Suspect in Insurance C.E.O.’s Murder Is Said to Face Federal Charges

The nature of the potential charges against Luigi Mangione was unclear, but they could allow federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty.

The suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive on a Manhattan sidewalk this month will now face federal charges in addition to the state murder indictment brought against him, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

It was not immediately clear what charges the suspect, Luigi Mangione, would face in the federal case, which is being brought by prosecutors with the U.S. attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York. On Tuesday, state prosecutors in the office of the Manhattan district attorney, Alvin L. Bragg, indicted Mr. Mangione, 26, on three murder charges in the shooting of the executive, Brian Thompson, two of which branded him a terrorist.

Federal charges, though, would potentially allow prosecutors to pursue the death penalty, which has been outlawed in New York for decades. It was not clear whether federal prosecutors would seek the death penalty, and any decision about capital punishment would most likely fall to the Justice Department once President-elect Donald J. Trump has taken office.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney in Manhattan declined to comment. The highest penalty Mr. Mangione would face if convicted in state court would be life in prison without parole.

“The state case will proceed in parallel with any federal case,” said Danielle Filson, a spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

“This defendant brazenly shot Mr. Thompson point blank on a Manhattan sidewalk,” Ms. Filson said. “The Manhattan D.A.’s office, working with our partners at the N.Y.P.D., is dedicated to securing justice for this heinous murder with charges of murder in the first degree.”