Luigi Mangione charged with murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York

Police in New York have charged a 26-year-old with murder over last week's fatal shooting of a health insurance boss, as ITV News' ITV News Correspondent Robert Moore reports

Luigi Mangione has been charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, five days after New York police launched a major manhunt.

The 26-year-old was also charged with two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, one count of second-degree possession of a forged document, and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a firearm, court documents show.

Mangione is currently being held in Pennsylvania after being denied bail.

Following Mangione’s extradition hearing, defence attorney, Thomas Dickey, said his client will be pleading not guilty to the charges he faces in Pennsylvania. Dickey added outside the courthouse that he would be challenging Mangione's imprisonment. The judge gave him 14 days to challenge the detention.

Mr Thompson was on the way to his company's annual investor conference when he was fatally shot outside the Hilton Midtown Hotel on Wednesday.

Outside a Pennsylvania court, Manigone struggled with police and shouted at reporters before being led inside.

He was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania after a customer recognised him and notified a member of staff.

When police arrived, they found a man “wearing a medical mask and a beanie” sitting “in the rear of the building at a table,” looking at a laptop, according to a criminal complaint released Monday.

Officers asked him to pull down the mask to see his face and “immediately recognised him as the suspect."

He initially gave them a fake ID, but when asked whether he’d been to New York recently, he “became quiet and started to shake,” the complaint says.

When an officer asked why he had used a false name, he replied, “I clearly shouldn’t have".

After arresting Mangione, police found “a black 3D-printed pistol” with a loaded Glock magazine and a “black silencer” that was also 3D-printed in his backpack, says the criminal complaint.

New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said earlier in the day Mangione was found with a gun and a suppressor “both consistent with the weapon used in the murder,” referring to a device that muffles the sound of a firearm.

The NYPD chief of detectives, Joseph Kenny, previously described the weapon found with Mangione as a “ghost gun,” an untraceable weapon, and capable of firing a 9mm round.

Authorities also recovered a “fraudulent New Jersey ID matching the ID our suspect used to check into his New York City hostel before the shooting,” Tisch said, and “a handwritten document that speaks to both his motivation and mindset.”

Kenny said the document, which has also been described as the suspect’s “manifesto,” did not include specific threats but indicated “ill will towards corporate America.”

“These parasites had it coming,” one line from the document reads, according to a police official who has seen it.

Another reads: “I do apologise for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done.”

The document indicates the suspect acted alone and that he was self-funded, according to Kenny.

The suspect also appeared to make a reference to UnitedHealthcare describing “United” as one of the largest companies by market capitalisation in the United States, according to a law enforcement source who has read the document. There is no mention of Thompson specifically.

Police also recovered “clothing, including a mask, consistent with those worn by our wanted individual.”

The NYPD and FBI arrived in Altoona on Monday afternoon, according to Republican Rep. John Joyce of Pennsylvania.

Mangione was interviewed by police at the Altoona Police Department before he was taken to court, an officer told ITV News' US partner CNN.

Pennsylvania prosecutor Peter Weeks said in court that Mangione was found with a passport and $10,000 in cash — $2,000 of it in foreign currency. Mangione disputed the amount.

The suspect comes from a prominent Mayland family and graduated from the University of Pennslyvania, an Ivy League school.

He worked for a time for the car-buying website TrueCar and left in 2023, CEO Jantoon Reigersman said by email.

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In a statement released through Mangione’s cousin, Nino Mangione, a Maryland state delegate, the suspect’s family said they are “shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest.”

“We offer prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved,” the statement said, signed with “The Mangione Family.”

The note said that the family only knows the facts of the case that have been released in the news and they are “devastated by the news.”

UnitedHealth Group hopes “today’s apprehension brings some relief to Brian’s family, friends, colleagues, and the many others affected by this unspeakable tragedy,” a spokesperson said in a statement.

“We thank law enforcement and will continue to work with them on this investigation. We ask that everyone respect the family’s privacy as they mourn,” the spokesperson said.

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