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Police Opens Up On Suspect Of UnitedHealthcare CEO Murder

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Police arrested a suspect Monday in the brazen Manhattan killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO after a quick-thinking McDonald’s employee in Pennsylvania alerted authorities to a customer who was found with a weapon, mask and writings linking him to the ambush.

The chance sighting at the restaurant in Altoona led to a dramatic break in a challenging but fast-moving investigation that had captivated the public in the five days since the shooting that shook the health insurance industry.

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The suspect, identified by police as 26-year-old Luigi Nicholas Mangione, had a gun believed to be the one used in last Wednesday’s shooting of Brian Thompson, as well as writings suggesting anger with corporate America, police said.

Mangione was taken into custody about 9:15 a.m. after police got a tip that he was eating at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, police said.

“He is believed to be our person of interest in the brazen, targeted murder of Brian Thompson,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

Mangione had clothing and a mask similar to those worn by the shooter and a fraudulent New Jersey ID matching one the suspect used to check into a New York City hostel before the shooting, Tisch said.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Mangione was born and raised in Maryland, has ties to San Francisco and a last known address in Honolulu, Hawaii. A message left Monday with a Philadelphia-area phone number connected to Mangione was not immediately returned.

He was being held in Pennsylvania on gun charges and eventually will be extradited to New York to face charges in connection with Thompson’s death, Kenny said.

Police found a three-page document with writings suggesting that Mangione had “ill will toward corporate America,” Kenny said.

The handwritten document “speaks to both his motivation and mindset,” Tisch said.

Mangione had a ghost gun, a type of weapon that can be assembled at home from parts without a serial number, making them difficult to trace, investigators said.

Officers questioned Mangione, who was acting suspiciously and carrying multiple fraudulent IDs, as well as a U.S. passport, Tisch said. Officers found a suppressor, “both consistent with the weapon used in the murder,” the commissioner said.

NYPD detectives and staff from the Manhattan district attorney’s office traveled to Altoona to interview Mangione, Kenny said.

Thompson, 50, was killed last Wednesday as he walked alone to a hotel, where UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, was holding its annual investor conference, police said.

 

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