What are the charges against Luigi Mangione? UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's murder suspect denied bail

On December 9, 2024, police arrested 26-year-old Luigi Mangione in connection with the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan. The five-day manhunt for the shooter ended in Pennsylvania when someone called the police after they spotted Mangione at a McDonald's in Altoona, recognizing him from photos shown in media.

Police found a ghost gun, suppressor, a manifesto, a US passport, money, and several fake IDs when they arrested Luigi Mangione. He was charged with five initial charges in Pennsylvania - two felonies and three misdemeanors, during his arraignment hearing at a Blair County court, where he was denied bail.

According to court documents, the charges included "forgery, carrying a firearm without a license, tampering with records or identification, possessing instruments of a crime, and providing false identification to law enforcement authorities in Pennsylvania."

Luigi Mangione also faced five separate charges in New York, including a murder charge. According to NBC News, his other charges included "three counts of criminal possession of a weapon and one count of possession of a forged instrument."

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Luigi Mangione is currently at State Correctional Institution Huntingdon

Luigi Mangione, the alleged shooter suspected in the slaying of UHC CEO Brian Thompson, is currently detained at State Correctional Institution Huntingdon after being denied bail. According to NBC News, he did not enter a plea deal for his forgery and gun-related charges, and his next preliminary hearing is scheduled for December 23 in Pennsylvania.

His arrest came five days after Thompson was gunned down outside the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan on December 4 at around 6:45 am. The late CEO was reportedly at the hotel for a UHC investor's meeting when the incident occurred.

He was shot in the back and leg and was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai West. Authorities found three bullet casings at the scene of the crime with the words, “deny,” “delay” and “depose” etched in marker.

Officials believed the words signified the "three Ds of insurance," a tactic supposedly employed by health insurance companies when dealing with clients. According to BBC, officials claimed Luigi Mangione allegedly bore "ill will towards corporate America" as detailed in his three-page manifesto they found on him during his arrest.

According to court documents, Mangione reportedly presented the police with a fake ID when they walked up to him at the McDonald's. He also "became quiet and started to shake" when police questioned him on his recent whereabouts.

Patrolman Tyler Frye, who arrested Luigi Mangione along with his partner, said the alleged shooter was "very cooperative" during his arrest, however, his demeanor changed as time went on.

“He was initially cooperative. He is not now,” said Pennsylvania police Lt. Col. George Bivens said in a later press conference.

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What do we know about Luigi Mangione?

Luigi Mangioni was an Ivy League graduate with a computer science degree from the University of Pennsylvania. According to his LinkedIn profile, he worked as a data engineer in a California-based company but quit in 2023. His last address was located in Honolulu, Hawaii.

In an interview with CNN, R.J. Martin, Luigi Mangione's former roommate, claimed the alleged suspect suffered from severe back pain and underwent major spinal surgery in recent years. He sent an X-ray of his back post-surgery to his friend, which Martin said “looked heinous, with just giant screws going into his spine.”

Luigi Mangione's online activity showed he was an avid reader with a Goodreads account. His list had several books about chronic back pain and how to deal with it. He also left a review of the manifesto written by the Unabomber, writing:

“It’s easy to quickly and thoughtless(ly) write this off as the manifesto of a lunatic, in order to avoid facing some of the uncomfortable problems it identifies. But it’s simply impossible to ignore how prescient many of his predictions about modern society turned out."

He continued:

“He was a violent individual – rightfully imprisoned – who maimed innocent people. While these actions tend to be characterized as those of a crazy luddite, however, they are more accurately seen as those of an extreme political revolutionary.”

However, Luigi Mangione's social media activity declined over the last few months, prompting worry from friends and family. According to CNN, online posts showed friends trying to reach out to him till November, weeks before Thompson's shooting.