Suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO's killing fights extradition to New York: Updates
Editor's note: This page is a summary of news on the arrest of Luigi Mangione in connection with the death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson for Tuesday, Dec. 10. For developments on the CEO's death investigation, visit USA TODAY's article on the case for Wednesday, Dec. 11.
The suspect charged with murder in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson will fight extradition to New York as new details about the possible motive were coming to light.
Through attorney Thomas Dickey, Luigi Mangione, 26, indicated he would contest extradition during a hearing Tuesday at the Blair County Courthouse in Pennsylvania. Mangione was denied bail, which the judge said he could contest as well within 14 days.
The Manhattan District Attorney's office confirmed to USA TODAY that it would seek a governor’s warrant for Mangione's extradition, and Dickey made it clear Mangione would oppose it.
"We're going to fight this along the rules and with the constitutional protections that my client has,'' Dickey told reporters, adding that Mangione planned to plead not guilty to the charges.
Handcuffed and wearing an orange jumpsuit, Mangione arrived at the courthouse in a police vehicle and yelled out a statement that appeared to include the phrase "completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people'' as sheriff's deputies led him away.
An arrest warrant filed Tuesday in New York City said Mangione faces charges of second-degree murder, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon in the second-degree, criminal possession of a forged instrument, and criminal possession of a weapon in the third-degree.
The Ivy League graduate from a well-to-do family was arrested Monday in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after a customer at a McDonald's spotted him and alerted the restaurant. Police searched Mangione and found a fake New Jersey driver's license and a "semi-automatic pistol" with a silencer, both made by a 3D printer, as well as "written admissions about the crime," according to the warrant.
At a news conference on Monday, authorities said three hand-written pages found on Mangione revealed a possible motive for the shooting. While police officials did not provide details about the writings, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said they revealed "ill will toward corporate America."
Mangione's arrest brought to a close an exhaustive search for the masked gunman who on Wednesday shot and killed Thompson, a 50-year-old father of two, outside a Hilton hotel in midtown Manhattan where the executive was set to attend an investor's conference.
Many people made public statements in support of Thompson, his family, and the capture of his killer, but others on social media celebrated the demise of a powerful figure in an industry often criticized for its denials of healthcare coverage.
In a news conference Monday night, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said, “In America, we do not kill people in cold blood to resolve policy differences or express a viewpoint."
Police report: Shooter planned attack as 'symbolic takedown'
An internal intelligence report from the New York Police Department said the alleged gunman saw himself as a martyr against "corporate greed" and the insurance industry, multiple news outlets reported, including The New York Times and CNN.
“He appeared to view the targeted killing of the company’s highest-ranking representative as a symbolic takedown and a direct challenge to its alleged corruption and ‘power games,’ asserting in his note he is the ‘first to face it with such brutal honesty,’” the report said, according to multiple outlets.
The New York Police Department has not responded to USA TODAY's request for the intelligence report.
The report is said to detail parts of the three pages of writing police discovered when they searched Mangione after finding him at a McDonald's in Altoona on Monday.
White House condemns violence targeting 'corporate greed'
The White House on Tuesday condemned violence targeting "corporate greed" following the arrest of Mangione, and later offered condolences to the Thomson family and his loved ones
"We condemn violence in the strongest term," White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a news briefing. "Violence to combat any sort of corporate greed is unacceptable."
Some on social media have glorified Mangione's alleged actions as a statement against a health care industry they say is corrupt for denying coverage to Americans who can't afford it.
Jean-Pierre said the Biden administration is grateful to law enforcement for apprehending the subject.
"We stand ready to provide further support, if needed," she said, declining to comment further on the pending case.
— Joey Garrison
Photos show suspect at McDonald's
The Pennsylvania State Police on Tuesday released surveillance images showing the alleged gunman at the McDonald’s in Altoona where he was arrested Monday morning. The photos show the suspect wearing a brown beanie, a dark-hooded jacket, and a medical mask. In one image, he appears to be eating a hash brown. There's also a photo of Mangione in a holding cell.
