Luigi Mangione latest: Fingerprints found at scene of UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting match suspect, police say
UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting suspect is fighting extradition to New York where he faces a second-degree murder charge in connection to Brian Thompson’s death
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Fingerprints gleaned from the scene of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s murder allegedly match those taken from Luigi Mangione, law enforcement officials say.
Investigators have shown a positive forensic match between the shooting suspect, whose fingerprints were taken upon his arrest at a Pennsylvania McDonald’s on Monday, and those taken from the crime scene in Midtown Manhattan a week ago, officials told CNN on Wednesday.
It comes after Mangione’s retained lawyer, Thomas Dickey, told reporters that he hasn’t “seen any evidence that he’s the shooter.” His client faced an extradition hearing Tuesday in Pennsylvania after New York prosecutors charged him with second-degree murder in connection with last week’s brazen killing in Midtown Manhattan.
“It’s completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people and their lived experience!,” Mangione yelled as he was escorted in handcuffs into the Blair County Courthouse. The 26-year-old was denied bail and will remain in a Pennsylvania jail while he fights extradition to New York.
Authorities are also investigating Mangione’s notebook that laid out his plot to “wack” Thompson at his “parasitic bean-counter convention”, according to The New York Times.
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Unabomber’s brother says he hopes Luigi Mangione wasn’t influenced by his sibling
The brother of Ted Kaczynski – aka the Unabomber – said he hopes that Luigi Mangione did not view his sibling as a role model.
Kaczynski embarked on a deadly two-decade-long bombing spree until he was captured in Montana in 1996. He rallied against technology in rambling writings and manifestos.
Mangione, who faces a murder charge in connection with Brian Thompson’s fatal shooting in Midtown Manhattan last week, reviewed Kacynski’s book, The Unabomber Manifesto in January, writing on Goodreads: “It’s simply impossible to ignore how prescient many of his predictions about modern society turned out”.
Now, David Kaczynski, the Unabomber’s brother, said he hopes his sibling’s legacy didn’t influence the shooting suspect’s alleged actions.
“His actions are like a virus,” he told NBC News.
He later added: “Many factors go into a person’s motivation that they drastically act like this, and I hope my brother wasn’t in a way a key model for him.”
In pictures: Luigi Mangione yells at reporters during extradition hearing
Health insurance execs may be on ‘hit list,’ police warn
Health care executives may be at heightened risk following Brian Thompson being gunned down in Manhattan last week, according to a police bulletin.
A NYPD bulletin was circulated on Tuesday in the wake of faux “wanted” signs of senior health insurance executives going viral online.
Other posts share their names and salaries, according to the bulletin.
Some online users shared the posts “emphasizing that it is a hitlist and that CEOs should be afraid,” per the bulletin.
Police are concerned that Luigi Mangione, who was charged with murder in New York in connection to the UnitedHealthcare CEO’s fatal shooting, could be viewed as a “martyr”, leading to copycats.
“Both prior to and after the suspected perpetrator’s identification and arrest, some online users across social media platforms reacted positively to the killing, encouraged future targeting of similar executives, and shared conspiracy theories regarding the shooting,” the bulletin said.
Mangione planned visit to UnitedHealthcare conference site, notebook reveals
Luigi Mangione allegedly wrote down his plans to visit the UnitedHealthcare investors’ conference site in Manhattan, New York City, where its chief executive Brian Thompson was gunned down last week.
A “to-do list” was apparently found inside a spiral notebook that was gleaned from the suspect along with other evidence – including a 262-page “manifesto” – at an Altoona, Pennsylvania McDonald’s on Monday.
Mangione was aware that UnitedHealthcare was holding an investors’ conference in Midtown Manhattan around the time Thompson was shot dead, according to New York Police Department Chief Detective Joe Kenny.
Kenny added that the suspect mentions in the list that he was going to the conference site.
Writing in his notebook, Mangione allegedly mused murdering the “CEO at his own bean counting conference,” a source told CNN. The source said he also considered using explosives before being dissuaded, noting it could “kill innocents”.
Watch: McDonald’s customer recalls moment he spotted Luigi Mangione
What Luigi Mangione’s social media tells us
The alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO shared content praising billionaire Elon Musk and venture capitalist Peter Thiel on social media.
Luigi Mangione, who was charged with murder in New York City on Monday night over the fatal shooting of Brian Thompson, has been portrayed as being “anticapitalist” by some and hailed a “ hero” by others for taking a radical stance against the American health insurance industry.
But the reality appears to be more complex, with the Ivy League-educated 26-year-old having supported sentiments shared by some of the world’s richest men, according to his X profile.
Earlier this year, Mangione shared a post on his X account of another user praising Musk for his “commitment to long-term civilization success.”
Rhian Lubin has the story.
Alleged CEO killer praised Elon Musk and backed Peter Thiel in social media posts
The Ivy League-educated 26-year-old appears to have supported sentiments shared by some of the world’s richest men
NYPD concerned about ‘copycat killers’
With Luigi Mangione in handcuffs and charged with murder in connection with Brian Thompson’s death, the New York Police Department’s work is far from over.
It is now investigating possible motives and working to prevent any copycat killings or attacks, a senior law enforcement official said.
“Whenever an incident of this high prominence takes place, our work is to get ahead of any resonance and in particular, any copycat activity that it may inspire,” Rebecca Weiner, the NYPD’s Deputy Commissioner of Intelligence & Counterterrorism, told ABC 7 New York.
“We do a lot of work in the online space, we also do a lot of work in the 3-D space.”
She added: “And we also, as part of that, we’ll surge resources, protective resources, around the city wherever we need to, when we’re anticipating and dealing with a big uptick in threats.”
Mangione mused bombing Manhattan in chilling ‘to-do list’
Luigi Mangione is said to have considered using a bomb in Manhattan in his alleged plot to kill the UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson, according to a so-called “to-list” reviewed by CNN.
The list was apparently found inside a spiral notebook that was gleaned along with the shooting suspect’s 262-page manifesto, a ghost gun and false ID cards upon his arrest at an Altoona, Pennsylvania McDonald’s on Monday.
Mangione, 26, reportedly decided against using the bomb as it “could kill innocents” and instead opted for a more targeted approach to allegedly murder the “CEO at his own bean counting conference,” according to a CNN.
In another passage in the notebook, Mangione wrote about the Unabomber – domestic terrorist Ted Kaczynski – who he wrote about in online posts and urged his book club in Hawaii to read his memoir.
GoFundMe eliminates fundraisers for Luigi Mangione
GoFundMe has shut down multiple pages created to support the accused murderer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
A masked man fatally shot Thompson in Midtown Manhattan on December 4 before escaping out of the city, leading to a six-day manhunt for the gunman, which ended Thursday with the arrest of 26-year-old Luigi Mangione. He has been charged with murder.
The insurance executive’s death captivated the nation and sparked serious conversations about the state of health care in the U.S., with some even celebrating the execution as many shared stories of being denied coverage for care. Since his arrest, GoFundMe pages have cropped up in support of Mangione, and the fundraising site has been removing them. It’s not immediately clear how many pages the site took down.
A GoFundMe spokesperson told The Independent in a statement: “GoFundMe’s Terms of Service prohibit fundraisers for the legal defense of violent crimes. The fundraisers have been removed from our platform and all donors have been refunded.”
Kelly Rissman reports.
GoFundMe slaps down fundraisers popping up for suspected CEO killer
‘Legal defense for he who shall not be named wink, wink,’ one now-removed page read