Regarding the possibility of the death penalty if convicted of First Degree Murder, special circumstances would be the Federal law, Violence Against Women Act.
Under the Federal Death Penalty, since 1927, a total of 37 people put to death. Of the 37, 3 of the cases were occurred in Alaska, one prisoner was Indian (Native American/Alaska Native for killing his mother in-law. 2 of the cases both prisoners were Black and convicted of murdering a merchant. All 3 were hung. Since 1999, all federal executions have taken place at the federal prison at Terre Haute, Indiana. 
According to the Death Penalty Information Center, "the defendants in the cases chosen to be prosecuted under the death penalty, have had a racial bias. 
3/4 of the defendants who committed Death Penalty crimes were white, but 78% of those prosecuted under the death penalty were black and 11% were white. 
The federal prosecutor must obtain,in personal writing, permission, from the AGUS before seeking the death penalty.