United States Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday that she has instructed prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione for the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, keeping with the president's campaign promise to reinstate the death penalty.
This marks the first time the Justice Department has sought to bring back the death penalty since President Donald Trump returned to office in January vowing, among other things, to resume federal executions, which were halted by the previous administration.
"The murder of Brian Thompson by Luigi Mangione – an innocent man and father of two young children – was a premeditated, cold-blooded murder that shocked America," Bondi said in a statement. She described Thompson's killing as "an act of political violence."
Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland real estate family, faces federal and state murder charges after authorities say he killed Brian Thompson, 50, outside a Manhattan hotel on Dec. 4 as the executive arrived for UnitedHealthcare's annual investor conference.
Luigi's lawyer said Tuesday that by seeking the death penalty, American justice has reached barbaric levels.
Who is Luigi Mangione?
Luigi Mangione might have been the last person society or family thought would be involved in a crime.
The son of a prominent Maryland family, who graduated at the top of his class at an elite private school before graduating from one of the world's most prestigious universities, seemed to have a life many coveted and no motive to jeopardize it, according to friends.
But everything changed when he was arrested for the murder of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare.
Mangione is suspected of being motivated by anger at what he considered a “parasitic healthcare company.” He had spent time in a surf community in Hawaii but left due to severe back pain, those who were with him said, according to international media. However, it is not yet known to what extent his health problems influenced his views on the medical industry.
After the murder, he continued his life as normal. Mangione was arrested at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania, and is suspected of having a gun, ammunition, several fake IDs and money.
He also had a written document expressing hatred for corporations and containing passages such as “honestly, these parasites deserved it,” according to police. Investigators say the words “refuse,” “protect” and “remove” were written on cartridges found at the crime scene, and are suspected to be a reference to the tactic companies use to refuse payment requests from patients.
