Luigi Mangione death penalty case has enough evidence, prosecutors say

(NewsNation) — Federal prosecutors in the case against Luigi Mangione, accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last year, disputed allegations from defense attorneys that they have not provided enough evidence to support seeking the death penalty. 

In a filing last week, prosecutors responded to a motion from Mangione‘s attorneys requesting an “informational outline” detailing the “aggravating factors” that are the basis for the death penalty case. 

Mangione’s attorneys claimed in a July filing they had only received “barebones, vague allegations, lacking any information about the facts upon which the government intends to rely” with regard to the death penalty.

But prosecutors said they already provided sufficient evidence and that their “notice of intent” to seek the death penalty is the “only notice to which the defendant is entitled regarding aggravating factors.” 

The notice outlined two main aggravating factors: Mangione’s “grave risk of death to additional persons” and his “substantial planning and premeditation,” the filing states. 

“Due process and the law simply require what the Notice already sets forth,” they wrote. 

Prosecutors said Mangione’s “capacity for future dangerousness is … demonstrated by the careful steps he took to prepare for the attack and plan his escape.”

Mangione “traveled from another state under a false identity, secured lodging with a forged identification, surveilled Thompson in the days before the murder, wore a surgical mask for days on end, nearly without exception, to hide his identity, and armed himself with a homemade ghost gun,” they wrote.

“These actions show not only the deliberate planning of this murder but also the defendant’s ability to deceive, to acquire lethal weapons through unlawful means, and to evade detection,” they added. “Those same characteristics make him exceptionally dangerous in the future.”

Prosecutors said court rules do not require prosecutors “producing and disclosing to the defense an outline detailing every piece of evidence it will rely upon at trial in advance — let alone before a trial date has even been set.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi announced in April that she was directing prosecutors to seek the death penalty against Mangione, describing Thompson’s killing as “an act of political violence.”

Mangione has developed a national following since his arrest, and his legal defense fund has received $1.2 million in donations.

He has been charged with stalking, a firearms offense and murder through the use of a firearm. 

Mangione is also facing state charges in New York and Pennsylvania, including first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism, two counts of second-degree murder, weapons charges and a count of using a forged instrument. The maximum sentence for the state charges would be life without parole.