Luigi Mangione’s mother made a shocking confession to police before the suspected killer was arrested, police said on Tuesday.
New York City police had been searching for several days for the man who killed 50-year-old UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson at point-blank range — and have released surveillance images of the suspected shooter.
One image of the suspect with his mask down caught the attention of a San Francisco police officer who had been searching for Mangione, 26, since his mother, Kathleen, reported him missing in mid-November.
She claimed she had not spoken to her son since July 1 and noted that he worked for San Francisco-based TrueCar, an online car marketplace – apparently not realizing he had been fired in 2023.
Recognizing the suspect, the police officer called the FBI and gave the agency Mangione’s name, prompting New York agents embedded in the FBI task force to call Kathleen.
“They had a conversation where she didn’t indicate it was her son in the photo, but she said it might be something she could see him doing,” NYPD Chief Joseph Kenny said at a news conference Tuesday.
He noted that the conversation took place “very late” on December 7 and that the information was passed on to New York City police the next morning – but he wasn’t arrested until December 9, while he was eating at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa. .
Luigi Mangione, 26, was charged Tuesday with murder as an act of terrorism
His mother (pictured with Mangione’s sister, MariaSanta) had previously told the FBI that she “could see” her son shoot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Mangione has since been charged with murder and an act of terrorism over Thompson’s death.
Under New York law, such a charge can be filed when an alleged crime is “intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, to influence the policies of a governmental unit by intimidation or coercion, and to influence the conduct of a governmental unit by murder,’ murder or kidnapping.’
The doomed CEO was shot dead as he walked to a Manhattan hotel where Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare — the largest health insurer in the United States — was holding an investor conference..
“This was a frightening, well-planned, targeted killing designed to cause shock, attention and intimidation,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Tuesday.
“It happened in one of the most vibrant parts of our city and threatened the safety of local residents as well as tourists, commuters and business people just starting their day.”
Mangione has two court hearings scheduled for Thursday in Pennsylvania, including an extradition hearing, Bragg noted.
He is not expected to fight extradition to the Big Apple at Thursday’s hearing, meaning he could be returned to New York City that same day. Sources report this to Fox News.
Some legal experts have previously suggested that Mangione would not argue about his guilt and focus on getting a lesser sentence by claiming he had extreme emotional disturbance.
Thompson, 50, was shot dead as he walked to a Manhattan hotel where Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare was holding an investor conference
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg called the shooting (pictured) “frightening, well-planned, targeted killing designed to cause shock, attention and intimidation.”
“It is not likely that he will walk out of the country a free man,” said Manhattan attorney Ronald Kuby The Wall Street Journal. “The best he can hope for is mitigation of the crime and punishment.”
“Usually the defendant’s entire history, their grievances, their pain, their suffering, all goes before the jury.”
The researchers’ working theory is that Mangione, an Ivy League computer science student from a prominent Maryland family, was propelled by anger about the U.S. health care system.
Police have said he was found with a manifesto outlining his grievances against UnitedHealthcare.
‘To spare you a lengthy investigation, I clearly state that I have not collaborated with anyone. This was fairly trivial: some basic social engineering, basic CAD, [and] much patience’, he is said to have written in the manifesto, according to the Daily Beast.
He went on to say he had “respect” for federal investigators and apologized for causing any “trauma” but appeared to defend his alleged actions.
“To be honest, these parasites already expected it,” the manifesto wrote.
It claimed that the United States had the “most expensive health care system in the world,” but blasted the system for only putting America 42nd in life expectancy.
Mangione was identified as the alleged shooter by a San Francisco police officer after the NYPD released this surveillance image of him
Officers also said they matched a gun found on Mangione to shell casings found at the scene and his fingerprints to a water bottle and energy bar wrapper found nearby.
After news of the arrest, Mangione’s family released a statement saying they were ‘shocked and devastated’.
“We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and ask people to pray for everyone involved,” the statement said.
‘We are devastated by this news.’
No one from the alleged killer’s family subsequently appeared at his hearing, court sources have said Fox News that the 26-year-old has not had any meetings with family members since his arrest.
His influential Italian-American family is known in their community for their real estate fortunes and nursing home empire, but he may not see any of the money his philanthropist grandmother left behind.
Her fortune, estimated to be worth at least $30 million, was placed in a trust where the trustees – one of whom is Mangione’s father – have the power to make distributions.
One of the terms of the trust is that anyone accused of a crime cannot see any of the money, meaning Mangione may never get his share.