Ivy league graduate Luigi Mangione is on trial for the fatal shooting of&nbsp;UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.&nbsp;He was arrested six days into the&nbsp;nationwide hunt for the suspected shooter.

Long Island

Crime

NYCEO_GALLERY

NEW YORK — The man accused of gunning down United Healthcare’s CEO outside a Manhattan hotel is now in a federal jail in New York, after he was returned to the city in dramatic fashion to face charges that could bring the death penalty.
Shackled and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione was escorted Thursday by a contingent of heavily armed police officers as he was whisked by plane and then helicopter from Pennsylvania to downtown Manhattan.
The Ivy League graduate, who prosecutors say inveighed against the health insurance industry and wealthy executives in his writings, then appeared in a packed federal courtroom on murder, stalking and firearms charges in the Dec. 4 killing of Brian Thompson. He was not required to enter a plea. 
Here’s what’s next in the case:
<h2>Jailed in Brooklyn</h2>
<h2></h2>
Mangione is being held without bail at Metropolitan Detention Center, the same federal jail where hip-hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs and cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried are currently detained. 
The notorious Brooklyn facility, the only federal lockup in the city, has been variously described as “hell on earth” and an “ongoing tragedy” because of deplorable conditions, rampant violence, dysfunction and multiple deaths. 
The federal Bureau of Prisons has said it is increasing staffing to make up for staggering shortfalls, but conditions have been so stark at the jail, which houses about 1,100 inmates, that some judges have refused to send people there.
<h2>State charges pending</h2>
Besides the federal charges filed Thursday, Mangione must still answer to a state murder indictment.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office charged Mangione with murder as an act of terrorism, which carries a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole. He is also charged with state weapons offenses and possession of a fake ID.
Prosecutors have said the two cases will proceed on parallel tracks, with the state charges expected to go to trial first.
Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, argued in court Thursday that the terrorism allegations in the state case and stalking charges in the federal complaint appear to be at odds.
“Those are two completely different theories,” she said. “These seem like different cases.”
The U.S. Supreme Court in 2019 upheld a longstanding constitutional rule allowing state and federal governments to prosecute someone for the same crime.
<h2>Next court appearance</h2>
Mangione is set to be arraigned Monday in Manhattan on the state indictment, according to Bragg's office. 
The University of Pennsylvania alum, who hailed from a prominent Maryland family and had also lived in Hawaii, had been expected to be arraigned Thursday on the state charges before the federal charges preempted that appearance.
In the federal case, Mangione could next return to court for a bail hearing or for a preliminary hearing if prosecutors don’t obtain a grand jury indictment by mid-January.
<h2>Death penalty looms</h2>
New York effectively effectively abolished its death penalty by 2007 and the last execution in the state was in 1963. But the federal death penalty remains in effect.
The federal complaint filed against Mangione includes a count of murder by firearm, which carries the possibility of the death penalty if he is convicted.
Federal prosecutors have not said if they will seek the death penalty. That decision will be made in coming months by Justice Department officials in Washington, likely after President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in on Jan. 20.
President Joe Biden's administration put a moratorium on federal executions soon after he took office in 2021, but that hasn't stopped federal prosecutors from seeking the death penalty.
In contrast, Trump's administration carried out 13 executions in the last six months of his first term. 
<h2>Pennsylvania charges on standby</h2>
<h2></h2>
Mangione also faces forgery and firearms charges in Pennsylvania stemming from his arrest last week, but those will likely not be addressed until the New York charges are resolved. 
He initially fought attempts to be returned to New York, but ultimately waived extradition and a preliminary hearing on the Pennsylvania charges on Thursday.
“He is now in their custody,” Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks said after Mangione was extradited to New York. “We intend to keep our case active and we intend to essentially revisit the case when the defendant is available for prosecution in Blair County.”
___
Associated Press reporter Larry Neumeister in New York contributed to this story.

News

Nation/World

AP-US-UnitedHealthcare-CEO-Killed-What-to-Know, 1st Ld-Writethru

What's next for the man charged with killing UnitedHealthcare's CEO?

UnitedHealthcare CEO Killed

Newsday Staff

Alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione may have plotted the killing of top executive Brian Thompson as early as August, according to newly filed court documents charging Mangione with murder under federal law, as the accused killer was arraigned Thursday after&nbsp;his dramatic arrival in New York City. 
&quot;The target is insurance because ‘it checks every box,’&quot; read a passage from a notebook, which was dated Aug. 15, that authorities found with Mangione when he was arrested, a complaint unsealed Thursday shows. 
The details &quot;are finally coming together,&quot; the passage continued, according to the complaint. &quot;I’m glad in a way that I've procrastinated. bc [because] it allowed me to learn more about [acronym for Company-1 ].&quot; 
Mangione, 26, a computer scientist from Maryland, was ordered held without bail on the federal charges of murder through the use of a firearm, two stalking counts and a firearms offense at his initial appearance in federal court in Manhattan — just hours after he waived extradition from Pennsylvania and arrived&nbsp;at&nbsp;Long Island MacArthur Airport in Ronkonkoma on a small plane before&nbsp;a police helicopter flew him&nbsp;to Manhattan. 
Mangione’s long-awaited arrival in New York City capped a dramatic series of events, beginning with the Dec. 4 assassination-style killing of Thompson — a married father of two — on a midtown sidewalk, a dayslong search that ended in his arrest on Dec. 9 in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and his initial refusal to be extradited to Manhattan. 
New York City Mayor Eric Adams was present&nbsp;at the NYPD helicopter landing in lower Manhattan with Mangione on board, broadcasts showed. Mangione, shackled and still wearing an orange jumpsuit, was walked from the helicopter to a waiting black van amid high security, including members of the Emergency Services Unit holding long guns. 
Outside the Manhattan courthouse, demonstrators expressed support for Mangione, a high school valedictorian and Ivy League graduate, who has been lionized as a hero on social media by some who are disgusted with the health insurance industry. 
One person held a sign reading&nbsp;&quot;Delay, Deny, Depose&quot; — the same words police say were written on the shell casings found at the scene of the CEO's killing. 
Inside the federal courthouse, Mangione, wearing a button-down shirt and khakis, did not enter a plea. He nodded as U.S. Magistrate Judge Katharine Parker read the charges. He spoke only to say &quot;yes&quot; when asked by the judge if had read the charges. 
His lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, did not seek bail but reserved the right to do so at a later date. 
Mangione is due back in federal court in mid-January unless he is&nbsp;indicted by a grand jury before then. 
If convicted on the federal murder charge, Mangione could face the death penalty, though prosecutors have not said whether they intend to seek the punishment. 
After Mangione waived extradition from Pennsylvania to New York Thursday morning, he was widely expected to be arraigned later in the day on state charges filed by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who had announced earlier this week that Mangione had been indicted on first- and second-degree murder charges, with a terrorism enhancement. 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-onecms-id="contentid/9578a871-a54a-4c36-8214-d7618d4226fd" data-onecms-type="storywidget" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/9578a871-a54a-4c36-8214-d7618d4226fd', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/9578a871-a54a-4c36-8214-d7618d4226fd">STORYWIDGET: Read the complaint </a> 
At Mangione’s arraignment, Friedman Agnifilo questioned how the dual cases against her client would proceed. 
&quot;This is a highly unusual situation that we find ourselves in,&quot; she said, adding that she had been told her client would be arraigned in state court. 
&quot;The theory of the Manhattan DA's case seems to be in conflict with these charges,&quot; she said, pointing out that stalking, which is part of the federal case, is a crime against an individual, while the terrorism enhancement charged by state prosecutors is a crime against the wider populace. 
&quot;Are these two cases? Is this a joint effort?&quot; Friedman Agnifilo asked. &quot;There are a number of confusing factors here.&quot; 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="Karen Friedman Agnifilo, defense attorney for suspected CEO killer Luigi Mangione, speaks to reporters at federal court on Pearl Street Thursday.
" data-attr-credit="" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/c31b2b36-fddd-4ddb-a0b9-1bfa4d96aedd" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/c31b2b36-fddd-4ddb-a0b9-1bfa4d96aedd', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/c31b2b36-fddd-4ddb-a0b9-1bfa4d96aedd"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/c31b2b36-fddd-4ddb-a0b9-1bfa4d96aedd/NYCEO241220-23a.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3" />Karen Friedman Agnifilo, defense attorney for suspected CEO killer Luigi Mangione, speaks to reporters at federal court on Pearl Street Thursday. </a> 
In a written statement released before her client’s appearance in court, Friedman Agnifilo criticized the move to charge Mangione federally. 
&quot;The federal government's reported decision to pile on top of an already overcharged first-degree murder and state terror case is highly unusual and raises serious constitutional and statutory double jeopardy concerns,&quot; Friedman Agnifilo said. &quot;We are ready to fight these charges in whatever court they are brought.&quot; 
In court, Assistant U.S. Attorney Dominic Gentile did not address the potential issues raised by Mangione’s counsel, other than to say,&nbsp;&quot;The government is prepared to address any legal arguments that the defense has.&quot; 
The Southern District of New York’s acting U.S. Attorney Edward Y. Kim, in a statement Thursday, said Bragg’s case &quot;is currently expected to proceed to trial before the federal case.&quot; 
Bragg, when asked about the two cases at an unrelated news conference Thursday, said that generally speaking &quot;state prosecutions and federal prosecutions proceed as parallel matters,&quot; according to multiple news outlets. 
Bragg announced on Tuesday that Mangione had been indicted on first- and second-degree murder charges as an &quot;act of terrorism&quot; in Thompson's shooting, saying the killing that was done to &quot;sow terror.&quot; 
The unsealed indictment charged Mangione with one count of first-degree murder as an act of terrorism and two counts of second-degree murder, one as an act of terrorism and the other as an intentional killing, Bragg said. 
It is&nbsp;unclear when Mangione will be arraigned on the state charges contained in the indictment. 
The newly unsealed federal complaint also provides other details in Mangione’s notebook and in a letter to &quot;the feds.&quot; 
&quot;The Notebook contained several handwritten pages that express hostility toward the health insurance industry and wealthy executives in particular,&quot; the complaint said. 
Another passage from Oct. 22 reads: &quot;1.5 months. This investor conference is a true windfall ... and — most importantly — the message becomes self evident.&quot; 
Later in the entry, the notebook describes the intention to &quot;wack&quot; (sic) the &quot;CEO of one of the insurance companies at its investor conference,&quot; the complaint said, noting it was apparently written about six weeks before Thompson was killed.&nbsp; 
In a letter called &quot;The Feds Letter,&quot; which was recovered from Mangione, he allegedly wrote, according to the complaint: &quot;I wasn't working with anyone. This was fairly trivial: Some elementary social engineering, basic CAD, a lot of patience.&quot; 
It added, the complaint said: &quot;P.S. you can check serial numbers to verify this is all self-funded. My own ATM withdrawals.&quot; 
Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 9 after a McDonald's worker called 911 to report a man there appeared to resemble an NYPD-designated person of interest in the killing that NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch called a &quot;brazen, targeted attack.&quot; His capture happened as a massive hunt for him was entering its sixth day, as the suspect had apparently fled New York City almost immediately after the shooting. 
Mangione, during a brief hearing in Blair County, Pennsylvania, Thursday morning, waived extradition to New York and said he understood that he was waiving his right to oppose extradition, replying &quot;yes&quot; to Judge David Consiglio when asked. About a dozen NYPD officials — wearing jackets and vests marked NYPD — sat in the front row of the courtroom during the proceedings. 
Mangione’s trek to New York began at a rapid pace once the hearing concluded. 
Mangione, who was clean shaven&nbsp;and appeared to have had a haircut, was led from the courthouse and into a waiting black SUV with New York license &nbsp;plates shortly after the extradition hearing had concluded, according to press pool images. 
Mangione was seen being walked onto a small plane in Martinsburg, Pennsylvania, at about 10:40 a.m. Thursday, broadcast images showed. 
His flight from Pennsylvania into the metropolitan area was the most-tracked flight worldwide on Flightradar24, an outfit that tracks flights worldwide. 
He landed at Long Island MacArthur Airport at 12:14 p.m. and was placed in an NYPD helicopter for the ride into Manhattan, where he landed at 1 p.m. 
&nbsp;Mangione’s Pennsylvania-based lawyer, Thomas Dickey, said he initially opposed extradition because his client did not have an attorney to represent him in New York. 
&quot;We have been able to secure counsel in the state of New York,&quot; Dickey said. &quot;I am satisfied we will have a smooth transition.&quot; 
Outside the Pennsylvania courthouse on Thursday morning, a handful of demonstrators gathered. One man, who would only give his first name, held a sign outside declaring &quot;Free Luigi.&quot; 
Ashlyn Adami, who said she’s had negative experiences with the health care and health insurance industry, said she was at the courthouse to bring attention to problems with the system. 
&quot;I don’t believe in murder; I’m a pacifist,&quot; said Adami, of South Bend, Indiana. &quot;I don’t believe in violence, but I think a lot of people aren’t willing to reckon with the fact that privatized health care is systemic violence.&quot;&nbsp; 
Police have said — and the FBI reiterated in its complaint — that Mangione was found in possession of an illegal ghost gun,&nbsp;which the NYPD later said was a match to shell casings found at the scene of Thompson's killing,&nbsp;and multiple fake IDs, including a New Jersey driver's license that was used to rent a room at an Upper West Side hostel before the killing. 
The NYPD has also said it linked Mangione to the killing through fingerprints found on a water bottle and Kind bar wrapper found near the scene of the killing outside the New York Hilton Midtown on Sixth Avenue. 
With Nicholas Grasso

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Read the complaint

Accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione may have plotted Brian Thompson's shooting in August, court papers say

Alleged CEO killer may have plotted shooting in August, court papers say

Luigi Mangione pleaded not guilty to charges in the&nbsp;killing of&nbsp;UnitedHealthcare CEO&nbsp;Brian Thompson and was ordered held without bail in NYC. NewsdayTV&#39;s Ken Buffa reports.

nyCEO241220_video

Luigi Mangione pleaded not guilty to charges in NYC

New York City

Manhattan

long island

Ronkonkoma

Newsday

Luigi Mangione ordered held without bail in NYC

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NEW YORK — The man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO was whisked back to New York by plane and helicopter Thursday to face new federal charges of stalking and murder, which could bring the death penalty if he's convicted.
 Luigi Mangione was held without bail following a Manhattan federal court appearance, capping a whirlwind day that began in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested last week in the Dec. 4 attack on Brian Thompson. 
The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate had been expected to be arraigned Thursday on a state murder indictment in a killing that at once rattled the business community and galvanized some health insurance critics, but the federal charges preempted that appearance. The cases will now proceed on parallel tracks, prosecutors said, with the state charges expected to go to trial first.
Mangione, shackled at the ankles and wearing dress clothes, said little during the 15-minute proceeding as he sat between his lawyers in a packed federal courtroom.
He nodded as a magistrate judge informed him of his rights and the charges against him, occasionally leaning forward to a microphone to tell her he understood.
After the hearing, a federal marshal handed Mangione’s lawyers a bag containing his belongings, including the orange prison jumpsuit he had worn to court in Pennsylvania.
Mangione had been held in Pennsylvania since his Dec. 9 arrest while eating breakfast at a McDonald's in Altoona, about 233 miles (37 kilometers) west of Manhattan.
At a hearing there Thursday morning, Mangione agreed to be returned to New York and was immediately turned over to at least a dozen New York Police Department officers who took him to an airport and a plane bound for Long Island. 
He then was flown to a Manhattan heliport, where he was walked slowly up a pier by a throng of officers with assault rifles — a contingent that included New York City Mayor Eric Adams and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
The federal complaint filed Thursday charges Mangione with two counts of stalking and one count each of murder through use of a firearm and a firearms offense. Murder by firearm carries the possibility of the death penalty, though federal prosecutors will determine whether to pursue that path in coming months.
In a state court indictment announced earlier this week, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office charged Mangione with murder as an act of terrorism, which carries a possible sentence of life in prison without parole. New York does not have the death penalty. 
Mangione’s lawyer, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, said it’s a “highly unusual situation” for a defendant to face simultaneous state and federal cases.
“Frankly I’ve never seen anything like what is happening here,” said Friedman Agnifilo, a former top deputy in the Manhattan district attorney's office.
She reserved the right to seek bail at a later point and declined to comment as she left the courthouse. 
Mangione, of Towson, Maryland, is accused of ambushing the 50-year-old Thompson as the executive arrived to a Manhattan hotel for an investor conference. 
Surveillance video showed a masked gunman shooting Thompson from behind. Police say the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose” were scrawled on the ammunition investigators found at the scene, echoing a phrase commonly used to describe insurer tactics to avoid paying claims.
The gunman then pedaled a bicycle through Central Park, took a taxicab to a bus station and then rode the subway to a train station before fleeing to Pennsylvania, authorities said.
There, a McDonald’s customer noticed that Mangione looked like the person in surveillance photos police were circulating of the gunman, prosecutors said. 
When he was arrested, they say, Mangione had the gun used to kill Thompson, a passport, fake IDs and about $10,000.
According to the federal complaint, Mangione also had a spiral notebook that included several handwritten pages expressing hostility toward the health insurance industry and wealthy executives. UnitedHealthcare is the largest health insurer in the U.S., though the insurer said Mangione was never a client.
An August entry said that “the target is insurance” because “it checks every box,” according to the filing. An entry in October “describes an intent to ‘wack’ the CEO of one of the insurance companies at its investor conference,” the document said.
Mangione initially fought attempts to return him to New York. In addition to waiving extradition Thursday, he waived a preliminary hearing on forgery and firearms charges in Pennsylvania.
The killing unleashed an outpouring of stories about resentment toward U.S. health insurance companies while also shaking corporate America after some social media users called the shooting payback.
Mangione, a computer science graduate from a prominent Maryland family, repeatedly posted on social media about how spinal surgery last year had eased his chronic back pain, encouraging people with similar conditions to speak up for themselves if told they just had to live with it. 
In a Reddit post in late 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.
“We live in a capitalist society,” Mangione wrote. “I’ve found that the medical industry responds to these key words far more urgently than you describing unbearable pain and how it’s impacting your quality of life.”
He apparently cut himself off from family and close friends in recent months. His family reported him missing in San Francisco in November. 
Thompson, who grew up on a farm in Iowa, was trained as an accountant. A married father of two high-schoolers, he had worked at UnitedHealth Group for 20 years and became CEO of its insurance arm in 2021.

