Luigi Mangione latest: Public ‘defence fund’ passes $50,000 as top New York attorney retained for legal case
Karen Friedman Agnifilo to represent suspect as he faces second-degree murder charge while donations pour into GiveSendGo fundraiser and GoFundMe reportedly takes down another
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Supporters of Luigi Mangione are donating tens of thousands of dollars for “defence funds” that have been established for him as the suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has retained a top New York attorney for his legal case.
Amid fears the shooting suspect is being turned into a martyr, several fundraisers have been set up for him online, with one created by anonymous group ‘The December 4th Legal Committee’ surpassing more than $90,000 in donations on the crowdfunding website GiveSendGo by Saturday.
The group’s name is an apparent reference to the day the 26-year-old allegedly gunned down Mr Thompson in Midtown Manhattan.
Other campaigns soliciting donations for Mangione’s defence have been taken down by sites, such as GoFundMe, reported, abc.
It comes as Mangione retained high-powered lawyer Karen Friedman Agnifilo to represent him as he faces a second-degree murder charge, CNN reported.
Ms Agnifilo, who has worked in private practice since 2021, has extensive experience in New York City’s criminal justice system, having formerly spent seven years as the chief assistant district attorney in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
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United Healthcare officials say suspect was never a client
Officials with United Healthcare say the man suspected of killing the company’s CEO was never a client.
According to NBC News, there is no record of Luigi Mangione ever being a client with the agency.
Many people have speculated that a motive in the case could have been tied to claims made through the company. But, the suspect does not appear to have a direct tie to the provider.
UnitedHealthcare didn’t insure Luigi Mangione
UnitedHealth Group, the parent company to UntiedHealthcare, said that Luigi Mangione was not a client of the health insurance company.
There is no record that the 26-year-old shooting suspect was ever insured by the company, UnitedHealth Group told NBC News.
Police also confirmed that there is “no indication” that Mangione was registered with UnitedHealthcare, whose CEO was murdered on December 4 in Midtown Manhattan.
“We have no indication that he was ever a client of United Healthcare, but he does make mention that it is the fifth-largest corporation in America, which would make it the largest health care organization in America,” Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told NBC New York.
Luigi Mangione’s motive in doubt
Luigi Mangione’s potential motives in connection to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson remain unclear, police say.
There is “no indication” that the shooting suspect, who is believed to have undergone back surgery last year, was ever a client of UnitedHealthcare, according to the NYPD’s Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
He said that the findings don’t appear to indicate that Mangione had a grudge against Thompson, who was gunned down in Midtown Manhattan on December 4, but targeted the company for its size and because he had prior knowledge of a conference taking place.
“We have no indication that he ever was a client of UnitedHealthcare, but he does make mention that it is the fifth largest corporation in America, which would make it the largest healthcare organization in America,” he told NBC New York.
California police had identified Mangione four days before arrest
San Francisco police identified Luigi Mangione and alerted the FBI four days prior to his arrest, according to a report.
An officer in the department’s Special Victims Unit is said to have tipped off the bureau after recognizing the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s shooting suspect on from images circulated by the NYPD last week, sources told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Mangione’s face was known to police in San Francisco after his mother, Kathleen Mangione, had reported him missing on November 18, the sources said.
Authorities initially said that the 26-year-old suspect wasn’t on their radar upon his arrest at an Altoona, Pennsylvania, McDonald’s on Monday.
Mangione not under suicide watch
The suspect in the shooting is being held in his own cell under maximum security at Huntingdon Correctional Facility in Pennsylvania.
Luigi Mangione is not under suicide watch or in solitary confinement, according to CBS News. However, he does not get to interact with other inmates.
Mangione has not been violent while in jail, according to officials.
He is being held in a Pennsylvania jail pending his extradition to New York to face murder charges in connection to the killing of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
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No tips from Mangione’s family, cops say
NYPD officials said Luigi Mangione’s family did not send in any tips. That comes as their relative’s pictures were splashed all over news channels in the hours after the shooting.
Police said they received more than 200 tips as the manhunt for Mangione unfolded, but none came from family with the same name, according to USA Today.
It wwasn’tuntil the suspect was spotted in Pennsylvania that police swooped in to make an arrest in the case, nearly a week after the killing.
NY bail bondsman discusses Luigi Mangione arrest
Michael Moore responds to Luigi Mangione’s cryptic message
The acclaimed American documentary filmmaker Michael Moore has responded to a cryptic message left by Luigi Mangione, the alleged assassin of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO.
Mangione faces a second-degree murder charge for the fatal shooting of Brian Thompson, 50, outside a Manhattan hotel on 4 December.
At the crime scene, Mangione reportedly left behind bullet casings engraved with the words “deny,” “depose,” and “defend.” The inscriptions appear to reference the 2010 book Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It, which has surged in popularity on Amazon’s insurance law bestseller list since the incident.
When arrested in Pennsylvania on Monday, Mangione was found in possession of a 262-page manifesto outlining his intentions and referencing notorious figures such as Unabomber Ted Kaczynski.
In the document, Mangione also briefly mentioned Michael Moore and former New York Times reporter Elisabeth Rosenthal, citing them as individuals who have “illuminated the corruption and greed” of the healthcare industry.
Here’s the full story.
Michael Moore responds to Luigi Mangione’s cryptic message
Moore made a 2007 documentary called ‘Sicko’ which examined the US health system