US prosecutors directed to seek death penalty against UnitedHealthcare murder suspect Luigi Mangione

Prosecutors in New York have been directed to seek the death penalty against Luigi Mangione.

In December, Mangione was accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as he left his Manhattan hotel.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi released the following statement on Tuesday (1 April): “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.

"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.”

Mangione has pleaded not guilty to state charges of murder as an act of terrorism.

Mangione is accused of killing Thompson as he left his hotel (Jeff Swensen/Getty Images)

New York does not carry the death penalty, so if he is found guilty, he could face life in prison without parole.

However, Mangione faces a federal indictment, in which he could face the death penalty.

Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate from Maryland, was taken into custody on 9 December following a shooting which resulted in Thompson being shot dead outside the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan.

Thompson was shot at least once in the back and once in the calf before he was taken to hospital and pronounced dead.

Mangione was caught after a McDonald's employee identified him in Pennsylvania, after which police found him with items linking him to the murder, including a gun, mask and a handwritten document.

New York City Police Department (NYPD) Commissioner, Jessica Tisch, publicly thanked the McDonald's employee who got in touch with the force after noticing a man who looked like the suspect.

Thompson was killed in December (Alex Kent/Getty Images)

"The suspect was in a McDonald's and was recognised by an employee who then called local police," she said.

"Responding officers questioned the suspect, who was acting suspiciously and was carrying multiple fraudulent IDs, as well as a US passport."

A 262-page handwritten document was found on Mangione at the time of his arrest.

"To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone," the suspect reportedly wrote, according to a senior law enforcement official who reportedly saw the document.

He allegedly added companies that 'continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allowed them to get away with it'.

He also reportedly wrote that 'these parasites had it coming' and 'I do apologise for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done'.

Alongside the murder charge, Mangione has also been charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police.