AP-US-UnitedHealthcare-CEO-Killed, 25th Ld-Writethru

Man accused in UnitedHealthcare CEO killing faces federal charge that's eligible for death penalty

NEW YORK — New York prosecutors are using a 9/11-era anti-terrorism law in their case against the man charged with gunning down UnitedHealthcare's CEO outside a midtown Manhattan hotel. 
 Luigi Mangione was indicted on charges of murder as an act of terrorism, under a state law that allows for stiffer sentences when a killing is aimed at terrifying civilians or influencing government. 
If it sounds like an unusual application of a terrorism law, it’s not the first time the statute has been applied to a case that wasn't about cross-border extremism or a plot to kill masses of people.
Mangione is jailed on other charges in Pennsylvania, where he is scheduled to appear at an extradition hearing Thursday that could clear the way for him to be brought to New York.
Here are some things to know about the anti-terrorism law and the case surrounding the death of Brian Thompson. 
<h2>What does the law say? </h2>
Mangione is charged with first-degree and second-degree murder counts that specifically refer to a New York law that addresses terrorism. Essentially an add-on to existing criminal statutes, it says that an underlying offense constitutes “a crime of terrorism” if it's done “with intent to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence the policy of a unit of government by intimidation or coercion or affect the conduct of a unit of government by murder, assassination or kidnapping.”
<h2>What does it do? </h2>
If a defendant is convicted, the “crime of terrorism” designation boosts the underlying offense into a more serious sentencing category. For example, an assault normally punishable by up to 25 years in prison would carry a potential life sentence. 
Mangione would face a possible life sentence if convicted. 
New York does not have the death penalty. The state's highest court threw out a capital punishment law in 2004. 
<h2>Why do prosecutors say the anti-terrorism law applies in UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's killing?</h2>
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg put it simply: “The intent was to sow terror.&quot; The Democratic prosecutor noted that the shooting unfolded early on a workday in a heavily trafficked business and tourist area, and he mentioned Mangione's writings, while declining to get more specific.
When arrested, the 26-year-old was carrying a handwritten letter that called health insurance companies “parasitic” and complained about corporate greed, according to a law enforcement bulletin obtained by The Associated Press. 
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch has said Mangione also was carrying a gun that matched shell casings at the crime scene. Investigators say ammunition found near Thompson’s body bore the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose,” mimicking a phrase some people use to decry insurers' practices.
Deputy Commissioner Rebecca Weiner said the reaction to Thompson's killing shows it fits within a law against violence designed to intimidate a civilian population. 
The shooting prompted a wave of public criticism of the health insurance industry. Much of it is people sharing stories and frustration, but there also have been “wanted” posters targeting other health care honchos. Concerned companies have taken top executives' biographies offline, canceled in-person shareholder meetings and even told employees to work from home temporarily. 
<h2>What does Mangione's side say?</h2>
His New York attorney, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, called the case “overcharged” in a statement Wednesday. The term is courthouse lingo for saying that prosecutors went too far.
<h2>Where did this law come from?</h2>
State lawmakers passed it in 2001, six days after the Sept. 11 attacks, saying the state needed &quot;legislation that is specifically designed to combat the evils of terrorism&quot; and that wasn't just for federal courts. Then-state Sen. Michael Balboni, who was among the law's leading proponents, recalls pointing out that many cases could come via state and local law enforcement officers, who far outnumbered federal agents in New York. 
Many other states passed similar laws around the same time, and Congress approved the Patriot Act. 
<h2>Has New York's anti-terror law been used before? </h2>
There's no comprehensive count of cases where the anti-terrorism statute was used, because it can be layered onto many different types of charges, from weapons possession to murder. 
The specific first-degree murder “in furtherance of an act of terrorism” charge against Mangione has been the top count in only three other cases statewide, according to the Division of Criminal Justice Services. 
In New York City alone, over a half-dozen cases of various sorts have used the terror law, starting with the 2004 indictment of a Bronx gang member. He was accused of killing a 10-year-old girl and paralyzing a man at a christening party. 
Manhattan prosecutors got convictions or guilty pleas in cases including plots to bomb synagogues or open fire on their congregants; a plan to build pipe bombs to try to undermine public support for the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; alleged efforts to recruit support for the Islamic State group and to provide money and knives to Syrian extremists; and a white supremacist who killed a Black man because of racial hatred.
Friedman Agnifilo was a top deputy to Bragg's predecessor, Cyrus Vance Jr., when some of those cases were prosecuted. 
<h2>Are there limits on when the terror law applies? </h2>
Lawmakers set the parameters broadly. The law doesn't say that cases have to involve mass casualties or international extremism, Balboni said in a telephone interview on Wednesday. 
“You’re trying to prevent individuals in this country who want to change government and use extremism and violence to that end,” whether what they want to change is foreign policy or health care industry regulation, said. 
Courts haven't set out overarching rules for when a case qualifies. However, the state's top court said the Bronx gang member's case did not. 
The high court overturned his conviction. Justices were skeptical that the shooting — allegedly targeting a rival gang member — was meant to intimidate the broader community. They also worried that the meaning of terrorism could be trivialized if &quot;applied loosely in situations that do not match our collective understanding of what constitutes a terrorist act.” 
The man, who denied involvement in the shooting, was retried on manslaughter and other charges. He was convicted and sentenced to 50 years in prison. 
<h2>Is Mangione charged with anything else? </h2>
Yes. The indictment includes another second-degree murder charge that doesn't have the terrorism allegation, as well as eight weapons-possession counts.

AP-US-UnitedHealthcare-CEO-Killed-Terrorism-Law, 2nd Ld-Writethru

How New York prosecutors used a terrorism law in the charges against Luigi Mangione

Nicole Fuller

Alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione has been indicted on first- and second-degree murder charges as an &quot;act of terrorism&quot; in the fatal shooting of CEO Brian Thompson in midtown Manhattan earlier this month — a killing that was done to &quot;sow terror,&quot; Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Tuesday. 
Bragg, at a news conference in Manhattan, cited Mangione’s writings, which police have said included a &quot;manifesto&quot; that indicated &quot;ill will&quot; toward&nbsp;corporate America, as well as the location and public nature of the killing, in charging Mangione with committing terrorism. 
&quot;It does help to take a step back and think about the proof in the case, some of the writings — I’m not going to get into too much of that — and the actual reaction: In the middle of midtown, the beginning of a busy day, tourists, commuters, business people,&quot; said Bragg. &quot;The intent was to sow terror.&quot; 
The indictment unsealed Tuesday charges Mangione with one count of first-degree murder, as an act of terrorism;&nbsp;and two counts of second-degree murder, one as an act of terrorism and the other as an intentional killing, Bragg said. 
Mangione, a 26-year-old computer scientist from Maryland, could be arraigned on the indictment as early as Thursday, following a scheduled extradition hearing in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested Dec. 9. 
Neither of Mangione's attorneys — Karen Friedman Agnifilo, who is representing him in the New York case, and Thomas Dickey, his counsel for the Pennsylvania charges he’s also facing — responded to messages seeking comment Tuesday. 
Bragg expressed confidence in his office’s ability to prove the charges, citing the language of the murder statutes. 
&quot;The statute talks about attempts to influence or coerce a civilian population, the statute talks about intending to influence a policy of government,&quot; said Bragg. &quot;And it talks about seeking to put forth things similar to that by murder. So the plain language of the statute is clear. Obviously, we’ve charged it, the grand jury’s voted on it. We intend to go forward and prove it.&quot;&nbsp; 
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, also speaking at the news conference, said Mangione’s mother told police in San Francisco that were investigating Mangione as a missing person that the killing of Thompson &quot;might be something that she could see him doing&quot; before he was arrested. 
Kenny said that Mangione was reported missing to San Francisco police on Nov. 18. A sergeant in San Francisco who was investigating Mangione’s reported disappearance saw a photo of the suspected CEO killer that was released by the NYPD and thought it &quot;bears a resemblance&quot; to Mangione, Kenny said. 
The San Francisco sergeant reported it to the FBI, which forwarded the tip to a joint FBI-NYPD task force 45 hours after the killing, Kenny said. 
&quot;They reached out to Mangione’s mother in San Francisco, very late on the 7th,&quot; said Kenny. &quot;They had a conversation where she didn’t indicate that it was her son in the photograph, but she said it might be something that she could see him doing.&quot; 
Mangione was arrested on Dec. 9. 
Meanwhile, Thursday’s extradition hearing in Blair County, Pennsylvania, could result in Mangione's almost-immediate extradition to New York. Bragg, on Tuesday, reiterated comments he made last week, saying that &quot;indications&quot; are that Mangione might waive extradition after initially fighting a transfer to New York. 
Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania,&nbsp;after a McDonald's worker called 911 to report that Mangione appeared to resemble a person of interest being pursued by the NYPD in the killing of Thompson, a married father of two. 
Altoona police arrested Mangione on charges of forgery and weapons possession. Police said Mangione was found in possession of an illegal ghost gun — which the NYPD later said was a match to shell casings found at the scene of Thompson's killing — and multiple fake IDs, including a New Jersey driver's license that was used to rent a room at an Upper West Side hostel before the killing. 
Blair County District Attorney Peter J. Weeks said in a statement Tuesday that Mangione's Pennsylvania charges will be the subject of a preliminary hearing Thursday morning. The extradition hearing will immediately follow, Weeks said. 
&quot;We will have no further comment at this time regarding what may occur at these appearances or whether evidence may be presented during the hearings as those are decisions that rest exclusively with Mr. Mangione and the rights afforded to him,&quot; Weeks said. 
The NYPD has&nbsp;said it linked Mangione to the killing through fingerprints found on a water bottle and a Kind bar wrapper found near the scene of the killing outside the New York Hilton Midtown on Sixth Avenue. 
Investigators are trying to establish whether Mangione's alleged negative feelings about the health care insurance industry served as a motive in Thompson's fatal shooting. 
The three shell casings found at the scene had the words &quot;delay&quot; &quot;deny&quot; and &quot;depose&quot; printed on them, which police have said could have a nexus to language used in the health insurance industry. 
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, also speaking at the Tuesday news conference, spoke out strongly against some social media sentiment that has sought to celebrate Mangione’s alleged actions. 
&quot;In the nearly two weeks since Mr. Thompson’s killing, we have a seen a shocking and appalling celebration of cold-blooded murder,&quot; Tisch said. &quot;Social media has erupted with praise for this cowardly attack. People ghoulishly plastered posters threatening other CEOs with an 'X' over Mr. Thompson’s picture&nbsp;as though he was some sort of a sick trophy.&quot; 
Tisch also cited a media report about a deck of cards with the faces of other CEOs on them. 
&quot;There is no heroism in what Mangione did,&quot; Tisch said. &quot;This was a senseless act of violence. It was a cold and calculated crime that stole a life and put New Yorkers at risk. We don’t celebrate murders and we don’t lionize the killing of anyone. And any attempt to rationalize this is vile, reckless and offensive to our deeply held principles of justice.&quot;&nbsp;

New York

nyCEO241218

Accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione indicted on charge of first-degree murder 'as act of terrorism,' NYC officials say

Suspected CEO killer indicted on charge of first-degree murder as 'act of terrorism,' NYC officials say

nyCEO241218_photos

According to Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg, the first-degree murder charge against Luigi Mangione alleges the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was&nbsp;&quot;an act of terrorism.&quot; NewsdayTV&#39;s Ken Buffa reports.

nyCEO241218_video

Accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione indicted on first-degree murder charge

NYC officials: CEO killing an 'act of terrorism'

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Nicole Fuller and Anthony M. DeStefano

