US prosecutors to seek death penalty for Luigi Mangione

Luigi Mangione is accused of fatally shooting the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City. Picture: Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP

US Attorney General Pamela Bondi directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, the man accused of shooting and killing Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group's (UNH.N) insurance division, in New York last year.

In a statement, Mangione's lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo called the decision to seek the death penalty "barbaric."