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Suspect in UnitedHealthcare Killing Wrote 'Parasites Simply Had it Coming'

— New York prosecutors file murder charge

MedpageToday
A screenshot of New York Police chief of detectives Joseph Kenny answers questions during a news conference.
(New York City Mayor's Office via AP)

Police Monday in the brazen Manhattan killing of after a quick-thinking McDonald's employee in Pennsylvania alerted authorities to a customer who was found with a weapon and writings linking him to the ambush.

The 26-year-old man had a gun believed to be the one used in the killing and writings suggesting his anger with corporate America, police officials said. He was taken into custody after police got a tip that he was eating at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference.

Police identified the suspect as Luigi Mangione. Mangione was born and raised in Maryland, has ties to San Francisco, and his last known address is in Honolulu, Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said at a news briefing.

Mangione was charged with weapons, forgery, and other charges in Pennsylvania on Monday. He was arraigned and ordered held without bail.

Here's the latest:

Suspect wrote 'parasites simply had it coming,' law enforcement source says

A three-page, handwritten document found in Mangione's possession included a line in which he claimed to have acted alone, according to a law enforcement official who wasn't authorized to discuss the investigation publicly and spoke with the Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

"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 had a line that said, "I do apologize for any strife or traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming."

New York prosecutors file murder charge against suspect

Late Monday, Manhattan prosecutors filed murder and other charges against Mangione, according to an online court docket. He remained jailed in Pennsylvania, where he was charged with possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery, and providing false identification to police.

Mangione's family releases statement following his arrest

"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 lawmaker Nino Mangione. "We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved."

Writings from the suspect are voluminous, Altoona deputy chief of police says

"They were very detailed, and everything we have is going to be turned over to NYPD," Altoona Deputy Chief of Police Derek Swope told the Associated Press. He did not characterize the writings further.

A McDonald's customer first recognized Mangione and notified an employee, authorities say

"The customer recognized, notified an employee and wanted someone to check it out further," said Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police.

Suspect went from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh after the shooting, authorities say

He likely "was in a variety of locations across the state," Bivens said. "Based on everything we have seen, he was very careful with trying to stay low profile, avoid cameras -- not all that successfully in some cases, but that was certainly the effort he was making," he added. "He took steps to try and avoid detection with some of the electronic devices as well."

Rookie police officer who helped arrest the suspect says, 'We knew that was our guy'

Officer Tyler Frye, who has only been on the job for about 6 months, and a fellow officer responded to the McDonald's where the suspect was spotted. They asked him to pull his blue medical mask down and "recognized him immediately" Frye said. "We didn't even think twice about it, we knew that was our guy."

Frye said "it feels good to get a guy like that off the street, especially starting my career this way, it feels great."

Mangione had a large sum of cash when he was arrested, prosecutor says

Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks said in court that Mangione was carrying a passport and $10,000 in cash -- $2,000 of it in foreign currency. Mangione disputed the amount. He was also found with a box of masks, the prosecutor said.

In Mangione's backpack, police had found a black, 3D-printed pistol and a 3D-printed black silencer. The pistol had a metal slide and plastic handle with a metal threaded barrel. It had one loaded Glock magazine with six 9 mm full metal jacket rounds and one loose 9 mm hollow-point round.