A moment of levity and a desire for a quick drink and a bite to eat. 
Those were the mistakes suspected CEO killer Luigi Mangione made, resulting in his arrest in the <a href="https://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/unitedhealthcare-ceo-brian-thompson-shooting-xq6ql1zr">fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson</a> in midtown Manhattan on Dec. 4,&nbsp;multiple law enforcement experts say. 
&quot;I don’t think anywhere in his planning was&nbsp;'I want to get a Kind bar,' or I’m gonna go to a hostel and flirt with a girl,&quot; said David Sarni, a retired NYPD detective on the job for 27 years and now an adjunct professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in Manhattan. &quot;Those are things you do as a human being. People make mistakes, and detectives are going to exploit those mistakes.&quot; 
<h2>Investigators work the clues</h2> 
Those apparent errors, police said, have provided fingerprint matches to Mangione, as well as a ballistics match between shell casings found at the scene and a firearm Mangione was carrying at the time of his arrest. They&nbsp;will be key pieces of evidence&nbsp;police and prosecutors will use to build their murder case against the 26-year-old computer engineer from Towson, Maryland. 
Despite what appears to have been extensive planning and preparation to carry out the killing, several actions&nbsp;— like pulling down his mask and&nbsp;dropping a water bottle and snack wrapper, for example —&nbsp;have helped detectives&nbsp;tie Mangione, who came from a prominent Maryland family, to the killing. 
Mangione had, until just before his arrest on Monday, managed to fly under the radar. 
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said investigators didn't have a&nbsp;suspect's name until Mangione stopped for a meal at McDonald's, indicating Mangione could have potentially continued to evade authorities. 
Nor did authorities have a potential motive for the killing. 
Investigators are examining whether Mangione, who was high school valedictorian at his elite prep school in Maryland and went on to earn two degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, was moved to allegedly kill Thompson, a married father of two from Minnesota, after he suffered a back injury and was dissatisfied with the results and his interactions with the health insurance industry, a police official said. On Thursday, police officials said Mangione did not appear to be a client of the insurance company&nbsp;and that he had knowledge&nbsp;for months beforehand of the investors meeting that brought Thompson to New York City. 
<h2>An alleged manifesto</h2> 
After his arrest, police found a three-page &quot;manifesto&quot; in which Mangione apparently voiced disdain for the nation's health care systems. 
One&nbsp;passage included: &quot;To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone,&quot; The Associated Press reported the document said. &quot;I do apologize for any strife or traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.&quot; 
The New York Times reported that handwritten words in a spiral notebook found with Mangione stated: &quot;What do you do? You wack the CEO at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention. It’s targeted, precise, and doesn’t risk innocents.&quot; 
Defense attorney Jeffrey Lichtman, of Manhattan, who isn't involved in the case, believes that Mangione's legal team should move to mount a defense based on what he said were Mangione's apparent emotional issues, which he said would be their best shot at reducing the murder charge. 
&quot;Extreme emotional disturbance is the defense to knock down the murder charge to manslaughter in the first degree,&quot; said Lichtman, referring to the affirmative defense that Mangione's attorneys would have the burden of proving. 
The so-called manifesto found among Mangione's possessions when he was arrested Monday morning in Altoona, Pennsylvania, indicates that he was &quot;completely out there&quot; in terms of his mental state, Lichtman said. 
Based on the trove of evidence against Mangione that the NYPD has amassed, Lichtman said &quot;my gut tells me this is not a case where they can say he was not the shooter.&quot; 
Mangione shouted toward television cameras as he was being brought into a Pennsylvania courthouse after his arrest, saying that something, which was inaudible, was &quot;clearly out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people.&quot; 
Professor&nbsp;David Shapiro, of John Jay College of Criminal Justice, said the extreme emotional disturbance defense could be a possibility for Mangione's defense&nbsp;and agreed that the evidence that authorities have described thus far is &quot;devastating stuff, devastating stuff.&quot; 
<h2>A missing persons report</h2> 
Mangione’s mother had reportedly filed a missing persons report with San Francisco police in November after not hearing from Mangione in several months, according to multiple news reports. He had lived in San Francisco as well as in Honolulu. 
For now, Mangione remains in a Pennsylvania prison, held without bail on weapons and forgery charges after he was found with several fake IDs — including what police said was the same New Jersey driver’s license used to check into an Upper West Side hostel where police said the gunman stayed before the shooting outside the New York Hilton on Sixth Avenue — and a 3D-printed illegal ghost gun, which authorities said appears to be the same gun that fired the bullets that struck Thompson, based on NYPD ballistics testing. 
Peter J. Weeks, the district attorney in Blair County, Pennsylvania, said in an email to Newsday: &quot;The defendant was given 14 days by the Court to file a formal motion contesting extradition. The Commonwealth has 30 days to obtain a Governor's warrant to effectuate the extradition. I expect the Court will schedule a hearing to occur sometime after the 14 day deadline.&quot; 
<h2>Defense: 'No evidence' against Mangione</h2> 
Manhattan prosecutors have charged Mangione with second-degree murder and other charges in the Dec. 4 killing of Thompson. He’ll be arraigned on those charges once he has been returned to New York. Weeks has said he’ll allow New York to prosecute Mangione first&nbsp;but said he plans to eventually press forward with his case, too. 
Mangione's Pennsylvania-based defense attorney, Thomas Dickey, has not responded to a message seeking comment&nbsp;but has said in nationally televised interviews that his client intends to plead not guilty to the charges in both New York and Pennsylvania. Dickey has said he has&nbsp;seen &quot;no evidence&quot; linking his client to the crimes for which he’s been charged.&nbsp; 
Mangione also has hired the attorney Karen Friedman Agnifilo, of Agnifilo Intrater LLP, who is a&nbsp;former top deputy in the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, the firm confirmed Saturday. 
Meanwhile, with a suspect in custody, NYPD officials said they are attempting to construct a definitive timeline of the events surrounding and including the shooting, focusing on Mangione's actions before and after the killing&nbsp;to establish motive and to place him as close as possible to the shooting itself. 
The idea, said retired NYPD Det. Joseph Giacalone, who has been an adjunct professor at John Jay, is to place Mangione as close as possible to the shooting, even if there are&nbsp;no eyewitnesses who can testify that he was seen pulling the trigger. The suspected gunman wore a face mask and hooded jacket — preventing eyewitnesses from being able to identify him&nbsp;— according to video footage of the shooting released by the NYPD. 
Legal experts agree the case as it stands against Mangione is largely circumstantial, but Giacalone thinks the NYPD will have no trouble pulling together a compelling narrative for a jury of Mangione's peers, which will include key clips of video surveillance, culled from hours of footage. 
&quot;They will put him there,&quot; said Giacalone, referring to Mangione's proximity to the shooting. 
<h2>A face and a smile</h2> 
A major break in the investigation came when a man whom police believe is Mangione, apparently while flirting with a clerk at the Upper West Side hostel where police said he stayed in the days leading up to the killing, removed his face mask and flashed a smile. 
Police shared that photograph online and with the news media, which helped a customer in a McDonald's nearly 300 miles away from New York City recognize a fellow customer — later&nbsp;identified as Mangione&nbsp;— munching on a hash brown Monday morning. 
Part of the reason Mangione was also able to avoid arrest in the immediate days after Thompson's assassination: He had no prior criminal record. 
Therefore, his DNA and fingerprints weren't&nbsp;in the databases containing that information on individuals who have been previously convicted of crimes, which are frequently used by law enforcement, officials said. 
But after his arrest, according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, the department's crime laboratory in Queens was able to link Mangione to the crime scene through his fingerprints on a water bottle and Kind bar wrapper that were found near the scene of the shooting. 
Also, ballistics testing done at the crime lab confirmed that the illegal ghost gun — built with the help of a 3D printer and without a serial number to trace it — Mangione was carrying at the time of his arrest, was determined to have been the same gun that fired the rounds at Thompson, Tisch said. 
<h2>A message at the crime scene</h2> 
The three shell casings found at the scene had a message for investigators, with the words &quot;delay,&quot; &quot;deny&quot; and &quot;depose&quot; printed on them, a law enforcement source has told Newsday, another possible indication of a motive. 
Those words are similar to a 2010 book titled, &quot;Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It,&quot; by Jay M. Feinman, a professor at Rutgers Law School. 
Investigators still have plenty of work to do. Detectives need to trace Mangione's steps after the killing and work to access his digital footprint, including his electronic devices, Sarni said. 
One question that apparently hasn’t been answered is how the suspected shooter knew where to be in order to encounter Thompson at 6:44 a.m. outside a massive hotel with multiple entrances and exits.&nbsp;Was it just a morbid stroke of luck? 
&quot;How did he know to be at the scene at the time he was there?&quot; Sarni said. &quot;Hopefully, what he wrote will help them figure that out.&quot; 
With Janon Fisher

nyCEO241215

How investigators are building a case against alleged CEO killer Luigi Mangione based on trail of evidence

How investigators are building a case against alleged CEO killer

Janon Fisher

Alleged&nbsp;UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione has retained Karen Friedman Agnifilo, a high-ranking veteran of the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, as his defense attorney. 
Mangione, who is&nbsp;in a Pennsylvania jail awaiting extradition to New York, has been charged with second-degree murder and gun charges in&nbsp;the fatal shooting of health insurance executive Brian Thompson on Dec. 4. 
Friedman Agnifilo, who served as the second in command under former district attorney Cyrus Vance for nearly 10 years, has three decades of experience in the legal profession and appeared on TV as a legal analyst for CNN. 
Her firm, Agnifilo Intrater LLP, confirmed that she would be representing Mangione&nbsp;but declined to comment further.&nbsp;The former top prosecutor did speak&nbsp;about the case&nbsp;on CNN before she was retained. 
&quot;It looks like to me there might be a 'not guilty by reason of insanity' defense because the evidence is going to be so overwhelming that he did what he did,&quot; Friedman Agnifilo said. 
Her husband, Marc Agnifilo, represents Sean “Diddy” Combs in the Manhattan federal case against the rap mogul for sex trafficking and racketeering. 
Authorities believe it was Mangione who was recorded on surveillance video walking up to Thompson outside the New York Hilton hotel on 54th Street and Seventh Avenue, pulling out a handgun with a silencer attached and shooting the executive three times. 
NYPD detectives said Mangione fled through Central Park on a Citibike after checking out of an Upper West Side hostel. He left the city for Pennsylvania where he was arrested in an Altoona McDonald’s while eating a hash brown and typing on his laptop, authorities said. 
Mangione, an Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland family, has expressed frustration at the health insurance industry online and in written statements. 
In his bag, police found a 3D-printed handgun and silencer along with a manifesto in which he appeared to take credit for the murder, according to his criminal complaint. 
Mangione, who was charged for the illegal handgun in Pennsylvania, could be&nbsp;extradited to New York next week for his arraignment on the murder and weapons charges.

NYLAWYER241215

Ex-Manhattan prosecutor Karen Friedman Agnifilo to represent suspect in killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO

Former Manhattan prosecutor to represent suspect in killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO

Alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione could end up reversing course and waiving&nbsp;extradition to New York City to face murder and other charges in the slaying of CEO Brian Thompson, the top Manhattan prosecutor said Friday. 
&quot;Indications are that the defendant may waive [extradition], but that waiver is not complete until a court proceeding,&quot; Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Friday at an unrelated event in Times Square. 
Bragg added that court officials in Pennsylvania said a court hearing, which is required in order for a defendant to waive extradition, is &quot;not available until at least Tuesday.&quot; 
Mangione, who was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Monday and has been charged with second-degree murder and other charges in the killing of Thompson, has been fighting&nbsp;extradition to New York. 
Mangione, a 26-year-old computer scientist from Maryland, is being held without bail on forgery&nbsp;and weapons charges in a Pennsylvania prison after police allegedly found him in possession of multiple fake IDs and an illegal ghost gun. 
Bragg did not explain why Mangione was apparently set to take a new legal tact. 
Mangione's defense attorney, Thomas Dickey, did not immediately return a message Friday seeking comment on Bragg's comments. 
The potential reversal caps a week of fast-pace developments that began on Monday when Mangione was captured in Pennsylvania after a six-day search that started when Thompson was fatally shot to death in a predawn ambush Dec. 4 in what NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch described as&nbsp;&quot;a brazen targeted attack.&quot; 
In the hours since the arrest, the NYPD&nbsp;said it has&nbsp;linked Mangione to the killing outside the New York Hilton on Sixth Avenue through fingerprints on a water bottle and Kind bar wrapper found near the scene. 
In addition,&nbsp;the NYPD has said ballistics testing shows that the three shell casings found at the scene of the killing were fired by the gun that Mangione had with him when he was arrested. 
The shell casings had the words delay,&quot; &quot;deny&quot; and &quot;depose,&quot; which police have said could have a connection to the health insurance industry. 
Investigators are examining whether Mangione's alleged negative feelings about the health care insurance industry served as the motive in Thompson's killing. 
On his way into a Pennsylvania court Tuesday, Mangione struggled with sheriff’s deputies leading him into the courthouse ahead of the extradition hearing. A handcuffed Mangione, wearing an orange jumpsuit, shouted comments during his brief scuffle with the deputies that included Mangione saying &quot;clearly out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people,&quot; according to a broadcast. His full comments were not audible. 
Authorities have said that Mangione appears to have been motivated to act by the fact that UnitedHealthcare wields massive influence in the nation's health insurance industry, although Mangione does not appear to have been insured by the company. 
Mangione knew for months beforehand about the investor meeting that brought Thompson to New York City, police officials said. 
Authorities have said Mangione was also found with a &quot;manifesto&quot; that detailed &quot;ill will&quot; toward corporate America.

nyCEO241214

Accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione may reverse course and waive extradition, Manhattan DA Bragg says

Accused CEO killer may reverse course and waive extradition, top Manhattan prosecutor says

Suspected CEO killer Luigi Mangione may have been motivated to act based on the belief&nbsp;UnitedHealthcare wields massive influence in the nation's health insurance industry, NYPD officials said Thursday, while noting Mangione does not appear to have been a client of the nation's largest health insurance company. 
Mangione, a 26-year-old computer scientist from Maryland who has&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/ceo-killing-brian-thompson-fxnpassw">been arrested and charged</a>&nbsp;with murder in the killing of CEO Brian Thompson, knew for months beforehand about the investor meeting that brought Thompson to New York City, police officials said. 
Mangione is being held without bail in Pennsylvania on forgery and weapons possession charges. He is fighting&nbsp;extradition to New York, where Manhattan prosecutors have charged him with second-degree murder and other charges in the assassination of Thompson, a 50-year-old married father of two from Minnesota. 
Mangione's attorney, Thomas Dickey, has not responded to messages seeking comment. But in television interviews he has&nbsp;said his client will plead not guilty to the charges in both states. 
Mangione, who has two degrees from the University of Pennsylvania, was carrying a three-page &quot;manifesto&quot; that &quot;speaks to both his motivation and mindset,&quot; NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny has said. 
The document, Kenny has said, indicates someone who has &quot;some ill will toward corporate America.&quot; 
Mangione, who was arrested Monday at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, also had several other pieces of evidence in his possession, according to police, including an illegal and untraceable ghost gun, which had the capability to fire a 9 mm round, and a gun silencer, police said. 
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch has said that ballistics testing performed at its crime lab in Queens shows that shell casings found at the scene of the killing came from the gun that was allegedly in Magione's possession. 
Police have also matched Mangione's fingerprints with prints found on a water bottle and a Kind bar wrapper found near the fatal shooting scene. 
Investigators have also been looking into related potential motives, including that Mangione was unhappy with his interactions with the health insurance industry after he sustained a back injury, police have said. 
Mangione also had several fake IDs, according to police, including the same New Jersey driver's license the alleged gunman used to rent a room at an Upper West Side hostel in the days before the killing. 
The assassination of Thompson on Dec. 4 outside the New York Hilton on Sixth Avenue was captured on surveillance video and showed a masked gunman approach Thompson from behind and open fire. 
Thompson was shot in the back and calf, police have said. He died from a single gunshot to the torso, the medical examiner's office has ruled, according to court documents. 
Three shell casings found at the scene were marked with the words &quot;delay,&quot; &quot;deny&quot; and &quot;depose,&quot; which police have said could have a nexus to the health insurance industry. 
Police also shared photographs online and to the news media, which helped a customer in a McDonald's nearly 300 miles away from New York City recognize a fellow customer — identified as Mangione — munching on a hash brown Monday morning. 
At his bail hearing in Pennsylvania Tuesday, Mangione shouted toward television cameras as he was being brought into a courthouse , saying that something, which was inaudible, was &quot;clearly out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people.&quot;

nyCEO241213

Alleged CEO killer Luigi Mangione did not appear to be UnitedHealthcare client, NYPD says

Alleged CEO killer did not appear to be a UnitedHealthcare client, NYPD says

nyCEO241213_photos

PHILADELPHIA — More than 400 tips were called into the New York Police Department's Crime Stoppers tip line during the five-day search for a masked gunman who ambushed and fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson last week.
NYPD officials said about 30 of those tips were useful as information about the gunman's movements before and after the Dec. 4 shooting began to take shape. But it wasn't until a 911 call came in from a McDonald's employee in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday that police zeroed in on their suspect.
Up to $60,000 in rewards from the FBI and the Crime Stoppers program had been offered to anyone calling in a tip leading to a break in the case. But although police and prosecutors moved quickly to arrest and charge 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, any rewards may take significantly more time to be released and might be less than the full amount after taxes and consideration of the role the tips played.
Exactly who will get a reward or a share of one is still being determined, officials said. In fact, the federal and local rewards programs operate with different rules, but both have leeway built in to offer multiple rewards of varying amounts based on the outcome of those tips.
<h2>How does someone become eligible for a reward?</h2>
The FBI reward program, which offered a reward of up to $50,000 in this case, requires that a tip or information lead to an arrest and conviction. 
Phone calls and emails to the FBI press office seeking details of the specific reward program's process were not returned, but websites for various rewards offered by the agency outline similar processes. A person giving a tip must be nominated, usually by a federal investigating agency. Then a board considers the tip and its role in the investigation, and decides whether to award up to the full amount. 
For the NYPD Crime Stoppers award, funded by the New York City Police Foundation and the NYPD’s Detective Bureau, the tip line usually offers up to $3,500 for information that leads to an arrest and indictment. The Detective Bureau increased that amount to $10,000 in this case, and for its portion a conviction is required.
“The public’s help is essential to solving crimes and keeping our communities safe,&quot; the Police Foundation board said in a statement Wednesday. “The individual in Pennsylvania, who called in a tip, is eligible to receive the reward.”
The McDonald's employee called 911, which records a number and usually a name. A tipster calling the Crime Stoppers line remains anonymous. The program promises to never trace cellphone numbers or record information about the callers, instead giving them a unique identifier number that they can use to check back about the status of the case and the potential for a reward.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny will assess which tip or tips were instrumental in cracking the case when determining how Detective Bureau reward funds should be allocated, police officials said Wednesday.
<h2>When might money be awarded?</h2>
Most rewards require a conviction. Given the nature of the murder charges and the multiple jurisdictions involved, it could be a year or more before a trial happens.
For the $3,500 from Crime Stoppers, the board could decide to issue reward money after the indictment is complete. Both the FBI and Crime Stoppers have boards that review the tips, talk to detectives or other law enforcement involved in the investigation, and determine which tips served a substantial role in the case. The boards have some leeway to decide the amounts each tip would merit. 
The Crime Stoppers board has the leeway to split a reward between tips or to consider each for the maximum amount on a case-by-case basis.
NYPD officials did not specify how any of the 30 tips helped the case, but it's unlikely each tipster would receive the highest amount offered.
<h2>How has money been awarded in the past?</h2>
The police foundation and the FBI don't discuss individual cases or reveal how much money individual tipsters were awarded. 
For some programs such as the Rewards for Justice program, the FBI notes that it has awarded millions of dollars over the last two decades. For that program, the FBI sometimes announces the amount of the reward but does not identify the tipsters. Most often, the agency provides a confidential report to Congress detailing the tips and the rewards.
The same principles apply to Crime Stoppers The program doesn't release details in an effort to protect the anonymity promised to tipsters. It does tout notable cases on its website in which the tips helped solve cases, including an April 2022 mass shooting on the where tips helped lead officials to the arrest and eventual guilty plea of Frank James.

