UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect faces new federal murder charges

By MARK SCOLFORO, MICHAEL R. SISAK and LARRY NEUMEISTER Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — The suspect in the murder of CEO of UnitedHealthcare was flown and helicoptered back to New York on Thursday to face new federal charges of murder and stalking, escalating the case after his previous indictment in the state.

Luigi Mangione agreed to return to New York after an early morning appearance in court in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested last week after five days on the run. He was expected in federal court in Manhattan in the afternoon.

After his hearing in Pennsylvania court, Mangione was immediately handed over to at least a dozen New York City police officers who were in the courtroom and taken to a plane bound for Long Island. He was then flown to a Manhattan heliport, where officers armed with assault rifles walked him slowly to a pier.

The federal complaint unsealed Thursday accuses him of two counts of stalking and one count of murder by use of a firearm and a firearms offense. One of the federal charges, murder by firearm, could carry the death penalty if he is convicted. Federal prosecutors have not said whether they would pursue such a penalty.

THE state fees include murder as an act of terrorismpunishable by life in prison without the possibility of parole. New York does not have the death penalty.

In Pennsylvania, Blair County District Attorney Pete Weeks said Thursday he wants to turn Mangione over to authorities in New York as soon as possible.

“He is now in their custody. He will travel to New York to await trial or prosecution for his homicide and related charges in New York,” Weeks said.

The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate is accused of ambush and shooting Brian Thompson on Dec. 4, outside a Manhattan hotel, where the head of the largest U.S. medical insurance company was heading to an investors conference.

Authorities said Mangione was carrying the gun used to kill Thompson, a passport, fake IDs and about $10,000 when he was arrested while eating breakfast Dec. 9 at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

Mangione, who initially fought extradition attempts, appeared in court twice briefly on Thursday, first waiving a preliminary hearing on counterfeiting and firearms charges before agreeing to be sent back to New York.

Investigators believe Mangione was motivated by anger at the U.S. health care system and corporate greed. But he was never a UnitedHealthcare customeraccording to the insurer.

According to the federal complaint, a notebook Mangione was carrying during his arrest contained several handwritten pages expressing hostility toward the health insurance industry and wealthy executives in particular.

An entry from August said “the target is insurance” because “it checks every box,” according to the filing. An entry from October “describes an intention to ‘wack’ the CEO of one of the insurance companies at its investor conference,” the document states.

The murder sparked a wave of stories about resentment toward American health insurance companies while also shake up American businesses after some social media users called the shooting revenge.

The video shows a masked gunman shooting Thompson, 50, from behind, then firing several more shots. The suspect eluded police despite photos of his unmasked face being widely distributed by authorities until Mangione was captured in Altoona, about 270 miles (446 kilometers) west of New York.

Mangione, a computer science graduate from a prominent Maryland family, carried a handwritten letter calling health insurance companies “parasites” and complaining about corporate greed, according to a law enforcement bulletin obtained by the ‘Associated Press last week.

One of his lawyers warned the public against prejudging the case.

Mangione several times published on social networks about how spinal surgery last year had eased her chronic back pain, encouraging people with similar conditions to speak out if they were told they just had to live with it.

In a post on Reddit in late April, he advised anyone with back problems to seek the advice of a surgeon and, if necessary, to say that the pain made it impossible to work.

“We live in a capitalist society,” Mangione wrote. “I have found that the medical industry reacts to these keywords much more urgently than you describing unbearable pain and its impact on your quality of life.”

He has apparently become cut off from his family and close friends in recent months. His family reported it missing in San Francisco in November. His relatives said in a statement that they were “shocked and devastated” by his arrest.

Thompson, who grew up on a farm in Iowa, trained as an accountant. Married and father of two high school students, he worked for 20 years at the giant UnitedHealth Group and became CEO of its insurance branch in 2021.

Scolforo reported from Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. Associated Press writers Mike Rubinkam in Allentown, Pa.; and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio; contributed.

Originally published: December 19, 2024 at 4:24 a.m. PST