Officials said a customer at the McDonald’s recognized Mangione and notified an employee, who then called local police. Investigators were still working to piece together Mangione’s recent movements.
“Law enforcement continues to seek the public’s help in gathering information on Luigi Mangione’s travel and recent whereabouts in Pennsylvania,” state police wrote in a post on the X platform that included the new surveillance photos. “We ask anyone with information to call 1-800-4PA-TIPS or submit a tip online.”
Friends remember Mangione as 'thoughtful'
Mangione's friends from his time in Hawaii in recent years were stunned and saddened when they learned the engaging, caring young man they knew was suspected of cold-blooded murder, according to the Honolulu Civil Beat, a nonprofit news organization that covers the state.
“He was just such a thoughtful and deeply compassionate person at everything he did,” said Jackie Wexler, who went to college at Penn with Mangione and became friends with him at the Surfbreak co-living community in Honolulu where Mangione spent the first six months of 2022, Civil Beat reported.
Surfbreak founder R.J. Martin said Mangione helped organize a book club in the community and went rock climbing with him despite persistent back pain from a misaligned vertebra.
Friends indicated that chronic pain limited the daily life of someone who was otherwise a very active person. Mangione's profile on X shows a background image of an X-ray with what appears to be screws and plates inserted in a lower back.
Martin said Mangione stayed in touch after moving away and even shared photos taken after his back surgery. Consistent with reported comments from others who know Mangione, Martin said his friend cut off contact in the summer. “He went radio silent in June or July,” Martin said.
An employee at TrueCar told Reuters that Mangione worked at the car-buying website as a data engineer from 2022 to late 2023. In mid-2023, Mangione took about two months off for what the employee's manager described as back-related issues.
The employee, who asked not to be named, described Mangione as "incredibly smart" and very friendly to his co-workers. He said that the company offered employees health insurance through UnitedHealth, as well as other choices, such as Aetna.
Merchandise raises controversy, claims of glorifying violence
From T-shirts and hoodies to coffee mugs and shot glasses, merchandise referring to the suspected gunman in the killing of a UnitedHealthcare executive on a Manhattan sidewalk is popping up on the internet.
Online sellers, looking to cash in on the sympathies that some have expressed for Mangione, have drawn criticism. Online marketplaces generally prohibit the sale of items that glorify violence, but that prohibition does not extend to all Mangione-related merchandise.
Amazon told USA TODAY it has pulled merchandise using the phrase for violating company guidelines. A search now only yields links to the 2010 book “Delay, Defend, Deny: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It.”
Etsy, an online platform where the "Deny, Defend, Depose" ornament is listed for sale, did not respond to a request for comment.
— Jessica Guynn
Police on alert for copycat attacks on executives
Law enforcement agencies in different parts of the country are on heightened alert that the Thompson killing in New York City has spawned threats or calls to action against corporate executives and their families.
In Colorado, a law enforcement bulletin warned authorities that the attack may be used as "messaging and propaganda" to share ways to target other health care companies, WLS-TV reported. It urged companies to review their security measures to safeguard their executives.
In Chicago on Monday, a sign that said “Deny Defend Depose” was hung on a bridge spanning the city’s iconic DuSable Lake Shore Drive. Those were the words written on bullet casings found at the scene of Thompson's shooting, authorities said.
Chicago police launched an investigation after someone sprayed "Kill your CEO" on the walls of multiple North Side businesses over the weekend, local stations reported.
? Medora Lee
Why Mangione is charged with second-degree murder
What is the difference between first and second-degree murder in New York?
Under New York state law, second-degree murder is a charge of intentional murder, said Anna G. Cominsky, a professor at the New York Law School and director of its criminal defense clinic. “Murder in the first degree is intentional murder with a special circumstance,” Cominsky said.
For example, a person can be charged with first-degree murder if suspected of intentionally causing the death of a person among a special category that includes law enforcement officers and first responders, a witness to a crime to prevent that person from testifying, and a person killed during one of a group of crimes that includes robbery and sexual charges.
