Luigi Mangione charged with murdering healthcare CEO in New York

Luigi Nicholas Mangione has been charged with the murder of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson.

The 26-year-old suspect was brought into court on preliminary charges after being arrested at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania following a tip-off from a member of staff on Monday night.

An Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland family, Mangione was found to be carrying a 3D-printed ‘ghost gun’, a silencer and a handwritten manifesto in a backpack at the time of his arrest.

The suspect was apprehended after a McDonald’s employee recognised him and tipped off police, and was found reading a book while wearing a blue medical mask by officers.

According to court documents, he ‘became quiet and started to shake’ when asked if he had been to New York in recent days.

‘We didn’t even think twice about it, we knew that was our guy,’ arresting officer Tyler Frye later told the media.

‘It feels good to get a guy like that off the street, especially starting my career this way, it feels great.’

Mangione appeared in a Pennsylvania court last night to be arraigned on five charges, and was denied bail. State prosecutors charged him with carrying a gun without a license, possessing ‘instruments of crime’, falsely identifying himself to authorities and forgery.

Hours later, he was charged with murder by New York prosecutors along with four counts including firearms charges.

Mangione appeared calm during his arraignment and told the court he did not have a history of mental health issues or drugs, The New York Times reported.

He disputed the judge’s claims that he used a case that hid his electronic signals and that he was carrying $8,000 and more in foreign currency. Magione said he was speaking with his family ‘until recently’.

He was not represented by a lawyer and asked the judge if he could reply later if he wanted to retain a private attorney or a public defender.

Following the arrest, Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro said that ‘in some dark corners, this killer is being hailed as a hero.

‘Hear me on this, he is no hero.’

He added: ‘The real hero in this story is the person who called 911 at McDonald’s this morning.’

His family also released a statement that said: ‘Unfortunately, we cannot comment on news reports regarding Luigi Mangione.

‘We only know what we have read in the media. Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest. We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved.

‘We are devastated by this news.’

Mangione is accused of brutally murdering UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson in broad daylight as he walked across the street from his hotel and into an investor conference at the Hilton Hotel on West 54th Street.

The shooter walked around the entrance to the buildingfor a few minutes before sneaking up behind Thompson and shooting him several times in the back and leg.

He then hopped on an e-bike and sped away into Central Park, with surveillance footage later revealing he walked to 86th Street and Columbus Avenue, where he took a taxi to Port Authority Bus Terminal.

Three bullet casings were found at the scene which had the words ‘deny’ ‘depose’ and ‘defend’ engraved on them – believed to be a reference to Jay Feinman’s 10 book Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claim and What You Can Do About It.

Mangione was found to be in possession of a manifesto at the time of his arrest, which mentioned UnitedHealthcare and the size of the company and its profits, and condemned healthcare companies in general for prioritizing making money over caring for patients.

The manifesto included the phrases, ‘I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done’, and, ‘These parasites had it coming’.

The suspect also had a fake New Jersey ID that matched the one that the suspected gunman used to check in at an Upper West Side 10 days before the killing, said NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

Based on the three-page document that Mangione was carrying, ‘it does seem he has some ill will toward corporate America’, said Joseph Kenny, NYPD’s chief of detectives, at a press conference on Monday.

‘We believe he was acting alone,’ he added.

The arrest happened with a ‘combination of old-school detective work and new age technology’ and ‘we should never underestimate the power of the public to be our eyes and ears’, said Tisch.

A social media profile of man named Luigi Mangione stated that he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2020 with engineering degrees.

Mangione attended the private all-boys Gilman School in Baltimore and in his 2016 valedictorian speech said his class was ‘coming up with new ideas and challenging the world around it’, The Times reported.

He thanked his parents for having him at the high school which was ‘far from a small financial investment’.

Mangione had no criminal record in New York, according to Kenny. He was born in Maryland and had ties to San Francisco and had lived in Honolulu.

A UnitedHealthcare spokesperson stated: ‘Our hope is that today’s apprehension brings some relief to Brian’s family, friends, colleagues and the many others affected by this unspeakable tragedy.

‘We thank law enforcement and will continue to work with them on this investigation. We ask that everyone respect the family’s privacy as they mourn.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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