Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO, carried a “manifesto” expressing his hatred for the insurance company.
When he was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania on December 9, Luigi Mangione was carrying “a gun, a silencer and a personal statement-style document,” Altoona police said.
Jessica Tisch, the commissioner of the New York Police Department (NYPD), described the statement Mangione carried as a handwritten letter “describing the motive and mindset” of the suspect in the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan last week.
Suspect Luigi Mangione. Photo: NYPD
Police have not made public the contents of the document, but US media have quoted several anonymous officers as revealing part of its contents, describing Mangione’s document as a letter “to the federal police”.
The NYTimes source said the document was about two and a half pages long, 262 words long, and directly mentioned UnitedHealthcare, its size and its profits. Mangione also criticized the health insurance industry in general, saying that these companies put profits above customer care. He was frustrated that the insurance industry was making more money but not helping Americans improve their life expectancy.
Police sources said the suspect admitted in the letter that he acted alone and did not receive money from anyone.
“The reality is that these companies have become too powerful and continue to exploit the country for huge profits,” the letter said. “To save you time from investigating, I will state this directly: I am not working with anyone else.”
“These parasites deserve to be punished,” Mangione wrote. “I apologize for any violence and pain caused, but it had to happen.”
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The moment CEO Brian Thompson was shot dead on the streets of New York on December 4. The video contains violent scenes, readers should consider before watching. Video: CNN
At the scene of Thompson’s assassination in central New York on December 4, police found three bullet casings engraved with the words “deny”, “defend” and “depose”.
The message on the bullet casing also led police to believe that the suspect had a grudge against the insurance industry, as the words were similar to the title of a 2010 book about the insurance industry: Delay, Deny, Defend – Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay and What You Should Do About It . The book included many messages that were highly critical of the insurance industry.
Mangione is being held in Pennsylvania, where he is charged with illegal possession of a firearm, forgery and presenting false identification to police.
Manhattan prosecutors have begun taking steps to extradite Mangione to New York, where he faces charges of murder, illegal possession of a weapon and using false documents.
