US prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old accused of murdering United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York late last year.
It comes after the Trump Administration said it wanted to reprioritise capital punishment for serious criminals.
Deep dive on the Luigi Mangione case with The Briefing:
Mangione is set to appear before a federal court in two weeks.
US Attorney-General Pam Bondi instructed prosecutors to pursue the death penalty.
“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,” Ms Bondi said in a statement.
Bondi said prosecutors will follow “President Trump’s agenda to stop violent crime and Make America Safe Again.”
In the state case, Mangione has pleaded not guilty to murder and terrorism charges. In the federal case, he has yet to enter a plea.
Mangione’s lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo described the decision to pursue the death penalty as “barbaric”.
“While claiming to protect against murder, the federal government moves to commit the premeditated, state-sponsored murder of Luigi,” Agnifilo said.
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