Luigi Mangione, the man the CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was in New York with murder as an act of terrorism, prosecutors announced Tuesday.
Mangione, 26, is being held without bail in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested at a McDonald鈥檚 on Dec. 9 after a broad search following the Dec. 4 ambush of in midtown Manhattan.
As Mangione was led into Pennsylvania court last week to face gun and forgery charges, he about an 鈥渋nsult to the intelligence of the American people.鈥�
At the time, his lawyer said he would fight extradition to New York. But Manhattan prosecutors said Tuesday there were indications that he may waive his right to an extradition hearing, hastening the transfer process.
Mangione鈥檚 New York lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, declined to comment.
The case has captured the American imagination, setting off a cascade of resentment and toward U.S. health insurers while concerned about security.
What鈥檚 the latest?
The indictment announced by Manhattan prosecutors Tuesday builds on previous charges against Mangione. He now faces 11 counts, including murder in the second degree as a crime of terrorism.
At a press conference, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said the suspect had carried out a 鈥渇rightening, well-planned, targeted murder.鈥�
鈥淚n its most basic terms, this was a killing that was intended to evoke terror,鈥� Bragg said. 鈥淎nd we鈥檝e seen that reaction.鈥�
In the wake of the killing, police officials in New York and elsewhere have described an increase in threats aimed at corporate leaders, including 鈥淲anted鈥� posters in Manhattan that showed the faces of other executives next to a crossed-out photograph of Thompson鈥檚 face.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 celebrate murderers, and we don鈥檛 lionize the killing of anyone,鈥� New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Tuesday. 鈥淎ny attempt to rationalize this is vile, reckless and offensive to our deeply held principles of justice.鈥�
New York police also confirmed that during the search for the suspect, investigators had spoken to Mangione鈥檚 mother in San Francisco after receiving a tip from San Francisco police that a surveillance image of the shooter appeared to match a in November.
Mangione鈥檚 mother 鈥渄idn鈥檛 indicate that it was her son in the photograph, but she said it might be something that she could see him doing,鈥� according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
What evidence has been gathered?
Police have said Mangione was arrested carrying like the one used to kill Thompson and the same fake ID the shooter had used to check into a New York hostel, along with a passport and other fraudulent IDs.
Mangione possessed a handwritten document expressing anger with what it called 鈥減arasitic鈥� health insurance companies and expressing disdain for corporate greed and power, according to a law enforcement bulletin obtained by The Associated Press.
The found on Mangione matched shell casings at the shooting scene, according to authorities. Two of those casings had the words 鈥淒ENY鈥� and 鈥淒EPOSE鈥� written on them, while a bullet was emblazoned with the word 鈥淒ELAY,鈥� prosecutors said, to avoid paying claims.
Mangione鈥檚 fingerprints also matched prints on a water bottle and a protein bar wrapper found near the crime scene, police said.
What do we know about Mangione?
Mangione comes from . He was the valedictorian of his elite Baltimore prep school and earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania.
From January to June 2022, Mangione lived at Surfbreak, a 鈥渃o-living鈥� space at the edge of touristy Waikiki in Honolulu. Josiah Ryan, a spokesperson for owner and founder R.J. Martin, said that Martin learned that Mangione had severe back pain from childhood that interfered with many aspects of his life.
Police have suggested the suspect's motive might have been related to an accident that sent Mangione to an emergency room on July 4, 2023.
Mangione repeatedly about how spinal surgery last year had eased his chronic back pain, and he encouraged people with similar conditions to speak up for themselves if they were told they just had to live with it.
In a Reddit post in April, he advised someone with a back problem to seek additional opinions from surgeons and, if necessary, say the pain made it impossible to work.
鈥淲e live in a capitalist society,鈥� Mangione wrote. 鈥淚鈥檝e found that the medical industry responds to these key words far more urgently than you describing unbearable pain and how it鈥檚 impacting your quality of life.鈥�
He was , according to the insurer.
Mangione apparently cut himself off from his family and close friends in recent months.
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Associated Press reporters Michael R. Sisak, Jamie Stengle, Lea Skene and Jake Offenhartz contributed to this report.
Maryclaire Dale And Sarah Brumfield, The Associated Press