AP-US-UnitedHealthcare-CEO-Killed-Rewards

McDonald's employee who called 911 in CEO's shooting is eligible for a reward, but it will take time

“Wanted” posters with the names and faces of health care executives have been popping up on the streets of New York. Hit lists with images of bullets are circulating online with warnings that industry leaders should be afraid.
The apparent targeted killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the menacing threats that followed have sent a shudder through corporate America and the health care industry in particular, leading to increased security for executives and some workers.
In the week since the brazen shooting, health insurers have removed information about their top executives from company websites, canceled in-person meetings with shareholders and advised all employees to work from home temporarily.
An internal New York Police Department bulletin warned this week that the online vitriol that followed the shooting could signal an immediate “elevated threat.”
Police fear that the Dec. 4 shooting could &quot;inspire a variety of extremists and grievance-driven malicious actors to violence,&quot; according to the bulletin, which was obtained by The Associated Press.
“Wanted” posters pasted to parking meters and construction site fences in Manhattan included photos of health care executives and the words “Deny, defend, depose” — similar to a phrase scrawled on bullets found near Thompson’s body and echoing those used by insurance industry critics.
Thompson's wife, Paulette, told NBC News last week that he told her some people had been threatening him and suggested the threats may have involved issues with insurance coverage.
Investigators believe the shooting suspect, Luigi Mangione, may have been motivated by hostility toward health insurers. They are studying his writings about a previous back injury, and his disdain for corporate America and the U.S. health care system.
Mangione’s lawyer has cautioned against prejudging the case. Mangione, 26, has remained jailed in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested Monday. Manhattan prosecutors are working to bring him to New York to face a murder charge.
UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, said this week it was working with law enforcement to ensure a safe work environment and to reinforce security guidelines and building access policies, a spokesperson said.
The company has taken down photos, names and biographies for its top executives from its websites, a spokesperson said. Other organizations, including CVS, the parent company for insurance giant Aetna, have taken similar actions.
Government health insurance provider Centene Corp. has announced that its investor day will be held online, rather than in-person as originally planned. Medica, a Minnesota-based nonprofit health care firm, said last week it was temporarily closing its six offices for security reasons and would have its employees work from home.
Heightened security measures likely will make health care companies and their leaders more inaccessible to their policyholders, said former Cigna executive Wendell Potter.
“And understandably so, with this act of violence. There’s no assurance that this won’t happen again,” said Potter, who’s now an advocate for health care reform.
Private security firms and consultants have been in high demand, fielding calls almost immediately after the shooting from companies across a range of industries, including manufacturing and finance. 
Companies have long faced security risks and grappled with how far to take precautions for high-profile executives. But these recent threats sparked by Thompson's killing should not be ignored, said Dave Komendat, a former security chief for Boeing who now heads his own risk-management company.
“The tone and tenor is different. The social reaction to this tragedy is different. And so I think that people need to take this seriously,” Komendat said. 
Just over a quarter of the companies in the Fortune 500 reported spending money to protect their CEOs and top executives. Of those, the median payment for personal security doubled over the last three years to just under $100,000.
Hours after the shooting, Komendat was on a call with dozens of chief security officers from big corporations, and there have been many similar meetings since, hosted by security groups or law enforcement agencies assessing the threats, he said.
“It just takes one person who is motivated by a poster — who may have experienced something in their life through one of these companies that was harmful,&quot; Komendat said.
___
Associated Press reporters Wyatte Grantham-Philips in New York and Barbara Ortutay in San Francisco, contributed to this report.

Business

AP-US-UnitedHealthcare-CEO-Killed-Executive-Security, 2nd Ld-Writethru

Companies tighten security after a health care CEO's killing leads to a surge of threats

Manhattan Shooting

Alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione is fighting extradition to New York City on a murder charge in the fatal shooting of Brian Thompson and will remain in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested six days into the nationwide hunt for the suspected shooter. 
Mangione, 26, an Ivy League-educated computer scientist from Towson, Maryland, was charged in Manhattan with second-degree murder and weapons and a forged instrument possession charges on Monday night following his arrest in Altoona, Pennsylvania. 
Manhattan prosecutors are seeking to extradite Mangione to face the charges in the killing of Thompson, a married father of two from Maple Grove, Minnesota. 
On his way into a Pennsylvania court Tuesday, Mangione struggled with sheriff’s deputies leading him into the courthouse ahead of the extradition hearing. A handcuffed Mangione, wearing an orange jumpsuit, shouted comments during his brief scuffle with the deputies that included Mangione saying &quot;clearly out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people,&quot; according to a broadcast. His full comments were not audible. 
Blair County, Pennsylvania, District Attorney Peter J. Weeks, speaking at a news conference after the extradition hearing, said he was confident&nbsp; Mangione would ultimately be extradited to New York. Criminal defendants can choose to waive their extradition to another state to face charges, but also have the option to contest the process, which typically delays transport to the jurisdiction for arraignment. 
&quot;We're going to do what's necessary to get the governor's warrant [for extradition],&quot; Weeks said. &quot;Waiving [extradition] accelerates that process. Contesting it just makes more hoops for law enforcement to jump through, but we're happy to do it.&quot; 
Officials said Mangione would remain in Pennsylvania for at least 14 days. 
A spokeswoman for the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said it intended to seek a governor’s warrant to extradite Mangione. 
Weeks said the judge gave Mangione’s defense attorney 14 days to file a petition challenging the extradition. Weeks said the judge would set another hearing after that deadline. Weeks said he intended to forego prosecuting Mangione in Pennsylvania on gun possession and forgery charges to allow the New York case to proceed, but said he didn’t intend to drop his case against Mangione. 
Mangione’s Pennsylvania-based defense attorney did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Tuesday. 
Thompson died last Wednesday as a result of a &quot;gunshot wound to the torso,&quot; as determined at his autopsy, according to the felony arrest warrant for Mangione issued in New York. 
Mangione, who grew up outside of Baltimore but recently lived in Honolulu, was arrested Monday morning at a McDonald's restaurant in Altoona, after a fellow patron thought he resembled the suspect in Thompson’s killing. Authorities released a photo Tuesday of Mangione munching on a McDonald’s hash brown shortly before his arrest. 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="This video image released by Pennsylvania State Police shows Luigi Mangione at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pa., before his arrest Monday." data-attr-credit="AP" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/834facb5-8e94-4b64-83dd-e183d1aee448" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/834facb5-8e94-4b64-83dd-e183d1aee448', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/834facb5-8e94-4b64-83dd-e183d1aee448"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/834facb5-8e94-4b64-83dd-e183d1aee448/51520579b7fc42c19aafdfa60.jpg?w=400&amp;q=0.3" />This video image released by Pennsylvania State Police shows Luigi Mangione at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pa., before his arrest Monday.</a> 
Police found &quot;a black 3D printed pistol and a black silencer ... the pistol had a metal slide and a plastic handle with a metal threaded barrel&quot; inside Mangione’s backpack, according to a criminal complaint filed in Blair County. &quot;The pistol had one loaded Glock magazine with six nine-millimeter full metal jacket rounds. There was also one loose nine-millimeter hollow point round.&quot; 
Mangione was arraigned Monday on those forgery and weapons charges in Blair County, and ordered held without bail. 
According to the Pennsylvania complaint, police were dispatched to the McDonald’s on Plank Road in Altoona at 9:14 a.m. for a &quot;suspicious male&quot; who resembled the CEO shooter. 
Mangione, wearing a blue medical mask and a beanie, was sitting at a table in the rear of the restaurant and looking at a silver laptop when police walked up to him, the complaint said. A backpack was on the floor next to him, the complaint said. 
Rookie Police Officer Tyler Frye, who has been a police officer for about six months, said he and his partner &quot;recognized him immediately.&quot; 
&quot;We didn't even think twice about it,&quot; Frye said. &quot;We knew it was our guy.&quot; 
Frye said Mangione pulled down his mask when he directed him to do so and described Mangione as &quot;pretty cooperative.&quot; 
Mangione provided police with a New Jersey driver’s license bearing the name of Mark Rosario with a birth year of 1998 when asked for identification by the officers, the complaint said. The NYPD said the ID is fake and was the same one used to book a hostel on the Upper West Side where the alleged shooter stayed before the shooting. 
When the police asked Mangione if he had been to New York recently, he &quot;became quiet and started to shake,&quot; the complaint said. 
When questioned about the identification he provided and told he would be arrested if he lied about his identity, Mangione told the officers his name, the complaint said. When asked why he initially lied, Mangione said, according to the complaint, &quot;I clearly shouldn’t have.&quot; 
At the time of his arrest, Mangione, who graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, was carrying a three-page &quot;manifesto&quot; that &quot;speaks to both his motivation and mindset,&quot; said NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny, who said the document indicated that the suspect &quot;has some ill will toward corporate America.&quot; 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, in an undated photograph." data-attr-credit="TNS" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/21cac451-6fb0-416c-838c-e2a73aa35429" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/21cac451-6fb0-416c-838c-e2a73aa35429', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/21cac451-6fb0-416c-838c-e2a73aa35429"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/21cac451-6fb0-416c-838c-e2a73aa35429/US-NEWS-NYC-CEO-MURDER-4-.jpg?w=400&amp;q=0.3" />Brian Thompson, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, in an undated photograph.</a> 
Surveillance video showed what police said was the targeted and brazen killing of Thompson, who was shot from behind in the back and calf, as he walked on a sidewalk outside the Hilton about 6:44 a.m. last Wednesday. The shooter, wearing a mask and hood, was believed to have left the scene on an electric bike. 
NYPD detectives were able to piece together his whereabouts before and after the shooting using the extensive network of surveillance cameras in Manhattan. 
According to a police official, the suspected shooter had arrived in New York on Nov. 24 at the Port Authority Bus Terminal after 10 p.m. on a bus from Atlanta, though it was unclear at which stop the shooter boarded the bus. 
He checked into the hostel on Amsterdam Avenue and stayed for five days, checking out on Nov. 29, then checking back in the next day, police said. 
The suspected gunman left the hostel at 5:30 a.m. on the day of the shooting and went into a nearby Starbucks, police said. 
After shooting Thompson, who was pronounced dead at a hospital about a half hour after being wounded, the alleged gunman fled on what police believe was an electric bicycle and entered Central Park at 6:48 a.m., police said. 
Surveillance video showed him at Central Park West at 6:56 a.m. and two minutes later at 85th Street and Columbus Avenue. At 7 a.m., he had abandoned the bike and was spotted walking north on 86th Street. The suspect then got into a cab and was next spotted via surveillance video near the Port Authority bus station near the George Washington Bridge at 7:30 a.m. 
At the scene, police found several pieces of evidence, including an apparent message on the three shell casings. Investigators found the words &quot;delay,&quot; &quot;deny&quot; and &quot;depose&quot; on the shell casings, a law enforcement source has told Newsday. The words echo a 2010 book entitled &quot;Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It&quot; by Jay M. Feinman.

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Luigi Mangione, suspected CEO killer, fighting extradition to New York, officials say

Suspected CEO killer fighting extradition to New York City, officials say

Luigi Mangione, the UnitedHealthcare CEO alleged shooter, is fighting extradition back to New York City on a murder charge in the fatal shooting of executive Brian Thompson.&nbsp;

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UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting suspect fights extradition back to NYC

New York State

Luigi Mangione, suspected CEO killer, fights extradition to NY

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The so-called&nbsp;ghost gun that suspected CEO killer Luigi Mangione had when he was arrested in Pennsylvania matches&nbsp;the shell casings found at the midtown Manhattan crime scene where UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was fatally shot, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Wednesday. 
&quot;First, we got the gun in question back from Pennsylvania; it’s now at the NYPD crime lab,&quot; said Tisch, speaking at an unrelated event on Staten Island. &quot;We were able to match that gun to the three shell casings that we found in midtown at the scene of the homicide. We were also able, at our crime lab, to match the person of interest’s fingerprints with fingerprints that we found on both the water bottle and the Kind bar near the scene of the homicide in midtown.&quot; 
The fingerprint and ballistics matches represent the first pieces of forensic evidence that authorities say directly links Mangione to the crime. 
Authorities also found a notebook that detailed apparent plans for the killing of Thompson, according to published reports Wednesday. 
The spiral notebook described killing an executive at a conference and included the handwritten passage, according to The New York Times: &quot;What do you do? You wack the CEO at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention. It’s targeted, precise, and doesn’t risk innocents.&quot; 
A police official told Newsday that Mangione’s apparent writings voiced disdain for corporate America and the health care system in particular. 
&quot;The United States is number one in the world but life expectancy of Americans is rated 42nd in the world,&quot; read a quote from writings found with Mangione, according to the official. 
Investigators are also honing in on a potential motive, in light of Mangione’s apparent writings and an injury he recently sustained, the police official said. Mangione apparently suffered a back injury in an accident in July 2023. He posted an X-ray of numerous screws that were apparently inserted into his spine. 
Mangione, 26, an Ivy League-educated computer scientist from Towson, Maryland, has been held without bail on weapons and forgery charges since his Monday arrest in Altoona, Pennsylvania. 
Mangione has also been charged in New York with second-degree murder and weapons possession&nbsp;in the shooting of Thompson, a married father of two from Maple Grove, Minnesota. But Mangione is fighting extradition to New York and is expected to spend at least the next two weeks in a Pennsylvania prison while his extradition is litigated. 
Mangione’s Pennsylvania-based defense attorney, Thomas Dickey, in a series of national television interviews, said his client intends to plead not guilty to the charges in both New York and Pennsylvania. 
&quot;We had a brief hearing yesterday, but there is one document — an arrest warrant from the state of New York — which merely referenced a statute. We’ve seen no evidence,&quot; Dickey said on &quot;Good Morning America&quot; Wednesday. &quot;That’s one of the many reasons why we’re challenging the extradition at this point, so we can see some evidence and get a little more detailed information about the charges against Luigi.&quot; 
On his way into court Tuesday for his extradition hearing, Mangione struggled with sheriff’s deputies leading him into a courthouse. A handcuffed Mangione, wearing an orange jumpsuit, shouted comments during his brief scuffle with the deputies that included Mangione saying &quot;clearly out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people,&quot; according to a broadcast. His full comments were not audible. 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="Crime scene investigators work on recovering evidence in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in mid Manhattan on Dec. 4.
" data-attr-credit="AP" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/28e156a7-f989-4e3e-a4b4-91f5b8c9a677" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/28e156a7-f989-4e3e-a4b4-91f5b8c9a677', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/28e156a7-f989-4e3e-a4b4-91f5b8c9a677"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/28e156a7-f989-4e3e-a4b4-91f5b8c9a677/8093521fcf65465c82f2e3229.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3" />Crime scene investigators work on recovering evidence in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in mid Manhattan on Dec. 4. </a> 
Thompson died Dec. 4 as a result of a &quot;gunshot wound to the torso,&quot; as determined at his autopsy, according to the felony arrest warrant for Mangione issued in New York. 
Mangione, who grew up outside of Baltimore in an affluent family, was arrested at a McDonald's restaurant in Altoona following a six-day search for the shooter after a fellow patron thought he resembled the suspect in Thompson’s killing. 
Authorities released a photo of Mangione, with a blue medical mask pulled down, eating a McDonald’s hash brown shortly before his arrest. 
Mangione, who had several fake IDs, also had a Faraday bag with him at the time of his arrest, a police official said. The bag prevents the tracking of cell phone signals by cell towers, a technology that law enforcement typically uses to track cell phones in real-time and to determine the locations of cell phones on specific dates and times that are germane to a criminal prosecution. 
Police also found &quot;a black 3D printed pistol and a black silencer … the pistol had a metal slide and a plastic handle with a metal threaded barrel&quot; inside Mangione’s backpack, according to a criminal complaint filed in Blair County, Pennsylvania. &quot;The pistol had one loaded Glock magazine with six nine-millimeter full metal jacket rounds. There was also one loose nine-millimeter hollow point round.&quot;

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Gun found on Luigi Mangione, suspect in CEO killing, matches 3 shell casings at Manhattan crime scene, NYPD commissioner says

Gun found on suspect in CEO killing matches shell casings at crime scene, NYPD commissioner says

Suspected UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione&#39;s ghost gun that was in his position upon his arrest is a positive match for the shell casings found at the Manhattan crime scene. NewsdayTV&#39;s Ken Buffa reports.

