether to recommend the death penalty. Such a recommendation must be unanimous, and the judge would then be required to impose it, Reuters reported.
Thompson was shot and killed on December 4 outside a hotel in Midtown Manhattan, where the company was gathering for an investor conference.
