UnitedHealthcare CEO Murder: Luigi Mangione Now Faces Federal Charges, Eligible for Death Penalty

UnitedHealthcare CEO Murder: Luigi Mangione Now Faces Federal Charges, Eligible for Death Penalty

Luigi Mangione arrived in New York City to face murder charges in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Mangione now also faces new federal charges in the Southern District of New York, making him eligible for the death penalty.

Mangione still faces 11 charges at the state level, including first-degree murder in furtherance of terrorism.

According to the New York Post, Mangione will “appear in Manhattan federal court sometime after 2:30 Thursday afternoon.”

I’ll pick apart the complaint for everyone. For instance, we found out Mangione allegedly began plotting Thompson’s murder back in August.

Federal Charges

The FBI unsealed the complaint:

• Count One: Stalking – Travel in Interstate Commerce
• Count Two: Stalking – Use of Interstate Facilities
• Count Three: Murder Through Use of a Firearm
• Court Four: Firearms Offense

We learned more about the case in the complaint. However, it does not detail Mangione’s movements between November 24 and December 4, the day of the murder.

Count One

The feds allege Mangione “traveled in interstate commerce with the intent to kill, injure, harass, intimidate, and place under surveillance with intent to kill, injure, harass, and intimidate another person, and in the course of, and as a result of, such travel engaged in conduct that placed that person in reasonable fear of the death of, and serious bodily injury to, that person, and in the course of engaging in such conduct caused the death of that person.”

“Mangione traveled from Georgia to New York, New York for the purpose of stalking and killing Brian Thompson, and while in New York, Mangione stalked and then shot and killed Thompson in the vicinity of West 54th Street and Sixth Avenue,” according to the complaint.

Count Two

The feds claim that from around November 24 to December 4, Mangione used interstate facilities to carry out Thompson’s murder.

“Mangione used a cellphone, interstate wires, interstate highways, and the Internet to plan and carry out the stalking, shooting, and killing of Brian Thompson,” wrote the FBI.

Count Three

The feds claim that Mangione “knowingly used and carried a firearm and in furtherance of” the crimes listed in Counts One and Two, “carried a firearm,” leading to the murder of Thompson “through the use of a firearm.”

Count Four

Similar to Count Three, the feds claim that Mangione “knowingly used and carried a firearm, and in furtherance of” the above stated counts, “possessed a firearm, which was brandished and discharged, and which was equipped with a firearm silencer and firearm muffler.”

Investigation

The complaint reveals that Mangione arrived at the Port Authority bus terminal on November 24 at 10:11 PM on a bus from Atlanta, GA.

He then took a taxi to a Hostel, registering “under the name ‘Mark Rosario'” with a fake New Jersey ID.

Cameras picked up Mangione at 5:35 AM on December 4 with the gray backpack around the Midtown Hotel. He bought stuff from a coffee shop and sat on a bench outside of the hotel. A picture showed him using a cellphone.

The murder happened at 6:45 AM:

At approximately 6:45 a.m.—after waiting near the Midtown Hotel for approximately an hou —the Shooter saw and approached the Victim, shot the Victim multiple times, and then fled on foot to West 55th Street, where the Shooter mounted the electric bicycle and rode towards Central Park. After disappearing inside the park for a period of time, the Shooter was captured on video again exiting the park near West 77th Street and Central Park West riding north on Central Park West. When he emerged from the park, the Shooter was no longer carrying the Gray Backpack…

Cameras caught Mangione again on an electric bike at 6:58 AM. He did not have the bike two minutes later.

Mangione then got into a taxi at 7:04 AM, which took “him to the George Washington Bridghe Bus Terminal.” The taxi’s camera caught Mangione’s face, but he had on a mask.

Mangione arrived at the terminal at 7:30 AM. No cameras caught him leaving it, though. That’s when authorities figure he left New York City.

Authorities discovered the gray backpack on December 6.

McDonald’s employees in Altoona, PA, recognized Mangione in the restaurant on December 9:

Members of the Altoona Police Department responded and encountered MANGIONE, who they also believed matched the appearance of the Shooter. When approached by responding officers and asked for identification, MANGIONE offered the False New Jersey ID used by the Shooter to check into the Hostel. MANGIONE was later found to be in possession of a loaded 9mm pistol and silencer consistent with the weapon used to kill the Victim, clothing that matched apparel that the Shooter wore in the security camera videos, a notebook (the “Notebook”), several thousand dollars in cash, an envelope associated with an FDIC-insured bank, and a letter addressed “To the Feds” (the “Feds Letter”). The 9mm pistol and silencer were later tested and found to be operable by a ballistics examiner from the New York City Police Department.

The Writings

Mangione’s notebook included “several handwritten pages that express hostility towards the health insurance industry and wealthy executives in particular.”

The complaint only gave a few examples examples. However, it seems that Mangione worked alone and knew he would be caught:

i. In an entry marked as “8/15” [August 15, 2024], the Notebook described how “the details are finally coming together” and “I’m glad – in a way – that I’ve procrastinated, bc [because] it allowed me to learn more about [acronym for Company-1].” The Notebook entry also stated that “the target is insurance” because “it checks every box.”

ii. In an entry marked as “10/22” [October 22, 2024], the Notebook stated: “1.5 months. This investor conference is a true windfall . . . and – most importantly – the message becomes self evident.” Later on in the entry, the Notebook describes an intent to “wack” the CEO of one of the insurance companies at its investor conference. As described above, October 22, 2024 was approximately 6 weeks before the date of the murder of the Victim, which occurred on the date of Company-1’s investor conference.

d. The Feds Letter recovered from MANGIONE stated: “I wasn’t working with anyone. This was fairly trivial: Some elementary social engineering, basic CAD, a lot of patience.” Based on my own research, I believe that “CAD” refers to “computer-aided design.” The Feds Letter also stated: “P.S. you can check serial numbers to verify this is all self funded. My own ATM withdrawals.”

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