Luigi Mangione: UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson shooting suspect screams outside court
A possible motive is emerging in the assassination of a healthcare CEO in New York, as the suspect had an outburst on his way into court and his affluent background was exposed.
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The man charged with brazenly gunning down a top health insurance CEO in New York yelled and struggled with officers as he was led into court in Pennsylvania, wearing an orange jumpsuit, for a hearing on extraditing him back to New York.
Luigi Mangione, 26, is accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson on a Manhattan street last week, triggering a nationwide manhunt that ended Monday when he was recognised at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
The suspect, who attended the elite University of Pennsylvania and reportedly comes from a wealthy family, could be heard shouting “unjust” and “an insult to the intelligence of the American people” as officers bundled him out of a car and into court.
Police also revealed Mangione carried a handwritten manifesto of grievances against the industry, giving a possible motive for the first time.
The revelation of a manifesto carried by Mangione appears to back up the theory that he was angered by the complex and at times dysfunctional US healthcare system.
“I had an opportunity to read the manifesto,” the New York Police Department’s Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said on the Good Morning America TV show.
“It’s handwritten. He does make some indication that he’s frustrated with the healthcare system in the United States.”
Kenny said Mangione decried how the US health care system is among the most expensive in the world and yet the country has a lower life expectancy than other developed nations.
“He was writing a lot about his disdain for corporate American and in particular the health care industry,” said Kenny.
The New York criminal complaint alleges Mangione was found with “written admissions about the crime” but contains no further detail.
‘DEVASTATED’: MANGIONE’S FAMILY SPEAKS OUT
Mangione’s heartbroken family have revealed they are praying for the loved ones of slain UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Mangione has been charged with murder and firearms charges after allegedly gunning down Mr Thompson on a New York street last week.
He is being held in custody in Pennsylvania after his arrest at a McDonald’s on Monday which came as an employee recognised his face from the smiling CCTV images which were beamed around the world as part of the manhunt.
According to the San Francisco Standard, the family have not seen the suspect in months and Mangione’s mother Kathleen reported him missing to police on November 18.
The 26-year-old accused’s cousin Nino Mangione, who is a Republican Baltimore County Delegate, released a statement on behalf of the family on Tuesday.
“Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest,” the statement reads.
“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.”
The statement goes on to say the family “cannot comment on news reports”.
“We only know what we have read in the media,” the family said.
MANGIONE HAD A BACK CONDITION PREVENTING SEX
Mangione’s former housemate RJ Martin told The New York Times that Mangione suffered a back injury which prevented him from having sex.
“He knew that dating and being physically intimate with his back condition wasn’t possible,” Mr Martin said.
“I remember him telling me that, and my heart just breaks.”
Mr Martin said Mangione told him he had a back condition called spondylolisthesis which was made worse due to a surfing injury.
“His spine was kind of misaligned,” Mr Martin said.
“He said his lower vertebrae were almost like a half-inch off, and I think it pinched a nerve.”
Mr Martin also spoke to Hawaii News Now, telling the outlet he was taken by surprise when he discovered his old friend was the one arrested.
Mr Martin both owned and lived in Surfbreak which he describes as a “co-living” penthouse shared by a group of remote working digital nomads like Mangione who wanted to soak up the sun and surf after hours.
“It’s unimaginable,” Mr Martin said.
“I was roommates with him, friends. We hiked, went to yoga. He did his best to be athletic. It’s unfathomable, knowing the type of person I knew in him.”
Mr Martin said Mangione was well liked.
“He was a very thoughtful person. He communicated really well. He was friendly, had active relationships with everyone,” he said.
“He was in some ways even a leader. He helped spearhead a book club that we started.”
‘STRONG CASE’
New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch told Good Morning America on Tuesday they had a solid case against Mangione.
“We do have a lot of evidence in this case,” Commissioner Tisch said.
“When he was found, he was in possession of the same New Jersey fake identification that was used at the hostel,” she added referring to the accommodation on New York’s Upper West Side where the gunman was known to have stayed.
Commissioner Tisch added Mangione was found in possession of a gun that “looks very similar” to the one captured on CCTV at the time of the shooting.
“So there’s a lot of reasons that we feel very strongly that he is the person of interest,” Commissioner Tisch said.
WHO IS LUIGI MANGIONE?
Mangione, who grew up in Maryland but last used the address in Hawaii, was top of his 2016 graduating class at the Gilman School in Baltimore, where he played soccer, according to online sites.
He studied at the University of Pennsylvania, according to an interview with the Baltimore Fishbowl.
“This is deeply distressing news on top of an already awful situation,” Gilman’s headmaster Henry P.A. Smyth said in a statement. “Our hearts go out to everyone affected.”
Mangione appeared to have a significant online footprint, with accounts using his name and pictures dating back years.
One of his most active accounts was on the book review platform Goodreads, where he said he read 65 titles on topics ranging from Elon Musk to dieting.
WHAT LED TO HIS ARREST?
Police charged Mangione late Monday night in connection with the murder of Mr Thompson.
The Ivy-league educated Mangione was quizzed by Pennsylvania police after he was spotted at McDonald’s by an employee of the fast food restaurant in Altoona, about 440km west of Manhattan.
Police said he was found carrying a distinctive weapon and silencer similar to the one seen used in the brazen shooting of Mr Thompson.
Police believe the suspect spent 10 days in New York, including the day of Thanksgiving, staying at a Manhattan hostel while planning the attack, and then taking a bus out of the city.
Surveillance footage captured him fleeing toward Central Park on an e-bike immediately after the killing, where additional evidence, including the backpack, was later recovered.
Mangione was allegedly also found with the same fake ID used at a New York hostel, as well as a three-page, handwritten manifesto.
Mangione liked online quotes from “Unabomber’’ Ted Kaczynski and carried a manifesto saying “These parasites had it coming,” according to law-enforcement sources quoted by the New York Post.
HAVE POLICE FOUND A MOTIVE?
Investigators are considering the motive was to expose the US healthcare industry by targeting one of its highest paid executives.
Forensic psychiatrist Dr Carole Lieberman believes the Monopoly money found inside the backpack thrown away in Central Park, offers a disturbing insight into the mind and motive.
Ms Lieberman believes the suspect intended to toss Monopoly bills over the body of Thompson, 50, as he lay dying in the street after being shot on December 4, as a commentary on UnitedHealthcare and its business practices.
Bolstering the theory are carved words into the bullet casings such as “deny” and “delay”, referring to the rejection of patients’ health care insurance claims.
“This wasn’t just about taking a life,” Ms Lieberman said.
“This was about sending a message — a deeply twisted, deeply calculated one.”
“This was not an impulsive act,” she said.
WHAT IS KNOWN ABOUT THE MANGIONE FAMILY?
The Baltimore Banner described Mangione as coming “from a prominent Baltimore family.”
His grandfather was a self-made real estate developer who owned country clubs, nursing homes, and a radio station, while his grandmother was “a supporter of the Greater Baltimore Medical Center” and the Baltimore Opera Company.
Since 1986, the Mangione family has owned Hayfields Country Club in Hunt Valley, Maryland, located northwest of Baltimore, according to the Banner.
Mangione is also cousins with Nino Mangione, a Republican representative in the Maryland House of Delegates
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