Luigi Mangione prosecutors directed to seek death penalty in federal CEO murder case

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Jury selection will be ‘monumental’ in the Luigi Mangione case, attorney says

Criminal defense attorney Brian Claypool gives his take on the Luigi Mangione case and his supporters rallying outside of a New York courthouse on ‘The Story.’

Attorney General Pam Bondi has ordered federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in the case against Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Bondi said on Tuesday that Thompson’s murder was “a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America.”

“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 said.

Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky will seek the death penalty in the case.

LUIGI MANGIONE’S JOURNAL NOT ‘MANIFESTO’ ABOUT HEALTHCARE INDUSTRY GRIEVANCES, ATTORNEY ARGUES 

Luigi Mangione appears in Manhattan Criminal Court for a status hearing in New York City on Friday, Feb. 21, 2025. Magnione is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside of a Manhattan hotel last year. (Curtis Means/Pool)

Mangione, a 2020 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, is accused of shooting Thompson to death outside a Manhattan hotel on Dec. 4, 2024. 

He faces numerous state and federal charges, including murder in the first degree “in furtherance of an act of terrorism.” He has pleaded not guilty to state charges but has not yet entered a plea for federal charges.

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was killed in New York City on Dec. 4, 2024. (AP Photo/UnitedHealth Group)

Thompson, a 50-year-old husband and father of two from Minnesota, was at the New York City hotel for an investor conference when he was gunned down from behind on the sidewalk.

Thompson joined UnitedHealth Group in 2004 and held a variety of leadership roles over the course of his career. He served as the chief financial officer for several of the company’s businesses, including its employer and individual, community and state, and Medicare and retirement divisions.

WATCH ‘DENY, DEFEND, DELAY: THE MURDER OF A CEO’ ON FOX NATION 

Thompson also served as the financial controller for UnitedHealthcare’s employer and individual business and as a director in corporate development.

U.S. President Donald Trump and U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi shake hands during his visit to the Department of Justice to address its workers, in Washington, D.C., March 14, 2025. (REUTERS/Nathan Howard)

Justice Department records show the federal government has executed 16 people since 2001, beginning with the deaths of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh and, eight days later, American drug trafficker Juan Raul Garza, who had two men killed and executed a third himself.

Notably, 13 of those executions came during President Trump’s first term in office.

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There are currently 40 federal inmates on death row, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, and the list includes surviving Boston Marathon bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev as well as Dylann Roof, who massacred nine parishioners in a South Carolina church.

Fox News Digital reached out to Mangione’s attorneys.

Fox News’ Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.

Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a U.S. Writer at Fox News Digital.

Sarah joined FOX in 2021, where she has assisted on coverage of breaking and major news events across the US and around the world, including the fallout following the “Defund the police” movement, the assassination attempts on President Donald Trump’s life and illegal immigration.

She has experience reporting on topics including crime, politics, business, lifestyle, world news and more. You can follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn.