Luigi Mangione accused of murdering US medical health insurance govt

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A 26-year-old Ivy League graduate has been charged with the homicide of a high UnitedHealth Group govt earlier than an investor occasion in New York final week.

New York prosecutors charged Luigi Mangione, 26, of Maryland, Monday night, hours after he was arrested by native police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, based on a court docket submitting. In complete, he was charged with 5 counts, together with firearms-related fees.

Mangione was arrested Monday in possession of an untraceable “ghost gun,” in addition to a suppressor and a pretend New Jersey ID matching the outline of these utilized by the person . suspected of shooting Brian ThompsonCEO of UnitedHealthcare, the insurance coverage division of the Minnesota-based group, on December 4.

Mangione additionally carried a three-page handwritten doc that described “some sick will towards company America” ​​however didn’t point out any particular people, stated Joseph Kenny, the NYPD's chief of detectives.

He made a quick preliminary look in a Pennsylvania court docket Monday night, the place he was charged with, amongst different issues, weapons violations, forgery and false identification.

Mangione had an engineering diploma from the College of Pennsylvania, based on the LinkedIn profile of an individual matching his description. He was born and raised in Maryland and his final recognized handle was Honolulu, Hawaii, New York police stated.

The event comes after a five-day manhunt through which NYPD detectives and federal investigators crisscrossed the town and neighboring states in an try and solve the murder this shocked New York and American companies.

Jessica Tisch, Commissioner of the New York Police Division, stated: “For simply over 5 days, our NYPD investigators combed by way of 1000’s of hours of video, adopted up on a whole bunch of suggestions, and processed every bit of proof forensics – DNA, fingerprints, IP addresses and extra – to tighten the online.

The NYPD launched video surveillance footage of the suspect checking right into a hostel on Manhattan's Higher West Aspect earlier than the homicide and at the back of a taxi after the killing. Tisch credited the footage with progress within the case: “The footage we shared with the general public was extensively distributed and the ideas we obtained led to the restoration of essential proof,” she stated.

Mangione's household launched a press release Monday night despatched by Nino Mangione, Luigi's cousin: “Our household is shocked and devastated by Luigi's arrest,” the household stated. “We provide our prayers to Brian Thompson’s household and ask folks to wish for everybody concerned.”

Thompson's predawn killing on his approach to an investor occasion hosted by UnitedHealth Group at a Marriott resort close to Sixth Avenue in midtown Manhattan sparked considerations in regards to the security of executives at excessive rank.

The killing additionally fueled a debate over the state of medical care on the earth's most costly well being care system: UnitedHealthcare is the nation's largest insurer, masking practically 50 million People. “We hope that right now's arrest brings some aid to household, associates, colleagues and the various others affected by this unspeakable tragedy,” UnitedHealth stated.

Thompson was shot from behind 3 times outdoors the Marriott Midtown Lodge at 6:45 a.m. native time, and was pronounced useless a short while later at close by Mount Sinai Hospital. Detectives then found bullet casings on the scene marked “deny” and “defend” — a doable nod to a 2010 e book about how insurers deny claims.

Since then, the New York Police Division has regularly pieced collectively the killer's actions earlier than and after the taking pictures. The suspect arrived in New York in late November and stayed on the Higher West Aspect hostel.

After the taking pictures, he first rode an electrical bike downtown by way of Central Park, the place his backpack was later recovered. Then he went to an interstate bus station, the place he boarded a bus to go away the town.