Police say suspect in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing wasn’t a client of the insurer
NEW YORK– The man accused of killing the CEO of UnitedHealthcare Brian Thompson was never a customer of the health insurer and may have targeted it because of its size and influence, a senior law enforcement official said Thursday.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told NBC New York in an interview Thursday that investigators have found evidence that Luigi Mangione had prior knowledge. UnitedHealthcare held its annual investor conference in New York City.
Mangione also mentioned the company in a note found in his possession while in police custody in Pennsylvania.
“We have no indication that he was ever a customer of United Healthcare, but he does mention that it is the fifth largest company in America, which would make it the largest healthcare organization in America. So that may be why he focused on that company,” Kenny said.
Mangione remains jailed without bail in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested Monday after being spotted at a McDonald’s in the town of Altoona, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of New York City. His attorney there said he has not yet seen any evidence linking him to the crime.
Mangione’s arrest came five days after the on-camera murder Thompson outside a hotel in Manhattan.
Police say the gunman waited outside the hotel early in the morning of Dec. 4, where the health insurer was holding its investor conference. He approached Thompson from behind and shot him before fleeing through Central Park on a bicycle and then heading to a bus. depot.
Mangione is fighting attempts to extradite him back to New York so he can cope a murder charge in Thompson’s murder. A hearing is scheduled for December 30.
The 26 year old, who says the police found with a “ ghost gun Matching shell casings found at the scene of the shooting, he is charged in Pennsylvania with possession of a firearm without a license, forgery and providing false identification to police. His attorney, Thomas Dickey, said his client is not guilty.
Mangione is an Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland real estate family. On Wednesday, the police said investigators are investigating an accident that injured Mangione’s back and sent him to the emergency room in July 2023. They also look at his writings on the injury and his criticism of corporate America and the American healthcare system.
Kenny said in the NBC interview that Mangione’s family reported him missing to San Francisco authorities in November.