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Gun found on Luigi Mangione matches crime scene shell casings

'We were able to match that gun to the three shell casings'

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Luigi Nicholas Mangione, the suspect in the fatal shooting of a healthcare executive in New York City, apparently was living a charmed life: the grandson of a wealthy real estate developer, valedictorian of his elite Baltimore prep school and with degrees from one of the nation's top private universities.
Friends at an exclusive co-living space at the edge of touristy Waikiki in Hawaii where the 26-year-old Mangione once lived widely considered him a “great guy,” and pictures on his social media accounts show a fit, smiling, handsome young man on beaches and at parties.
Now, investigators in New York and Pennsylvania are working to piece together why Mangione may have diverged from this path to make the violent and radical decision to gun down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a brazen attack on a Manhattan street.
 The killing sparked widespread discussions about corporate greed, unfairness in the medical insurance industry and even inspired folk-hero sentiment toward his killer. 
But Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro sharply refuted that perception after Mangione's arrest on Monday when a customer at a McDonald's restaurant in Pennsylvania spotted Mangione eating and noticed he resembled the shooting suspect in security-camera photos released by New York police.
“In some dark corners, this killer is being hailed as a hero. Hear me on this, he is no hero,” Shapiro said. “The real hero in this story is the person who called 911 at McDonald’s this morning.”
<h2>Mangione's family and upbringing</h2>
<h2></h2>
Mangione comes from a prominent Maryland family. His grandfather, Nick Mangione, who died in 2008, was a successful real estate developer. One of his best-known projects was Turf Valley Resort, a sprawling luxury retreat and conference center outside Baltimore that he purchased in 1978. 
The Mangione family also purchased Hayfields Country Club north of Baltimore in 1986. On Monday, Baltimore County police officers blocked off an entrance to the property, which public records link to Luigi Mangione’s parents. Reporters and photographers gathered outside the entrance.
The father of 10 children, Nick Mangione prepared his five sons — including Luigi Mangione’s father, Louis Mangione — to help manage the family business, according to a 2003 Washington Post report. Nick Mangione had 37 grandchildren, including Luigi, according to the grandfather's obituary.
Luigi Mangione’s grandparents donated to charities through the Mangione Family Foundation, according to a statement from Loyola University commemorating Nick Mangione’s wife’s death in 2023. They donated to various causes, including Catholic organizations, colleges and the arts.
One of Luigi Mangione’s cousins is Republican Maryland state legislator Nino Mangione, a spokesman for the lawmaker’s office confirmed.
“Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest,” Mangione’s family said in a statement posted on social media by Nino Mangione. “We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved.”
<h2>Mangione's education and work history</h2>
Mangione, who was valedictorian of his elite Maryland prep school, earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a university spokesman told The Associated Press.
He learned to code in high school and helped start a club at Penn for people interested in gaming and game design, according to a 2018 story in Penn Today, a campus publication.
His social media posts suggest he belonged to the fraternity Phi Kappa Psi. They also show him taking part in a 2019 program at Stanford University, and in photos with family and friends at the Jersey Shore and in Hawaii, San Diego, Puerto Rico, and other destinations.
The Gilman School, from which Mangione graduated in 2016, is one of Baltimore’s elite prep schools. The children of some of the city’s wealthiest and most prominent residents, including Orioles legend Cal Ripken Jr., have attended the school. Its alumni include sportswriter Frank Deford and former Arizona Gov. Fife Symington.
In his valedictory speech, Luigi Mangione described his classmates’ “incredible courage to explore the unknown and try new things.”
Mangione took a software programming internship after high school at Maryland-based video game studio Firaxis, where he fixed bugs on the hit strategy game Civilization 6, according to a LinkedIn profile. Firaxis' parent company, Take-Two Interactive, said it would not comment on former employees.
He more recently worked at the car-buying website TrueCar, but has not worked there since 2023, the head of the Santa Monica, California-based company confirmed to the AP.
<h2>Time in Hawaii and reports of back pain</h2>
From January to June 2022, Mangione lived at Surfbreak, a “co-living” space at the edge of touristy Waikiki in Honolulu.
Like other residents of the shared penthouse catering to remote workers, Mangione underwent a background check, said Josiah Ryan, a spokesperson for owner and founder R.J. Martin.
“Luigi was just widely considered to be a great guy. There were no complaints,” Ryan said. “There was no sign that might point to these alleged crimes they’re saying he committed.”
At Surfbreak, Martin learned Mangione had severe back pain from childhood that interfered with many aspects of his life, including surfing, Ryan said.
“He went surfing with R.J. once but it didn’t work out because of his back,” Ryan said, but noted that Mangione and Martin often went together to a rock-climbing gym.
Mangione left Surfbreak to get surgery on the mainland, Ryan said, then later returned to Honolulu and rented an apartment. An image posted to a social media account linked to Mangione showed what appeared to be an X-ray of a metal rod and multiple screws inserted into someone's lower spine. 
Martin stopped hearing from Mangione six months to a year ago.
An X account linked to Mangione includes recent posts about the negative impact of smartphones on children; healthy eating and exercise habits; psychological theories; and a quote from Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti about the dangers of becoming “well-adjusted to a profoundly sick society.”
<h2>Police report a darker turn</h2>
Mangione likely was motivated by his anger at what he called “parasitic” health insurance companies and a disdain for corporate greed, according to a law enforcement bulletin obtained by AP.
He wrote that the U.S. has the most expensive healthcare system in the world and that the profits of major corporations continue to rise while “our life expectancy” does not, according to the bulletin, based on a review of the suspect’s handwritten notes and social media posts.
He appeared to view the targeted killing of the UnitedHealthcare CEO as a symbolic takedown, asserting in his note that he is the “first to face it with such brutal honesty,” the bulletin said.
Mangione called “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski a “political revolutionary” and may have found inspiration from the man who carried out a series of bombings while railing against modern society and technology, the document said.

BC-US--UnitedHealthcare-CEO-Killed-Suspect, 1st Ld-Writethru

From wealth and success to murder suspect, the life of Luigi Mangione took a hard turn

ALTOONA, Pa. — The man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO struggled with deputies and shouted while being led into court Tuesday as new details emerged about his possible motivation behind the ambush.
In his first public words since a five-day search ended with his arrest at a McDonald's in Pennsylvania, Luigi Nicholas Mangione emerged from a patrol car shouting about an “insult to the intelligence of the American people” while deputies pushed him inside a courthouse.
The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland real estate family is fighting attempts to extradite him to New York so that he can face a murder charge in the Manhattan killing of Brian Thompson, who led the United States’ largest medical insurance company. 
A law enforcement bulletin obtained by The Associated Press said that at the time of his arrest, Mangione was carrying a handwritten document expressing anger with what he called “parasitic” health insurance companies and a disdain for corporate greed and power.
He wrote that the U.S. has the most expensive health care system in the world and that profits of major corporations continue to rise while “our life expectancy” does not, according to the bulletin. 
In social media posts, Mangione called “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski — who carried out a series of bombings while railing against modern society and technology — a “political revolutionary,” according to the police bulletin. 
Mangione remained jailed in Pennsylvania, where he was initially charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police.
Manhattan prosecutors were beginning to take steps to bring Mangione to New York, but at a brief hearing Tuesday, defense lawyer Thomas Dickey said his client will not waive extradition and instead wants a hearing on the issue. Mangione was denied bail after prosecutors said he was too dangerous to be released. 
He mostly stared straight ahead at the hearing, occasionally looking at papers, rocking in his chair or looking back at the gallery. At one point, he began to speak to respond to the court discussion but was quieted by his lawyer.
“You can’t rush to judgment in this case or any case,” Dickey said afterward. “He’s presumed innocent. Let’s not forget that.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Tuesday night on the social platform X that she will sign “a request for a governor’s warrant to ensure the suspect in the murder of Brian Thompson is held accountable in New York.”
Mangione was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 230 miles (about 370 kilometers) west of New York City, after a McDonald’s customer recognized him and notified an employee, authorities said. 
Images of Mangione released Tuesday by Pennsylvania State Police showed him pulling down his mask in the corner of the McDonald's while holding what appeared to be hash browns and wearing a winter jacket and beanie. In another photo from a holding cell, he stood unsmiling with rumpled hair.
New York police officials have said Mangione was carrying a gun 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.
A law enforcement official who wasn’t authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity said a three-page, handwritten document found with Mangione included a line in which he claimed to have acted alone.
“To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone,” the document said, according to the official.
It also said, “I do apologize for any strife or traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.”
Thompson, 50, was killed last Wednesday as he walked alone to a Manhattan hotel for an investor conference. From surveillance video, New York investigators determined the shooter quickly fled the city, likely by bus.
Mangione was born into a life of country clubs and privilege. His grandfather was a self-made real estate developer and philanthropist. 
Valedictorian at his elite Baltimore prep school, he went on to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer science in 2020 from the University of Pennsylvania, a spokesperson said. 
“Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest,” Mangione’s family said in a statement posted on social media late Monday by his cousin, Maryland Del. Nino Mangione. “We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved.”
From January to June 2022, Luigi Mangione lived at Surfbreak, a “co-living” space at the edge of touristy Waikiki in Honolulu.
Like other residents of the shared penthouse catering to remote workers, Mangione underwent a background check, said Josiah Ryan, a spokesperson for owner and founder R.J. Martin.
“Luigi was just widely considered to be a great guy. There were no complaints,” Ryan said. &quot;There was no sign that might point to these alleged crimes they’re saying he committed.”
At Surfbreak, Martin learned Mangione had severe back pain from childhood that interfered with many aspects of his life, from surfing to romance, Ryan said.
Mangione left Surfbreak to get surgery on the mainland, Ryan said, then later returned to Honolulu and rented an apartment.
Martin stopped hearing from Mangione six months to a year ago.

AP-US-UnitedHealthcare-CEO-Killed, 21st Ld-Writethru

Suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO struggles, shouts while entering courthouse

Michael O'Keeffe

Luigi Nicholas Mangione, suspected in last week's&nbsp;fatal shooting of health insurance executive&nbsp;Brian Thompson in midtown Manhattan, was a smart, friendly, athletic student&nbsp;and the valedictorian of his 2016 graduating class&nbsp;at an&nbsp;all-boys Baltimore prep school, a former classmate said Monday. 
Mangione, 26, &quot;had everything going for him,&quot; said the&nbsp;Gilman School classmate, Freddie Leatherbury. 
&quot;He doesn’t seem like the kind of guy to do this, based on everything I’d know about him in high school,&quot; Leatherbury said after the news of Mangione’s arrest broke Monday. 
Mangione, whose LinkedIn page&nbsp;says&nbsp;he graduated from the&nbsp;University of Pennsylvania, comes from a prominent Maryland family. He is a cousin of Republican Maryland state legislator Nino Mangione, the lawmaker’s family confirmed on Monday. His grandfather Nick Mangione Sr. grew up poor in Baltimore’s Little Italy and became a millionaire real estate developer and philanthropist. 
In his high school valedictory, Luigi Nicholas Mangione praised his classmates for their &quot;inventive, pioneering mentality&quot; and thanked graduates’ families and teachers for their support. 
&quot;Our imagination draws from your inspiration, and our courage largely depends on your encouragement in the classroom, on the field, and on the stage,&quot; he said in the 2016 graduation ceremony remarks that had been posted to&nbsp;the school's website. 
Mangione went on to earn undergraduate and master’s degrees in computer and information sciences in 2020 at the University of Pennsylvania, according to his LinkedIn page. He was inducted into Penn’s Eta Kappa Nu honor society in 2018 for excellence in electrical and computer engineering, according to The Daily Pennsylvanian, the Ivy League school’s student media organization. 
While at Penn, Mangione founded the <a href="https://blog.seas.upenn.edu/student-club-highlights-interdisciplinary-art-of-making-video-games-95da623578d9/">UPenn Game Research and Development Environment (UPGRADE)</a>, a club for students to work together on video game development. 
&quot;In high school, I started playing a lot of independent games and stuff like that,&quot; Mangione told The Daily Pennsylvanian in 2017. &quot;In my freshman and sophomore years of high school, I learned [on my own] how to program, and that’s why I’m a computer science major now. That’s how I got into it. I just really wanted to make games.&quot; 
Mangione’s last job appears to be as a data engineer for TrueCar, a California-based auto sales website. His LinkedIn page says&nbsp;Mangione has worked at the company since November 2020. A TrueCar spokesman told Newsday that Mangione has not been with the company since 2023. 
When he was taken into custody Monday in Altoona, Pennsylvania,&nbsp;said NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny at a news conference in Manhattan,&nbsp;Mangione had a three-page document that voiced &quot;ill will&quot; toward corporate America, but did not include threats aimed at specific people or companies. 
Late Monday, Manhattan prosecutors filed murder as well as other charges against Mangione. 
Mangione's social media posts suggest he belonged to the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity. The posts&nbsp;also show him taking part in a 2019 program at Stanford University, and in photos with family and friends in Hawaii, San Diego, Puerto Rico, the New Jersey shore, and other destinations. 
Mangione did not have a criminal record in New York or any other state, NYPD officials said. 
Gilman School sent an email to parents and alumni about Mangione’s arrest, saying it did not have any information other than what has been reported in the media. 
&quot;This is deeply disturbing news on top of an already awful situation,&quot; the email said. &quot;Our hearts go out to everyone affected.&quot; 
With AP

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Luigi Nicholas Mangione, suspect in CEO killing, known as academic star, scion of prominent Maryland family

Suspect in CEO killing was a standout student, comes from prominent Maryland family

