A week after the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a New York street, authorities continue to investigate the details of a case that is shaking the United States and still leaves some questions unanswered. The main suspect, Luigi Mangione was arrested this Monday in Pennsylvania after a five-day search and, since then, he has been in prison without the right to bail while the Police collect evidence and unravel the possible motivations behind this crime.
The arrested man, 26, went to a Blair County court on Tuesday and, before entering the hearing, spoke his first public words while struggling with the agents. “This is out of line and an insult to the intelligence of the American people,” Mangione shouted, who was dressed in an orange prisoner’s uniform. The suspect is charged in Pennsylvania with charges related to false documentation and illegal possession of weapons, while in New York he is also charged with first-degree murder.
Manhattan prosecutors have begun working to have Mangione extradited to New York to face charges of murder – which cannot be done in Pennsylvania, where he is currently. However, his defense attorney, Thomas Dickey, has advanced that his client will refuse that transfer. “This case or any other cannot be judged hastily. His innocence is presumed, let us not forget that”Dickey said, according to the Associated Press.
Evidence collected
Meanwhile, the investigation continues with the collection of various evidence that links Mangione to the murder. One of the most relevant evidence is that The gun confiscated from him in Pennsylvania matches the casings found at the scene of the shooting, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said this Wednesday in a press conference unrelated to the events.
The weapon he had in his possession is a ‘ghost’ gun that could have been made with a 3D printer and that the Police considered “consistent with the weapon used in the murder.” Next to her, the agents found six nine-millimeter bullets and a silencer, also homemade.
In addition, Mangione’s fingerprints also match a water bottle and wrapper of protein bars found near the crime scene, items that police believe he bought at a coffee shop while waiting for his target. And, although this information has not been confirmed by the authorities, sources close to the investigation have told CNN that a fingerprint found on a cell phone also matches the suspect’s DNA.
On the other hand, at the time of the arrest, the young man was wearing clothing and a mask similar to those shown by the shooter on the security cameras. Mangione also had bags for his mobile phone and laptop that iallowed such devices to transmit traceable signals by the authorities.
Additionally, he possessed a false New Jersey identification document under the name Mark Rosario. This matches the one he would have used to register at the New York hostel before the crime, and 10,000 dollars in cash, 2,000 of them in foreign currency.
They find a notebook of the detainee
One of the key elements in the investigation is a notebook found in Mangione’s possession, an object that was mentioned in a three-page letter that the agents seized from him at the time of his arrest. After searching his belongings, they found this notebook written by the suspect that apparently offers important clues about how he planned the attack with notes and task lists that describe the steps before the crime.
In the notebook you can see Mangione’s willingness to attend a conference and kill a businessman, sources have transferred to the New York Times. “Eliminate the CEO at the annual convention of parasitic tightwads. It is a precise objective and does not put innocent people at risk“, states the notebook, according to said newspaper. In this sense, CNN reports that the young man considered using a bomb to carry out the attack, but ruled it out because “it could kill” other people.
In that same notebook, Mangione also described the meeting with investors that Thompson was attending at the time of the murder as a meeting of “corporate greed.” According to New York Postthe suspect mentioned that it was unfair that the US had the “most expensive health system in the world” and that this served for the profit of a few companies, but not to increase “life expectancy.” The Police, for their part, have not yet revealed the content of those notes.
A suspected back injury
The information published so far reflects that Mangione considered the murder of the CEO of UnitedHealthcare as a symbolic act against the corporate and health system in the US. Thus, the authorities describe the young man as a person resentful of the country’s health and the business world that is enriched by the management of diseases.
As for a possible motive for the murder, investigators have begun to make connections between Mangione’s anger and a health problem he suffered from. The chief detective of the New York Police Department, Joseph Kenny, has indicated to CBS that the motive could be related to a back injury that sent the young man to the emergency room on July 4, 2023.
Thus, investigators are analyzing a claim related to this condition. “In some of the writing he had, he talked about the difficulty of dealing with that injury,” Kenny explained. “Therefore, We are investigating whether the insurance industry denied your claim. or did not offer full help,” he added.
However, the investigation is still ongoing and authorities continue to analyze evidence to clarify how the events occurred and what would have led a young man with no criminal record, an elite student and from a wealthy family to commit such a violent act.
#denied #claim #ghost #weapon #writings.. #murder #Luigi #Mangione #accused
