Luigi Mangione to get death penalty? Indictment confirmed by federal court in murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO

A federal grand jury on Thursday (Apr 18) has indicted Luigi Mangione, who is accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. His indictment is a necessary step for prosecutors to seek the death penalty. The indictment returned by a grand jury in Manhattan federal court also charges Mangione with two counts of stalking and a firearms count. The federal indictment does not include new charges but raises the stakes for Mangione, who has pleaded not guilty to the state charges. In addition to the federal indictment, Mangione is being charged in Pennsylvania and New York, where he faces murder and terrorism charges. Mangione is currently being held in federal lockup in Brooklyn.

The indictment means that a grand jury found probable cause to charge Mangione with murder, stalking and firearms offenses. A hearing in the federal case is scheduled for Friday in Manhattan federal court.

Mangione has asked a judge to prevent federal prosecutors from seeking the death penalty. If that bid fails and Mangione is convicted in the federal case, the jury would determine in a separate phase of the trial whether to recommend the death penalty. Any such recommendation must be unanimous, and the judge would be required to impose it.

Brian Thompson, the deceased CEO of UnitedHealth's insurance division, was shot dead on December 4, allegedly by Luigi Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland real estate family, outside a hotel in Midtown Manhattan. Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson from behind. Police say the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were scrawled on the ammunition, mimicking a phrase commonly used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.

Public officials condemned the killing, but some Americans cheered for Mangione, saying he drew attention to steep US healthcare costs and the power of health insurers to refuse payment for some treatments. 

It's the first death penalty case sought by the Justice Department since President Donald Trump returned to office in January with a vow to resume federal executions after they were halted under the previous administration.