“They’re both class A-1 felonies,” Cominsky said. “Both carry the possibility of a life sentence.”
New York has no death penalty, so life in prison is the maximum penalty, Cominsky said. While it is possible Mangione could be charged with federal crimes, she said it's unlikely, given the New York County District Attorney's office has jurisdiction in the case.
? Dinah Voyles Pulver
UnitedHealthcare CEO killing: Who gets the $60,000 reward and what would need to happen
Man who spotted suspect at McDonald's: 'I just can’t believe it'
A man who saw Mangione in the Altoona McDonald's said he thought it was a joke when his friend said "Don’t that look like the shooter from New York?"
Larry, who declined to provide his last name, told multiple news outlets outside the restaurant on Tuesday that he was shocked to find out the man was the suspect police had been trying to locate. “It’s unbelievable,” Larry said, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “I just can’t believe it.”
A frequent patron of that particular McDonald's, Larry said he saw Mangione order food and sit in the back of the restaurant. He did not interact with Mangione and left to go to church. He said he came back when he heard an arrest was made.
"The group of us thought it was more of a joke and we were kidding about it," he said. "But then as it turned out, it was him."
Suspect rejects some allegations in first court appearance
Mangione did not enter a plea when he appeared in a Pennsylvania court Monday evening. He did reject several claims made by Pennsylvania prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Mangione was found with several thousands of dollars in cash, a portion of it in foreign currency, CNN and The Associated Press reported. The suspected gunman disputed the amount and suggested it may have been planted, according to CNN and Fox News.com.
Mangione also denied knowing about sophisticated criminal tactics, CNN reported, particularly the use of a Faraday bag, which blocks electronic devices from electromagnetic signals.
Who is Luigi Mangione?
Mangione was the 2016 class valedictorian at the Gilman School, a prestigious private school in Baltimore where tuition can run nearly $40,000 annually. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2020 with a combined master's and bachelor's degree in computer engineering and spent a summer at Stanford University working on a pre-collegiate program.
Mangione is from a well-known Baltimore family. His late grandfather, Nicholas Mangione Sr., developed real estate and owned country clubs, nursing homes, and a radio station, according to the Baltimore Banner.
His late grandmother was a philanthropist who served as a trustee for the Baltimore Opera Company, on a county tourism board, and with groups such as the American Citizens for Italian Matters, according to an obituary from Loyola University, where her husband had been a trustee.
The family released a statement through Nino Mangione, a Maryland state delegate and a cousin of the alleged gunman.
"We only know what we have read in the media," the statement read. "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."
Who is Luigi Mangione: Path from valedictorian, engineer, Ivy League grad to murder suspect
Alleged gunman wrote glowing review for Unabomber's manifesto?
Scouring Mangione's social media, the scion of a prominent Sicilian-American family seemed to live a charmed life. Posts show him proudly surrounded by his Phi Kappa Psi fraternity brothers at the University of Pennsylvania and hanging out at Instagram-favorite sites in Mexico and Puerto Rico.
There were, however, glimpses of darker interests.
In a Feb. 2 review of the Unabomber manifesto, someone who appears to be Mangione wrote a glowing appraisal of the essay by Ted Kaczynski, a math prodigy who killed three people and injured nearly two dozen with bombs he mailed and delivered.
“It’s easy to quickly and thoughtless [sic] write this off as the manifesto of a lunatic, in order to avoid facing some of the uncomfortable problems it identifies,” Mangione wrote in his online review. “He was a violent individual ? rightfully imprisoned ? who maimed innocent people. While these actions tend to be characterized as those of a crazy luddite, however, they are more accurately seen as those of an extreme political revolutionary.”
4 Stars for the Unabomber 'Person of interest' in CEO slaying reviewed killer's manifesto
Contributing: John Bacon, Michael Loria, Jonathan Limehouse, USA TODAY; Reuters
(This story was updated to add new information.)
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: UnitedHealthcare CEO killing: Luigi Mangione fights extradition