The capture of the suspected gunman in the killing of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson played out Monday morning at a McDonald's in a central Pennsylvania town when an alert customer thought a man who was eating at the fast food chain resembled surveillance photographs of the shooter that the NYPD had released to the public, officials said. 
Luigi Nicholas Mangione, 26, a Maryland native who last lived in Honolulu, Hawaii, was taken into custody Monday by police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, police said, ending the extensive six-day search for the suspected shooter that initially stumped investigators and riveted&nbsp;people across the country. 
Late Monday, prosecutors in Manhattan charged Mangione with murder in connection with Thompson's killing in midtown Manhattan. He also faces weapons and forgery charges, according to court records. 
Mangione appeared earlier Monday evening in a Pennsylvania court, where he&nbsp;was arraigned on separate forgery and weapons charges. He was ordered held without bail, officials in Pennsylvania said Monday evening. 
The Associated Press reported that a prosecutor said Mangione had $10,000 cash on him at the time of his arrest — $2,000 of it in foreign currency. 
Mangione also had a box of masks with him, the prosecutor said, according to The Associated Press. 
Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens said a customer at the McDonald's first noticed Mangione — and his perceived resemblance to the man wanted by the NYPD — and alerted a McDonald's employee, who then called 911. 
Rookie Police Officer Tyler Frye was one of two officers who responded to the McDonald's. He said they &quot;recognized him immediately.&quot; 
&quot;We didn't even think twice about it,&quot; said Frye. &quot;We knew it was our guy.&quot; 
Frye described Mangione as &quot;pretty cooperative,&quot; adding Mangione pulled down his mask when police asked him to. But Mangione started shaking when police asked if he had been in New York recently, police said. 
He produced a fake ID when asked for identification and was arrested on the forgery charge. It wasn't until he was searched that police found the firearm. 
An NYPD official said New York City Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch had FaceTimed with Frye to thank him for his work. 
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Frye &quot;acted swiftly, he acted with smarts and he acted with calm.&quot; 
Shapiro said Mangione has traveled between Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, &quot;making stops in between.&quot; Police would not provide specifics. 
Shapiro also praised the McDonald's employee while criticizing some corners of social media that have praised the suspect due to dissatisfaction with the health insurance indicated. 
&quot;In America, we don't kill people in cold blood to solve disputes or policy differences ... this killer is being hailed a hero. He is no hero.&nbsp;The real hero is the worker at McDonald's who called police,&quot; he said. 
Bivens said that while Mangione was on the lam, he was &quot;very careful with trying to stay low profile, avoid cameras.&quot; 
It was not immediately known if Mangione had hired&nbsp;an attorney. 
&quot;We have a strong person of interest in the shooting that shook our city last week,&quot; Adams said at a news conference announcing Mangione's arrest Monday but before the filing of murder charges. &quot;He matches the description of the identification we've been looking for. He's also in possession of several items that we believe will connect him to this incident. How did we do it? Good, old-fashioned police work.&quot; 
At the time of his arrest, Mangione, an Ivy League graduate who most recently worked as a data engineer for an auto sales website, was carrying a three-page &quot;manifesto&quot; that &quot;speaks to both his motivation and mindset,&quot; NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny&nbsp;said. 
Mangione also had an untraceable ghost gun, which had the capability to fire a 9-mm round, and a gun silencer, police said. 
Tisch said the&nbsp;finds are&nbsp;&quot;both consistent with the weapon used in the murder.&quot; Ballistics tests will be done to determine if it's a match. Police believe the firearm could have been made by a 3D printer. 
&quot;We don't think that there's any specific threats to other people mentioned in that document, but it does seem that he has some ill will toward corporate America,&quot; Kenny said. 
Mangione also had several fake identification cards on him at the time of his arrest, including a New Jersey ID that matched an ID that was used to secure a stay at the Upper West Side hostel where police believe the suspect stayed in the days before the shooting, Tisch said. He also had a U.S. passport. 
Mangione had both clothing and a mask that appeared to match what the suspected gunman was seen wearing in surveillance videos released by the NYPD, Tisch said. 
Mangione, who according to his LinkedIn page graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer and information sciences, was eating in an Altoona McDonald's on Monday morning and &quot;was recognized by an employee who called police,&quot; Tisch said. He was questioned by police and was &quot;acting suspiciously,&quot; Tisch said, without elaborating. 
Altoona Police Cpl. August Stickel said in a brief statement that police responded at 9:14 a.m. to a McDonald’s in town after receiving a call reporting that a male inside the fast food restaurant matched the description of the murder suspect wanted by the NYPD. 
Police believe the suspect worked alone, Kenny said. 
The arrest of Mangione came six days after the early-morning shooting of Thompson, a married father of two from Maple Grove, Minnesota, outside of the Hilton hotel on Sixth Avenue. 
Thompson became chief executive of UnitedHealthcare in April 2021, according to the company. Previously, he was CEO of its government programs. 
Surveillance video showed the targeted killing of Thompson, who was shot from behind in the back and calf, as he walked on a sidewalk outside the Hilton at about 6:44 a.m. last Wednesday. But the alleged&nbsp;shooter, who was believed to have left the scene on an electric bike, was wearing a mask and hood — making an immediate identification nearly impossible. 
But NYPD detectives were able to piece together his whereabouts before and after the shooting using the extensive network of surveillance cameras — both operated by the police and by property owners and businesses — on the streets of Manhattan. 
According to a police official, the suspected shooter had arrived to New York on Nov. 24 at the Port Authority bus terminal after 10 p.m. on a bus from Atlanta. The bus made several stops, so it wasn't clear when he got on. 
He checked into the hostel on Amsterdam Avenue and stayed for five days. He checked out on Nov. 29, but checked back in the next day. 
He had two roommates at the hostel and kept his mask on day and night, except for a brief interaction with a front desk employee at the hostel, which apparently led to his arrest. It was that photo, with the suspect's mask around his neck — his full face exposed while he smiled — that gave investigators, and the public at-large, the best look at his face. 
Police have said they believe he booked the room using a fake ID and paid in cash. 
On the morning of the shooting, the suspected gunman left the hostel at 5:30 a.m. and went into a nearby Starbucks, police have said. 
After shooting Thompson, who was pronounced dead at a hospital about a half hour after being wounded, the gunman fled on what police believe was an electric bicycle and entered Central Park at 60th Street and Center Drive at 6:48 a.m., police have said. 
Surveillance video showed him at Central Park West at 6:56 a.m. and two minutes later at West 85th Street and Columbus Avenue. 
Four minutes later, he had abandoned the bike and was spotted walking north on West 86th Street. The suspect then got into a cab and was next spotted via surveillance video near the Port Authority bus station near the George Washington Bridge at 7:30 a.m. From there, the trail apparently went cold. 
Kenny said Monday morning that police did not have a name for the suspect before Mangione's arrest.&nbsp; 
At the scene, police found several pieces of evidence, including an apparent message on the three shell casings. Investigators found the words &quot;delay,&quot; &quot;deny&quot; and &quot;depose&quot; on the shell casings, a law enforcement source has told Newsday. The words echo a 2010 book titled &quot;Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It&quot; by Jay M. Feinman. 
A Peak Design backpack believed to have belonged to the alleged shooter was found Friday night in Central Park, police said. It contained a Tommy Hilfiger jacket. 
Tisch said scores of detectives worked the case — some without taking time off — since the killing, combing through &quot;thousands of hours of video&quot; following up on tips and deploying drones, canine units and scuba divers to search areas of Central Park. 
&quot;This combination of old-school detective work and new-age technology is what led to this result today,&quot; Tisch said.&nbsp;

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Luigi Nicholas Mangione, suspect in fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO, charged with murder, officials say

Suspect in killing of CEO charged with murder

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Luigi Nicholas Mangione, 26, was arrested Monday in connection with the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown last week.

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Man arrested in connection with deadly shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO

Man arrested in Pennsylvania in connection with CEO shooting

NEW YORK — After days of searching through security footage, following up on a deluge of tips and even sending scuba divers to the bottom of a lake, police on Monday announced the arrest of a suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare's CEO outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel last week. 
The hunt began in the hours after Brian Thompson was gunned down on the sidewalk early Wednesday morning, with the suspected shooter slipping away from the scene and riding a bike to Central Park, before taking a taxi to a bus depot that offers service to several nearby states.
On Monday morning, a tip from a McDonald’s around 233 miles (375 kilometers) away in Altoona, Pennsylvania, led police to arrest 26-year-old Luigi Nicholas Mangione, who authorities say was carrying a gun believed to be the one used to shoot Thompson. 
Here's what we know so far about the shooting and subsequent search.
<h2>Nov. 24</h2>
10:11 p.m. — The suspected shooter arrives in New York City on a Greyhound bus at the Port Authority terminal. The bus originated in Atlanta and made six or seven stops on the way to New York. Police could not immediately determine where he got on the bus.
The man then takes a taxi to the area of the New York Hilton Midtown and is there for about a half hour. 
About 11 p.m. — The man takes a taxi to the HI New York City Hostel at 891 Amsterdam Ave., where he stays until the morning of the shooting. He presents an ID that police believe to be fake. Two roommates in a shared room that had bunkbeds never saw his face, police said, because he kept his mask on.
When speaking with an employee in the hostel lobby, he briefly pulled down his facemask and smiled — a moment captured on surveillance images that have been widely circulated by police.
<h2>Nov. 29</h2>
The man was checked out of the hostel, where guests are automatically checked out if they don’t show at the desk by a certain time. Police don’t believe he stayed someplace else and checked back into the same hostel the next day.
<h2>Dec. 4</h2>
About 5:30 a.m. — The suspected shooter leaves the hostel well before dawn.
5:41 a.m. — He appears on video at 54th Street and Sixth Avenue walking back and forth in the area of the Hilton hotel where United Healthcare’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group, is holding its annual investor conference. 
Police deduce that he rode a bicycle to the Hilton because it took him such a short time to get there. “Could he have stolen the bike? These are things we’re still looking into,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
At some point, he went to a nearby Starbucks and purchased a bottle of water and at least one energy bar before returning to the hotel. 
6:44 a.m. — He shoots Thompson as the executive arrives alone, on foot, having walked from a hotel across the street. The man flees.
6:48 a.m. — The man enters Central Park by bicycle at the 60th Street and Center Drive entrance. It's in the park and away from security cameras that police believe he discards a gray backpack.
6:56 a.m. — He leaves the park at West 77th Street and Central Park West, still on the bicycle.
6:58 a.m. — He passes another camera on 85th Street and Columbus Avenue, still on the bicycle.
7 a.m. — He's at 86th Street, no longer with the bicycle.
7:04 a.m. — He enters a taxi northbound at 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue.
7:30 a.m. — He's near the George Washington Bridge and the bus terminal there. It offers commuter service to New Jersey and Greyhound routes to Philadelphia, Boston and Washington.
After the attack, investigators find the words “delay,&quot; “deny” and &quot;depose,” written in permanent marker on ammunition at the scene. The words mimic a phrase used by insurance industry critics.
<h2>Dec. 6</h2>
Kenny and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch reveal that investigators believe the gunman left New York City on a bus. Investigators say he entered the George Washington Bridge Bus Station but have not found video of him leaving or getting on a bus.
“It could possibly be a disgruntled employee, or a disgruntled client,&quot; Kenny says of a possible motive in a briefing.
Police find what they say is the man's backpack. Its contents are not disclosed. 
<h2>Dec. 7</h2>
Police continue to search Central Park; scuba divers are seen scouring a pond. The NYPD releases additional photos showing the suspected shooter next to and in the back seat of a taxi. In both images he is seen wearing a blue, medical-style face mask.
Despite recovering a fingerprint from the Starbucks purchase and sending items for DNA testing, police have yet to publicly identify the suspect.
<h2>Dec. 8</h2>
Scuba divers are again seen at a Central Park pond. Police decline to comment on the investigation.
<h2>Dec. 9</h2>
9:14 a.m. — Police in Altoona, Pennsylvania, are dispatched to a McDonald’s to respond to reports of a male matching the description of the suspect in the shooting.
Luigi Nicholas Mangione, 26, is taken into custody on unrelated charges, according to the Altoona Police Department. 
Mangione had a gun believed to be the one used in last Wednesday’s shooting, as well as writings suggesting “ill will toward corporate America,” Kenny said on Monday. He also had clothing and a mask similar to those worn by the shooter and a fraudulent New Jersey ID matching the one used to check into the Manhattan hostel, Kenny said.

AP-US-UnitedHealthcare-CEO-Killed-Timeline, 3rd Ld-Writethru

A timeline of the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and search for his killer

Anthony M. DeStefano and Tara Smith

As the search for the gunman who is accused of fatally shooting&nbsp;UnitedHealthcare CEO&nbsp;Brian Thompson in midtown Manhattan entered a fourth day Saturday, police&nbsp;are relying on extensive surveillance footage to piece together his movements while he was in the city. 
On Saturday, an NYPD&nbsp;official said investigators found a Tommy Hilfiger jacket inside the Peak Design backpack they located Friday in Central Park, which&nbsp;they believe belonged to the shooting suspect. &nbsp;&nbsp; 
The investigation has stretched beyond city limits as authorities said they have “reason to believe” the suspected shooter left New York City by bus Wednesday.&nbsp; 
Police have not identified the suspect&nbsp;but&nbsp;released two new photos Saturday of the person wanted for questioning in the case. One shows a man inside what appears to be a cab. 
The FBI is offering a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to an arrest, urging anyone with information to contact its tip line at 1-800-225-5324 or the New York City Police Department's tip line at 1-800-577-8477. Tipsters can also submit information at tips.fbi.gov. 
In a briefing with reporters on Friday,&nbsp;NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny provided a more exact timeline of the suspect's actions in the shooting of Thompson outside a Hilton hotel on Sixth Avenue&nbsp;Wednesday. 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="One of two new photos the NYPD released Saturday while asking for the public's help in identifying this person, who is wanted for questioning in UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's slaying last week.
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The timeline was constructed&nbsp;after an extensive examination of surveillance video evidence done by scores of NYPD video team members. 
Here are some key moments: 
The gunman arrived in New York 10 days before the shooting. 
Police said the suspect arrived on Sunday, Nov. 24, at the Port Authority bus terminal in Manhattan shortly after 10 p.m. The bus originated in Atlanta, but it made&nbsp;a number of stops along the way, so police are in contact with authorities at those locations. 
He then took a cab uptown to the vicinity of the midtown Hilton at 54th Street and Sixth Avenue and stayed in the area&nbsp;for about 30 minutes, according to police. Around 11 p.m., he took a taxi to&nbsp;the HI New York City Hostel on Amsterdam Avenue. 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="Investigators leave the HI New York City Hostel on Amsterdam Avenue on Thursday.

 
" data-attr-credit="" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/fbd77868-a5f8-47c1-8d70-6d0b5d388ea5" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/fbd77868-a5f8-47c1-8d70-6d0b5d388ea5', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/fbd77868-a5f8-47c1-8d70-6d0b5d388ea5"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/fbd77868-a5f8-47c1-8d70-6d0b5d388ea5/20241205-_DSC1450.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3" />Investigators leave the HI New York City Hostel on Amsterdam Avenue on Thursday. </a> 
He stayed at a hostel on the Upper West Side. 
The man checked into the hostel and stayed for five days, checking out briefly on Friday, Nov. 29, and checking back in Nov. 30&nbsp;in what police described as an administrative checkout. 
He reportedly had two roommates at the hostel and remained masked virtually all the time, save for an interaction at the front desk of the hostel. An image of the suspect with&nbsp;his mask down and smiling has been released by police. 
Police said there's no evidence he stayed overnight anywhere else, and they believe he booked the room using fraudulent identification and paid in cash. 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="Images from surveillance video show the suspected gunman.

 
" data-attr-credit="NYPD" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/66156dcf-be16-4117-917e-757f00603503" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/66156dcf-be16-4117-917e-757f00603503', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/66156dcf-be16-4117-917e-757f00603503"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/66156dcf-be16-4117-917e-757f00603503/nythompson-comp2.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3" />Images from surveillance video show the suspected gunman. </a> 
The suspect traveled by bicycle on the morning of the shooting. 
Investigators believe the suspected gunman left the hostel on a bike at 5:30 a.m. Wednesday, arriving at 54th Street and 6th Avenue and wandering around by 5:41. He is seen going into a Starbucks. 
An hour later, at 6:44,&nbsp;the masked gunman approached Thompson from behind and opened fire on a sidewalk outside the Hilton hotel. Thompson, 50, of Maple Grove, Minnesota, was in New York for an annual investors meeting of UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare.&nbsp; 
At 6:48 a.m., police said, the suspect entered Central Park at 60th Street and Center Drive on a bike. He emerged at Central Park West at 6:56 a.m. and is seen two minutes later at 85th Street and Columbus Avenue with the bike. 
At 7 a.m., the man is seen walking north at 86th Street without the bike. Police on Saturday had not recovered the bike or the gun used in the shooting, an NYPD official said. 
Police haven't identified the suspect. 
Authorities have not&nbsp;released the suspect's identity in what police have called a targeted, brazen assassination. 
Detectives are looking into whether the gunman used a veterinary gun used to euthanize animals on farms and ranches, Kenny said. Such guns are advertised as being quieter when shot than other weapons. 
Investigators&nbsp;also found apparent messages — the words &quot;delay,&quot; &quot;deny&quot; and &quot;depose&quot; — from the shooter on shell casings found at the scene, a law enforcement source has told Newsday. The words echo a 2010 book entitled &quot;Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It&quot; by Jay M. Feinman. 
His whereabouts are still unknown. 
At 86th Street and Amsterdam Avenue, the suspect is seen entering a cab at 7:04 a.m. and reappears on surveillance footage near the Port Authority bus station&nbsp;near the George Washington Bridge at 7:30 
Police are still determining what bus route he may have taken out of the city&nbsp;and are trying to track his movements out of state. 
Police are also testing a discarded Starbucks coffee cup and wrapper for possible fingerprints and DNA, Newsday previously reported. 
A water bottle was also tested, Kenny said, adding that fingerprints found so far have not been of evidentiary value.

