Suspect charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO as act of terrorism

Luigi Mangione was seen at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and arrested days after Brian Thompson's killing

Luigi Mangione. Pennsylvania State Police / Reuters

The man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare's chief executive Brian Thompson has been charged with murder as an act of terrorism, prosecutors said on Tuesday, as they worked to bring him to a New York court from a Pennsylvania jail.

Luigi Mangione, 26, had already been charged with murder in the December 4 killing of Brian Thompson, but the terrorism allegation is new.

Under New York law, such a charge can be brought when an alleged crime is “intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence the policies of a unit of government by intimidation or coercion and affect the conduct of a unit of government by murder, assassination or kidnapping”. Mr Mangione’s New York lawyer has not commented on the case.

Mr Thompson, 50, was shot dead as he walked to a Manhattan hotel where Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare – the US biggest medical insurer – was holding an investor conference.

“This was a frightening, well-planned, targeted murder that was intended to cause shock and attention and intimidation,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg told reporters on Tuesday. “It occurred in one of the most bustling parts of our city, threatened the safety of local residents and tourists alike, commuters and businesspeople just starting out on their day.”

After days of intense police searches and publicity, Mr Mangione was seen at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and arrested. New York police officials have said he was carrying the gun used to kill Mr Thompson, as well as a passport and various fake IDs, including one that the suspected gunman presented to check into a New York hostel.

He was charged with Pennsylvania gun and forgery offences and locked up there without bail. His Pennsylvania lawyer has questioned the evidence for the forgery charge and the legal grounding for the gun charge. The lawyer has also said Mr Mangione would fight extradition to New York.

Mr Mangione has two court hearings scheduled for Thursday in Pennsylvania, including one for extradition, Mr Bragg said.

Hours after his arrest, the Manhattan District Attorney’s office filed paperwork charging him with murder and other offences. The indictment builds on that paperwork.

Investigators’ working theory is that Mr Mangione, an Ivy League computer science graduate from a prominent Maryland family, was propelled by anger at the US healthcare system. A law enforcement bulletin obtained by AP said that when arrested, he was carrying a handwritten letter that called health insurance companies “parasitic” and complained about corporate greed.

Mr Mangione 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 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 more opinions from surgeons and, if necessary, say the pain made it impossible to work.

“We live in a capitalist society,” Mr 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 was never a UnitedHealthcare client, according to the insurer. Mr Mangione apparently cut himself off from his family and close friends in recent months. His family reported him missing to San Francisco authorities in November.

Mr Thompson's killing kindled an outpouring of resentment towards US health insurance companies, as Americans swapped stories online and elsewhere of being denied coverage, left in limbo as doctors and insurers disagreed, and stuck with sizeable bills.

The shooting also unnerved executives, as “wanted” posters with other healthcare chiefs’ names and faces appeared on New York streets and an outpouring of online vitriol prompted police to warn that there could be an “elevated threat”.