LAWYERS for Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in December last year, are trying to bar prosecutors from demanding the death penalty on conflict of interest grounds.

Attorney General Pam Bondi was a partner at Ballard Partners, a lobbying firm that represented UnitedHealth Group, before being appointed by President Donald Trump to head the justice department. Ms Bondi has sought to turn Mr Mangione’s federal prosecution into a capital case and publicly intimated that he ought to be executed.

Mr Mangione has won a certain cult status over the killing, to which he has pleaded not guilty, because of resentment of the way US health insurance providers profit from sickness and do their best to avoid paying out on claims, resulting in financial ruin for patients.

Over 60 per cent of bankruptcies in the United States are linked to medical issues and bullets fired in the killing were inscribed with “delay, deny, depose,” a phrase used to describe US health insurance companies’ approach to claims.

A hearing on Mr Mangione’s lawyers’ challenge is due on January 9.