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NYPD releases new photos while gathering evidence in hunt for gunman who shot UnitedHealthcare CEO 

NYPD releases new photos while gathering evidence in hunt for gunman who shot UnitedHealthcare CEO

For years, patients in the U.S. health care system have grown frustrated with a bureaucracy they don’t understand. 
Doctors are included in an insurer’s network one year but not the next. Getting someone on the phone to help can be next to impossible. Coverage of care and prescriptions is often unceremoniously denied.
This week’s fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has unleashed a wave of public feeling — exasperation, anger, resentment, helplessness — from Americans sharing personal stories of interactions with insurance companies, often seen as faceless corporate giants.
In particular, the words written on ammunition found at the shooting scene — “delay,” “deny” and “depose,” echoing a phrase used to describe how insurers dodge claim payouts — amplified voices that have long been critical of the industry.
“All of a sudden, I am fired up again,” said Tim Anderson, describing how his wife, Mary, had to deal with UnitedHealthcare coverage denials before she died from Lou Gehrig’s disease, or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, in 2022. 
Anderson said they couldn’t get coverage for machines to help his wife breathe or talk — toward the end, she communicated by blinking when he showed her pictures. The family had to rely on donations from a local ALS group, he said. 
“The business model for insurance is don’t pay,” said Anderson, 67, of Centerville, Ohio. 
“When Mary could still talk, she said to me to keep fighting this,” he added. “It needs to be exposed.”
For Anderson and others, Thompson's death and the message left at the scene have created an opportunity to vent their frustrations. Conversations at dinner tables, office water coolers, social gatherings and on social media have pivoted to the topic, as police efforts to find the gunman keep the case in the news. 
Hans Maristela said he understands why the chatter is bubbling up. The 54-year-old caregiver in California was moved to comment on Facebook about UnitedHealthcare's reputation of denying coverage. As a Catholic, he said, he grieves Thompson's death and feels for his family, especially with the holidays around the corner. 
But he sees frustration with insurers even among his clients, most of them wealthy older people who've not been shielded from high out-of-pocket costs. 
“And then you know the CEO of this company you pay a lot of money to gets $10 million dollars a year, you won’t have a lot of sympathy for the guy,&quot; Maristela said, citing Thompson's compensation package that included base pay and stock options. “Health care is a business, I understand, but the obsession with share price, with profit, has to be reevaluated.”
University of Pennsylvania researcher Michael Anne Kyle said she's not surprised by the growth of conversation around insurers. 
“People are often struggling with this by themselves, and when you see someone else talk about it, that may prompt you to join the conversation,” she said.
Kyle studies how patients access care and said she's seen frustration with the system build for years. Costs are rising, and insurers are using more controls such as prior authorizations and doctor networks to manage them. Patients are often stuck in the middle of disputes between doctors and insurers.
“Patients are already spending a lot of money on health care, and then they’re still facing problems with the service,” she said.
Insurers often note that most of the money they bring in goes back out the door to pay claims, and that they try to corral soaring costs and the overuse of some care.
In Ohio, Anderson said his initial reaction to the CEO shooting was to question whether it was connected to a coverage denial, like the ones he'd experienced with his wife. 
“I definitely do not condone killing people,” he said. “But I read it and said, 'I wonder if somebody had a spouse whose coverage was denied.’”
It's something Will Flanary, a Portland-based ophthalmologist and comedian with a large social media following, saw online a lot in the shooting's immediate aftermath and found very telling. 
“It’s zero sympathy,” he said. “And the lesson to take away from that is not, ‘Let’s shame people for celebrating a murder.’ No, it’s: ‘Look at the amount of anger that people have toward this system that’s taken advantage of people and do something to try to fix that.’”
Flanary's content, published under the name Dr. Glaucomflecken, started out as niche eye doctor jokes and a way to cope with his own experiences with two cancer diagnoses and a sudden cardiac arrest. But it has evolved, featuring character skits that call attention to and satirize the decisions of large health insurers, including UnitedHealthcare. 
He said he's never seen conversations around health insurance policy take off the way they did this week — and he hopes these new voices can help bring about change.
“I’m always talking about how powerful social media can be with advocacy,&quot; he said, &quot;because it really is the only way to put a significant amount of pressure on these corporations who are doing bad things for patients.” 
_

AP-US-MED-UnitedHealthcare-CEO-Killed-Health-Care-Frustration, 2nd Ld-Writethru

UnitedHealthcare CEO's shooting opens a door for many to vent frustrations over insurance

Investigators attempting to track down the suspected gunman in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare executive Brian Thompson in midtown Manhattan located a backpack in Central Park on Friday that is believed to belong to the shooter, a development that could offer a major breakthrough in the manhunt for the gunman. 
In addition, the FBI announced it was offering a reward of &quot;up to $50,000&quot;&nbsp;for information leading to an arrest and conviction. &quot;The FBI's New York Field Office is assisting the New York City Police Department in seeking the public's assistance in identifying the unknown suspect,&quot; the bureau said as it released a poster with surveillance photos&nbsp;of the alleged gunman. 
A top NYPD official said the backpack, which could offer investigators a plethora of new clues and potential evidence, was found about 6 p.m. Friday in Central Park. It was not immediately clear what the backpack contained and how it might advance the investigation. 
The case has&nbsp;perplexed investigators, who have not been able to identify the suspect as the multistate manhunt entered a third day. Top NYPD officials said Friday&nbsp;they have &quot;reason to believe&quot; the shooter left New York City by bus on Wednesday.&nbsp; 
Despite disseminating publicly multiple photos of the suspected gunman and testing for DNA and fingerprints on a water bottle and Starbucks cup that investigators believe the suspect left behind near the shooting scene, police have not been able to develop a likely identity of the suspect or a DNA profile, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny&nbsp;told reporters late Friday. 
The FBI asked anyone with&nbsp;information to contact its&nbsp;tip line at 1-800-225-5324&nbsp;or the New York City Police Department's tip line at 1-800-577-8477. Tipsters can also submit information online at tips.fbi.gov. 
Kenny said the last video sighting of the suspect was at a bus station near the George Washington Bridge at 175th Street, but they still are trying to develop with Port Authority Police what bus route the suspected gunman may have taken out of New York City. 
Kenny said investigators have been able to determine that the suspect entered the Port Authority Bus Station in midtown on Nov. 24 and traveled by cab to the Hilton hotel on Sixth Avenue, where Thompson was shot 10 days later. He then went to an Upper West Side hostel, which police have searched. 
After Wednesday’s fatal shooting, investigators believe the suspect took a bus from Port Authority and left New York City. 
Police have not publicly identified a motive in the crime.&nbsp;Kenny said police believe the gunman acted alone. 
&quot;We&nbsp;are not going to solve this in 60 minutes,&quot; Kenny told reporters. &quot;We are painstakingly going through the evidence&quot; 
Kenny&nbsp;said investigators are looking into the possibility the gunman used a veterinary gun, used to euthanize animals, especially on farms and ranches.&nbsp;Such guns&nbsp;are advertised as being quieter when shot than other weapons. 
Kenny said investigators had the suspect leaving the hostel at 5:31&nbsp;the morning of the shooting and showing up in the vicinity of the Hilton 10&nbsp;minutes later. Kenny thought it is likely the suspect used a bike to get downtown. There's no indication he took the&nbsp;subway, Kenny said. 
Investigators have also found apparent messages — the words &quot;delay,&quot; &quot;deny&quot; and &quot;depose&quot; — from the shooter on shell casings found at the scene, a law enforcement source has told Newsday. A police source had originally said the words were &quot;defend,&quot; &quot;deny&quot; and &quot;depose.&quot; The&nbsp; words could have a nexus to the health care industry practice of denying claims, echoing a 2010 book entitled &quot;Delay, Deny, Defend&quot; with the subtitle &quot;Why insurance companies don't pay claims and what you can do about it,&quot; which was written by Jay M. Feinman. 
A series of surveillance videos that police believe captured the alleged shooter have helped guide investigators on the alleged gunman’s movements before, during and after the shooting. 
In most of the footage released by police, the alleged shooter is masked and wearing a hood. But two images released Thursday depicted him without a face mask. He smiled broadly in one image. 
Investigators have also searched an Upper West Side hostel on Amsterdam Avenue where the alleged gunman is believed to have stayed before the shooting, the source said. 
Thompson, 50, of Maple Grove, Minnesota, was in New York for an annual investors meeting of UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare, which is the nation's largest health insurance provider. 
The suspect was caught on camera entering Central Park after he fled the scene, the source said, and then exiting the park without the backpack he had been wearing.&nbsp; 
The suspect was also seen on video visiting a Starbucks before the shooting, the source said. Police recovered a Starbucks coffee cup and a candy wrapper, both of which are being examined for possible fingerprints and DNA, the source said. 
A water bottle was also tested, Kenny said, but the fingerprint evidence is of no evidentiary value. 
The shooting occurred just before 7 a.m. Wednesday morning when the&nbsp;masked gunman approached Thompson from behind and opened fire as he walked on a sidewalk outside the Hilton. 
Thompson was shot at least once in the back and in the right calf and was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai West, previously known as Roosevelt Hospital, at 7:12 a.m., police said. 
Thompson's widow Paulette Thompson told NBC News that her husband had been the subject of threats recently, though she said she didn't have details. 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="Police believe the suspected UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter left New York City on a bus from the George Washington Bridge Bus Station.
" data-attr-credit="AP" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/aa3e76a4-1d9f-49f7-bba4-3a1dbb237bdf" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/aa3e76a4-1d9f-49f7-bba4-3a1dbb237bdf', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/aa3e76a4-1d9f-49f7-bba4-3a1dbb237bdf"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/aa3e76a4-1d9f-49f7-bba4-3a1dbb237bdf/15d6cb897cda45a3a7747b520.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3" />Police believe the suspected UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter left New York City on a bus from the George Washington Bridge Bus Station. </a> 
The gunman fled the scene northbound, going into an alley between West 54th and 55th streets, then continued on foot on Sixth Avenue before getting on an electric bike and riding into Central Park, police said. 
A cellphone found in the alley is being examined by investigators, though it wasn't clear if it was connected to the shooter. 
Thompson became chief executive of UnitedHealthcare in April 2021, according to the company. Previously, he was CEO of its government programs. He joined the company in 2004.

nyTHOMPSON241207

Backpack believed to belong to suspected killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson found, police say

Police find backpack believed to belong to suspected CEO killer, official says, as FBI offers $50G reward

WARNING Graphic content: The CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Brian Thompson, was&nbsp;shot and killed Wednesday in front of a midtown Manhattan hotel, the NYPD said. NewsdayTV&#39;s Ken Buffa reports.

nyTHOMPSON241205_video

UnitedHealthcare CEO fatally shot in NYC

'It appears the suspect was lying in wait'

NYTHOMPSON241205

The gunman who stalked and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson fled New York City by bus, police officials told CNN on Friday.
Video of the suspected shooter leaving the scene of the shooting Wednesday showed him riding a bicycle to Central Park and later taking a taxi cab to a bus depot, Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told CNN.
Here's the latest:
<h2>FBI announces reward for information leading to gunman's arrest and conviction</h2>
The FBI announced Friday night that it was offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the shooter who killed the CEO of the largest U.S. health insurer.
The FBI’s New York Field Office is working with the New York City Police Department to identify the gunman.
<h2>Police believe gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO has left New York City</h2>
The gunman who killed the CEO of the largest U.S. health insurer may have fled the city on a bus, New York City police officials told CNN on Friday.
Video of the suspected shooter leaving the scene of the shooting Wednesday showed him riding a bicycle to Central Park and later taking a taxi cab to a bus depot, Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told CNN.
“We have reason to believe that the person in question has left New York City,” Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
<h2>Gunman’s steps after killing UnitedHealthcare’s CEO give police new clues</h2>
The gunman who killed the CEO of the largest U.S. health insurer made sure to wear a mask during the shooting yet left a trail of evidence in view of the nation’s biggest city and its network of security cameras that have aided authorities piecing together his movements and his identity.
A law enforcement official said Friday that new surveillance footage shows the suspect riding the subway and visiting establishments in Manhattan and provided more clues about his actions in the days before he ambushed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
The gunman’s whereabouts and identity remain unknown Friday, as did the reason for Wednesday’s killing. New York City police say evidence firmly points to it being a targeted attack.
▶ Read more about the search for the gunman 
<h2>For many companies, investor meetings are seen as a risk</h2>
In many companies, investor meetings like the one UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was walking to when he was fatally shot are viewed as very risky because details on the location and who will be speaking are highly publicized.
“It gives people an opportunity to arrive well in advance and take a look at the room, take a look at how people would probably come and go out of a location,” said Dave Komendat, president of DSKomendat Risk Management Services, which is based in the greater Seattle area.
Some firms respond by beefing up security. For example, tech companies routinely require everyone attending a major event, such as Apple’s annual unveiling of the next iPhone or a shareholder meeting, to go through airport-style security checkpoints before entering.
Others forgo in-person meetings with shareholders.
▶ Read more about how companies protect their leaders 
<h2>Police have obtained other surveillance images of the person wanted for questioning</h2>
Those images include New York’s subway system, a law enforcement official said. In establishments where the person was captured on camera, he always appeared to pay with cash, the official said.
The official wasn’t authorized to discuss details of the ongoing investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
— Mike Balsamo
<h2>Another health insurer taking precautions after the shooting</h2>
Medica, a Minnesota-based nonprofit health care firm that serves 1.5 million customers in 12 states, said it’s temporarily closing all six locations.
The firm has offices in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska and North Dakota, and employs about 3,000 people. Employees will work from home, Medica spokesman Greg Bury said in an email Friday.
“The safety of Medica employees is our top priority and we have increased security both for all of our employees,” a statement from Medica said. “Although we have received no specific threats related to our campuses, our office buildings will be temporarily closed out of an abundance of caution.”
Bury also said biographical information on the company’s executives was taken down from its website as a precaution.
<h2>Government health insurance provider Centene Corp. says its Investor Day will now be virtual</h2>
The insurer cited the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in its announcement about the Dec. 12 event.
“All of us at Centene are deeply saddened by Brian Thompson’s death and want to express our support for all of those affected. Health insurance is a big industry and a small community; many members of the CenTeam crossed paths with Brian during their careers,” Centene CEO Sarah M. London said in a news release. “He was a person with a deep sense of empathy and clear passion for improving access to care. Our hearts are with his family and his colleagues during this difficult time.”
Centene Corp. has grown in recent years to become the largest insurer in Medicaid, the state- and federally funded program that covers care for people with low incomes. Insurers manage Medicaid coverage for states, and Centene has more than 13 million people enrolled in that coverage.
<h2>UnitedHealth Group says it’s focused on supporting Brian Thompson’s family</h2>
The insurance company also said it’s focused on ensuring the safety of employees and assisting investigators.
“While our hearts are broken, we have been touched by the huge outpouring of kindness and support in the hours since this horrific crime took place,” the company said.
<h2>NY Mayor Eric Adams provided no new information on investigation’s progress during interviews</h2>
But he said Friday that he’s confident police will arrest the shooter.
“We are on the right road to apprehend him and bring him to justice,” Adams said on TV station WPIX.
<h2>Hours after the shooting, UnitedHealthcare removed photographs of its executives from its website</h2>
Later, it removed their names and biographies entirely.
<h2>Investigators believe the suspect may have traveled to NY last month on a bus that originated in Atlanta</h2>
Police and federal agents have been collecting information from Greyhound in an attempt to identify the suspect and are working to determine whether he purchased the ticket to New York in late November, a law enforcement official said.
Investigators were also trying to obtain additional information from a cellphone recovered from a pedestrian plaza through which the shooter fled.
<h2>Killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO spotlights complex challenge companies face in protecting top brass</h2>
The fatal shooting of Brian Thompson while walking alone on a New York City sidewalk has put a spotlight on the widely varied approaches companies take to protect their leaders against threats.
Experts say today’s political, economic and technological climate is only going to make the job of evaluating threats against executives and taking action to protect them even more difficult, experts say.
Some organizations have a protective intelligence group that uses digital tools such as machine learning or artificial intelligence to comb through online comments to detect threats not only on social media platforms such as X but also on the dark web, says Komendat. They look for what’s being said about the company, its employees and its leadership to uncover risks.
▶ Read more about the steps companies take to protect their leadership 
<h2>Police test DNA and fingerprints on discarded bottle as they hunt for UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killer </h2>
Police said Thursday they found a water bottle and protein bar wrapper from a trash can near the scene of the ambush and think the suspect bought them from a Starbucks minutes before the shooting. The items were being tested by the city’s medical examiner.

