U.S. prosecutors formally told a court on Thursday that they plan to seek the death penalty for Luigi Mangione, who is accused of murdering a UnitedHealth Group executive in New York last year.

Mangione, 26, is due to appear in Manhattan federal court for an arraignment on Friday. He has pleaded not guilty to a separate New York state indictment he faces over the murder of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth's insurance division.

While public officials condemned the killing, some Americans have cheered Mangione, saying he drew attention to steep U.S. healthcare costs and the power of health insurers to refuse payment for some treatments.

In justifying their decision, prosecutors wrote in their filing that Mangione "presents a future danger because he expressed an intent to target an entire industry, and rally political and social opposition to that industry, by engaging in an act of lethal violence."

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi earlier this month announced that the Justice Department would seek the death penalty for Mangione. Thursday's court filing by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office formalizes prosecutors' intent to impose the death penalty.

Mangione's lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. They have said Bondi's April 1 announcement was "unapologetically political" and breached government protocols for death penalty decisions.

If 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.

Thompson was shot dead on December 4 outside a hotel in Midtown Manhattan, where the company was gathering for an investor conference. The brazen killing and ensuing five-day manhunt captivated Americans.

Police officers in Altoona, Pennsylvania, found Mangione with a 9-millimeter pistol and silencer, clothing that matched the apparel worn by Thompson's shooter in surveillance footage, and a notebook describing an intent to "wack" an insurance company CEO, according to a court filing.

Mangione is currently being held in federal lockup in Brooklyn.

Reuters

US prosecutors to seek death penalty against Luigi Mangione in UnitedHealth executive's murder