Prosecutors seeking death penalty for suspected CEO killer

US prosecutors have asked for the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, a man charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. 

“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,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement on Tuesday. 

“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,” she added.

According to the prosecution, Mangione stalked Thompson and eventually shot him on a Manhattan street on December 4, 2024. “The murder was an act of political violence,” Bondi said. 

Police arrested Mangione in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on December 9, after an intense manhunt. 

Mangione reportedly wrote a short manifesto expressing his frustration with the US healthcare system. “Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming … They continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allowed them to get away with it,” he wrote, according to journalist Ken Klippenstein.

In January, President Donald Trump directed the Department of Justice to pursue the death penalty “for all crimes of a severity demanding its use.”

“Capital punishment is an essential tool for deterring and punishing those who would commit the most heinous crimes and acts of lethal violence against American citizens,” the president wrote in his executive order.