AP-US-UnitedHealthcare-CEO-Killed-The-Latest, 10th Ld-Writethru

The Latest: Police believe gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO has left New York City

Investigators have collected a torrent of evidence in Wednesday's fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in midtown Manhattan, including apparent messages from the shooter on shell casings found at the scene and a Starbucks cup thought to have been discarded by the gunman, as the massive search for the shooter continued for a second day Thursday, a law enforcement source told Newsday. 
The NYPD released two new images of the gunman Thursday depicting him without a face mask, his dark eyebrows visible, and asked the public for help identifying him. Surveillance video previously released of the suspected shooter showed him hooded and masked. Police said the man is &quot;wanted for questioning&quot; in connection with Thompson's killing. In one new image, he smiled widely. 
Police, working with federal law enforcement agencies — including the New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force — have already received a slew of tips, which resulted in a Long Island Rail Road train en route to Seaford being stopped Wednesday evening, the source said. 
The shell casings were marked with the words &quot;deny&quot; and &quot;depose&quot; and &quot;defend,&quot; the police source said. Multiple news outlets have reported that those words are typically used in the health insurance industry. The words also echo a 2010 book titled &quot;Delay, Deny, Defend&quot; with the subtitle &quot;Why insurance companies don't pay claims and what you can do about it,&quot; which was written by Jay M. Feinman. 
Investigators have also searched an Upper West Side hostel on Amsterdam Avenue where the shooter is believed to have stayed before what police have called the targeted and brazen assassination of Thompson, the source said. Investigators were able to connect the shooter to the hostel by backtracking his movements through surveillance video before the shooting, the source said. 
Investigators searched the hostel, where the shooter stayed in Room 408, according to the source. It was unclear what, if anything, investigators found. 
The American Youth Hostel building, a 19th century landmarked brick structure originally known as the Association Residence for Respectable Indigent Females as it was a site to aid widows of the American Revolution and the War of 1812, was constructed in the 1880s and landmarked by New York City in 2007, according to its landmark plaque. 
Thompson, 50, of Maple Grove, Minnesota, was in New York for an annual investors meeting of UnitedHealth Group, the parent company of UnitedHealthcare, which is the nation's largest health insurance provider. 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="A surveillance image released by the NYPD shows the suspected guman.
" data-attr-credit="NYPD" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/5412522b-9618-4f39-a88a-021b8b4fb417" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/5412522b-9618-4f39-a88a-021b8b4fb417', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/5412522b-9618-4f39-a88a-021b8b4fb417"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/5412522b-9618-4f39-a88a-021b8b4fb417/nythompson002.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3" />A surveillance image released by the NYPD shows the suspected guman. </a> 
The suspect was caught on camera entering Central Park after he fled the shooting scene, the source said. He traveled on Center Street in the park and was wearing the gray backpack he was seen wearing at the time of the shooting. Police have seen video of the gunman exiting the park without the backpack, but investigators have not yet located it despite extensive searches. 
The suspect was also seen on video visiting a Starbucks before the shooting, the source said. Police recovered a Starbucks coffee cup, which the suspect was seen discarding outside the Starbucks, the source said. It was the only cup in the container, the source said. Investigators also found a candy wrapper; both the cup and wrapper are being examined for possible fingerprints and DNA, the source said. 
On Wednesday morning, just before 7 a.m., a masked gunman approached Thompson from behind and opened fire on him as he walked on a sidewalk outside the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Avenue between West 53rd and 54th streets, police said. 
&quot;It appears the suspect was lying in wait for several minutes,&quot; NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Wednesday, adding: &quot;Many people passed the suspect but he appeared to wait for his intended target.&quot; 
Thompson was shot at least once in the back and in the right calf, said Tisch. Thompson was pronounced dead at Mount Sinai West Hospital, previously known as Roosevelt Hospital, at 7:12 a.m., police said. 
Police said Wednesday they had no motive for the shooting. Thompson's widow, Paulette Thompson, told NBC News that her husband had been the subject of threats recently, though she said she didn't have details. 
&quot;There had been some threats,&quot; she said, according to NBC News. &quot;Basically, I don’t know, a lack of coverage? I don’t know details. I just know that he said there were some people that had been threatening him.&quot; 
Police said the gunman's weapon appeared to malfunction during the attack, but he unjammed it and continued firing, suggesting he had a level of expertise with firearms. 
The gunman fled the scene northbound, going into an alley between West 54th and 55th streets, then continued on foot on Sixth Avenue before getting on an electric bike and riding into Central Park, police said. A cellphone found in the alley is being examined by investigators, though it wasn't clear if it was connected to the shooter. 
Police said they recovered from the scene three live 9 mm rounds and three shell casings. 
Thompson became chief executive of UnitedHealthcare in April 2021, according to the company. Previously, he was CEO of its government programs. He joined the company in 2004. 
Crime Stoppers and the NYPD are offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information on the case, police said.

nyTHOMPSON241206

'Deny,' 'depose,' 'defend' found written on shell casings near the scene of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson's killing, source says

NYPD releases new photos of suspect in killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO

Lorena Mongelli and Robert Brodsky

A pair of corporate security experts with Long Island clients said some large firms are considering boosting protective measures following the UnitedHealthcare CEO's slaying in Manhattan, while other&nbsp;local companies said they're not planning enhancements since police called the crime a&nbsp;&quot;targeted&quot; attack. 
A masked gunman fatally shot UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson after&nbsp;apparently lying in wait for him as he walked outside the Hilton Hotel on Sixth Avenue&nbsp;just before 7 a.m. Wednesday, according to the NYPD. The midtown&nbsp;shooting, steps from popular attractions, has sparked a massive manhunt, <a href="https://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/unitedhealthcare-ceo-killed-jka0zc7h">Newsday</a> has reported. 
A.J. Caro, chief executive of Arrow Security in Smithtown, which provides&nbsp;security for executives across the country, said&nbsp;he's heard from several clients, including those on Long Island, who plan to beef up&nbsp;personal security practices now. Many corporate executives, he said, while spending considerable resources to protect their companies' office buildings, have become&nbsp;&quot;lax&quot; with&nbsp;private security. 
&quot;They'll have bulletproof glass&nbsp;or they'll take physical measures to protect the office,&quot; Caro said. &quot;But then they'll go off-site and go to a hotel with the whole executive team and leave themselves completely vulnerable. But I think this is a pivotal point where people have to start paying attention at that executive level, where they weren't necessarily paying attention before.&quot; 
Glen Kucera, president of Enhanced Protection Services&nbsp;at security firm Allied Universal in Manhattan, said his Long Island clients&nbsp;also have reached out&nbsp;seeking additional security&nbsp;assessments, including social media monitoring and to identify whether some of their key executives face a higher threat level. 
&quot;Nobody is running out and saying, 'I need to have 24/7, protection for all my executives.' That's just not happening,&quot; said Kucera, whose company has Fortune 500 clients.&nbsp;&quot;But what we're seeing is a lot more, 'Let's think about this.' Executives are valuable assets&nbsp;if they're public-facing and if they're making policy decisions.&quot; 
Newsday reached out to roughly 50 of Long Island’s largest companies to&nbsp;learn more about their intentions regarding&nbsp;their security policies, including for their top executives, and several&nbsp;firms&nbsp;said it wouldn't&nbsp;alter their policies because police said the killing&nbsp;was considered a premeditated&nbsp;attack.&nbsp;Many other companies who responded declined to discuss safety protocols. 
Garden City-based attorney Bob Sullivan, founding partner of Sullivan Papain Block McManus Coffinas &amp; Cannavo P.C., said Long Island is a relatively safe area and improving&nbsp;security would be&nbsp;an overreaction that would add unnecessary costs to his practice. 
&quot;Life is a gamble,&quot; Sullivan said. &quot;It's a shame the times we live in, but it would make the business non-profitable to make everything secure.&quot; 
Sullivan said he agreed that enhanced protection might be considered for&nbsp;larger companies based in Manhattan.&nbsp; 
Matt Cohen, president and CEO of the Long Island Association business group, said while most C-suite executives he has recently spoken with still&nbsp;are processing the incident, it’s a time for businesses to reassess whether protections are needed or not. 
&quot;It’s not a one-size-fits-all approach,&quot; Cohen said, acknowledging &quot;there are a lot of times where CEOs make complicated choices that might not be very popular, or that might negatively impact certain people.&quot; 
<a class="p-smartembed" data-attr-caption="Late UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who police said was shot and killed in Manhattan on Wednesday.
" data-attr-credit="" data-attr-f="3x2" data-attr-has-caption="true" data-attr-has-credit="true" data-attr-q="0.3" data-attr-w="400" data-onecms-id="contentid/a69d0bab-9d83-4add-bc66-581a83aaa00b" data-onecms-type="image" href="javascript:window.parent.actionEventData({$contentId:'contentid/a69d0bab-9d83-4add-bc66-581a83aaa00b', $action:'view', $target:'work'})" polopoly:contentid="contentid/a69d0bab-9d83-4add-bc66-581a83aaa00b"><img src="/image-service/alias/contentid/a69d0bab-9d83-4add-bc66-581a83aaa00b/nyTHOMPSON241206.jpg?f=3x2&amp;w=400&amp;q=0.3" />Late UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who police said was shot and killed in Manhattan on Wednesday. </a> 
Thompson, 50, of Maple Grove, Minnesota, was heading to an annual investor meeting when he was shot from behind, according to police.&nbsp;Shell casings at&nbsp;the crime&nbsp;scene were marked&nbsp;with words including &quot;deny&quot; and&nbsp;&quot;defend,&quot; a law enforcement source previously told Newsday. 
The words seem to echo a 2010 book authored by Jay M. Feinman that was&nbsp;titled&nbsp;&quot;Delay, Deny, Defend&quot; and&nbsp;subtitled &quot;Why insurance companies don't pay claims and what you can do about it.&quot; 
The NYPD released two new images of the suspected gunman Thursday, requesting&nbsp;the public’s help in identifying a person they said was &quot;wanted for questioning,&quot; and the <a href="https://www.newsday.com/news/new-york/unitedhealthcare-ceo-brian-thompson-killed-skskfe3s">investigation was continuing</a> Friday, Newsday reported. 
Sharon Schultz, a spokeswoman for Intellicheck Inc., a Melville-based identity verification company, said &quot;there are no changes in the security for our executives at this time.&quot; 
Matthew Finn, an assistant marketing manager at Napco Security Technologies, a security company in Amityville, said the same: The business&nbsp;hadn't&nbsp;made any changes to its&nbsp;security practices following Thompson’s shooting. 
John A. Catsimatidis,&nbsp;founder of Red Apple Group, Inc.,&nbsp;a holding company for businesses, including supermarkets in Manhattan, and&nbsp;CEO of United Refining Company in Warren, Pennsylvania, shared similar sentiments. 
&quot;I think this was a hit job.&nbsp;I think it's an isolated incident. I'm the&nbsp;guy who sleeps with a gun under my pillow and worst case scenario I'll sleep with two,&quot;&nbsp;said Catsimatidis, who has a weekend home on Long Island.

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liCEO241207_photos

Some Long Island firms reevaluating security after UnitedHealthcare CEO's New York City killing

Some LI firms reevaluating security after CEO's NYC killing, while others say no changes in store

NEW YORK — New clues emerged Thursday in the hunt for the masked gunman who stalked and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, including possible leads about his travel before the shooting and a message scrawled on ammunition found at the crime scene.
The words “deny,” “defend” and “depose” were found emblazoned on the ammunition, echoing a phrase used by insurance industry critics, two law enforcement officials said Thursday.
The words were written in permanent marker, according to one of the two officials, who were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
Investigators also now believe the suspect may have traveled to New York last month on a bus that originated in Atlanta, one of the law enforcement officials said.
Police and federal agents have been collecting information from Greyhound in an attempt to identify the suspect and are working to determine whether he purchased the ticket to New York in late November, the official said.
Police also released new photos Thursday of a person wanted for questioning in connection with Thompson's killing.
The images, showing an unmasked man smiling in the lobby of a Manhattan hostel, add to a collection of photos and video that have circulated since the shooting — including footage of the attack itself, as well as still frames of the suspected gunman stopping at a Starbucks beforehand.
Thompson, the head of one of the largest U.S. health insurers, died in a dawn ambush Wednesday as he walked from his midtown hotel to the company’s annual investor conference at a Hilton across the street. The reason for the killing remained unknown, but New York City police say evidence firmly points to it being a targeted attack.
The messages on the 9 mm ammunition found at the scene of the shooting mimic the phrase “delay, deny, defend,” which is commonly used by lawyers and insurance industry critics to describe tactics used to avoid paying claims.
It refers to insurers delaying payment, denying a claim and then defending their actions. Health insurers like UnitedHealthcare have become frequent targets of criticism from doctors and patients for denying claims or complicating access to care.
Investigators also recovered a cellphone from a pedestrian plaza through which the shooter fled. Inside a nearby trash can, they found a water bottle and protein bar wrapper that they say the gunman purchased from Starbucks minutes before the shooting. The city's crime lab is examining those items for DNA and fingerprints.
Investigators were still trying to obtain additional information from the phone Thursday, the law enforcement official said.
A tip that the shooter may have stayed at a hostel brought police Thursday morning to at least two such establishments on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, according to one of the law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation. The photos made public Thursday were taken in the lobby of the HI New York City hostel.
“We are fully cooperating with the NYPD and, as this is an active investigation, can not comment at this time,” hostel spokesperson Danielle Brumfitt said in an emailed statement.
Investigators believe the suspect used a fake New Jersey identification card when he checked in at the hostel, said one of the officials who spoke with the AP.
Employees who work at the hostel told investigators they remembered a man who almost always wore a mask when interacting with them or passing by the front desk. That person wore a jacket that looked like the one worn by the man pictured in surveillance images released after the shooting, the official said.
After the shooting, police said the gunman fled on a bicycle and was last seen riding into Central Park.
Members of the public have flooded police with tips — many unfounded. Police searched a Long Island Rail Road train Wednesday night after a commuter claimed to have spotted the shooter, but they found no sign of the gunman.
“We’re following up on every single tip that comes in,” said Assistant Commissioner Carlos Nieves, a police spokesperson. ”That little piece of information could be the missing piece of the puzzle that ties everything together.” 
Based on surveillance video and evidence from the scene, investigators believe the shooter had at least some firearms training and experience with guns and that the weapon was equipped with a silencer, one of the law enforcement officials told the AP.
Investigators were also looking into whether the suspect had pre-positioned a bike as part of an escape plan, the official said.
Security video shows the killer approaching Thompson from behind, leveling his pistol and firing several shots, barely pausing to clear a gun jam while the executive tumbled to the sidewalk. Cameras showed him fleeing the block across a pedestrian plaza before getting on the bicycle. 
Police released several images of the man wearing a hooded jacket and a mask that concealed most of his face — a look that would not have attracted attention on a chilly morning.
Thompson, a father of two sons who lived in a Minneapolis suburb, had been with Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare since 2004 and served as CEO for more than three years. 
His wife, Paulette, told NBC News on Wednesday that he told her “there were some people that had been threatening him.” She didn’t have details but suggested the threats may have involved issues with insurance coverage.
The insurer’s parent company, UnitedHealth Group Inc., was holding its annual meeting in New York to update investors on its direction and expectations for the coming year. The company ended the conference after Thompson’s death.
UnitedHealthcare provides coverage for more than 49 million Americans and brought in more than $281 billion in revenue last year. It is the largest provider of Medicare Advantage plans in the U.S. and manages health insurance coverage for employers and state and federally funded Medicaid programs.
In October, UnitedHealthcare was named along with Humana and CVS in a Senate report detailing how its denial rate for prior authorizations for some Medicare Advantage patients has surged in recent years.

AP-US-UnitedHealthcare-CEO-Killed, 15th Ld-Writethru

New clues emerge as investigators hunt for the gunman who killed UnitedHealthcare's CEO

UnitedHealthcare executive fatally shot in NYC in 'brazen targeted attack,' NYPD says

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Complete coverage of the alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione trial

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Complete coverage: Alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO killer Luigi Mangione trial

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