Luigi Mangione contests extradition in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing

Updated December 10, 2024 at 15:52 PM ET

Luigi Mangione, the man facing charges in the shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was denied bail in Pennsylvania on Tuesday. The 26-year-old has 14 days to contest the bail decision, The Associated Press reported.

Mangione's defense attorney, Thomas Dickey, on Tuesday informed the court his client would be contesting extradition back to New York, the AP reported. But Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks said it won't be a substantial barrier to returning Mangione to that state.

As he was being escorted into the courthouse by police officers, Mangione yelled out to reporters that some unintelligible thing was "an insult to the American people."

Thompson was headed to an investor meeting in New York City last Wednesday when a person approached him from behind and shot him. He was pronounced dead shortly after.

Officials searched the city for days for a suspect but later said they believed the person fled New York after the shooting. Mangione was arrested Monday in Pennsylvania.

Here's what to know about the case so far.

Mangione is from Maryland and worked as a data engineer

Mangione was taken into custody by police in Altoona, Pa., after he was recognized at a local McDonald's and reported to authorities.

He is facing charges that include murder, illegal possession of a firearm and lying about his identity.

At the time of his arrest, Mangione had with him a ghost gun thought to be used in the shooting, a fake ID and three pages of text possibly indicating his motive, police said.

NYPD Chief Detective Joseph Kenny said the document in Mangione's possession indicated some "ill will toward corporate America."

Online accounts and school records show that Mangione is from the Baltimore area and was the valedictorian of the private Gilman School. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's and a master's degree, both in computer science, with a focus on artificial intelligence.

The Maryland native appeared to come from a well-heeled Baltimore family that owned several businesses — including, at one time or another, country clubs, a nursing home and a radio station — and had long ties to the area.

Mangione most recently worked as a data engineer and was living in Hawaii, according to his LinkedIn profile.

His interests — which seemed at times to hold contradicting moral values — ranged from literature to philosophy. In an online review of a book by Theodore Kaczynski, also known as the "Unabomber," Mangione wrote, "It's easy to quickly and thoughtless 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."

Mangione does not have any known criminal history, police said.

He is related to Maryland Republican Delegate Nino Mangione, who represents parts of Baltimore County. The politician said in a statement on behalf of the family that they are "devastated by this news" but only know what they have read in the media and cannot comment on news reports.

"Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi's arrest," he said. "We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved."

Who was Brian Thompson?

Thompson had been CEO of UnitedHealthcare since 2021 but had been at UnitedHealth Group since 2004, serving in various executive roles for divisions including Medicare and employer and individual plans.

He graduated from the University of Iowa with a bachelor's in business administration and accounting in 1997, according to his LinkedIn page.

Thompson lived in Minnesota, where the company is based, and was a husband and father to two children. After his death, an outpouring of support from Minnesota politicians poured in, including from Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Gov. Tim Walz, the former vice presidential candidate.

His wife, Paulette, told NBC News that he had been receiving threats recently.

While responses from official sources decried the violent action taken against Thompson, a vocal populist consensus emerged on social media that condemned the idea of for-profit health care. Supporters of the shooter's actions painted potential vigilantism against a health care CEO in a climate of crippling medical debt as the inevitable outcome of a failed system.

What's next in the case?

Mangione is currently being held in Pennsylvania. New York law enforcement officials are drafting their own charges for Mangione.

Officials are also investigating if Mangione may have had help in committing the crime or evading police.

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