Bag of bullets ‘dumped by CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione’ found as fingerprints & gun confirmed to match crime scene
THE man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare's chief executive has officially been linked to the murder by his fingerprints and gun - as more evidence was discovered in Central Park.
Luigi Mangione is being held in without bail as he fights his extradition to , where he is facing second-degree murder charges related to the December 4 killing of Brian Thompson in Midtown.
On Wednesday, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch confirmed the gun found on Mangione matched shell casings found at the murder scene outside the Hilton hotel.
Tisch also said Mangione's fingerprints were linked to those on a discarded water bottle and KIND snack bar wrapper found close to the scene.
The news of a positive forensic match came after reported a dogwalker uncovered a tightly sealed zip bag filled with bullets in the bushes in Central Park on Tuesday.
The person was walking near East 81 and 85 Street when they saw the bag and noticed writing on it that echoed engraved markings found on shell casings at Thompson's murder scene.
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Investigators believe Mangione scribbled the words "deny," "depose," and "defend" on three bullet shell casings.
The message is similar to a 2010 book, Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don't Pay Claim and What You Can Do About It, written by insurance law expert and Rutgers Law School professor Jay M. Feinman.
Mangione, 26, had a wild outburst moments before his court hearing on Tuesday, blasting his arrest as an "insult to Americans" as a judge denied his request for bail.
He was arrested a day earlier while eating at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 280 miles west of the Hilton hotel in Midtown, Manhattan, where Thompson was killed.
A McDonald's employee who took Mangione's order called Altoona police after recognizing the alleged assassin from the suspect's wanted posters out of New York.
When confronted by cops, Mangione presented a fake New Jersey identification, which investigators suspect was the same document he used to check into a hostel in the Upper West Side before Thompson's killing.
Mangione became nervous and began shaking when Altoona police asked if he had recently been to New York.
Authorities also found a ghost gun, silencer, several other fake IDs, and a three-page handwritten manifesto on Mangione's person.
The suspect also had a backpack with $8,000 in US currency and $200 in foreign cash, according to an arrest report.
Police described Mangione's bookbag as a transmitter blocker that hinders cellphone signal to avoid detection.
'ZERO EVIDENCE'
However, during his initial court appearance on Monday evening, Mangione slammed the arguments from police and instead claimed someone planted the money.
The suspect also said his backpack was waterproof and did not block cellular signals.
Investigators also found a spiral notebook in Mangione's bookbag that contained a sick "to-do list."
The notebook included several pages that detailed to-do lists of tasks that needed to be planned out to pull off Thompson's murder, according to CNN.
Several notes justified these calculated plans, while another page referenced a plot to take out the UnitedHealthcare CEO using a bomb, the outlet reported.
One haunting passage said Thompson could be taken out using an explosive as he walked through Manhattan.
The alleged plan drew up a harrowing number of similarities to the Unabomber, who Mangione reportedly praised months before the shooting.
Domestic terrorist Ted Kaczynski killed three people using sadistic mail bombs across a 17-year reign of terror.
But despite the jarring claims in his arrest record, Mangione's attorney, Thomas Dickey, argued that there was currently "zero evidence" that incriminates his client.
Dickey said he's not convinced New York prosecutors have the right suspect.
The attorney added that investigators "need to convince" him that Mangione is the person they have been looking for.
What we know so far...
- Luigi Mangione's attorney said his office has been flooded with offers to pay the suspect's legal bill.
- A spiral notebook recovered from the inside of Mangione's backpack detailed his sick "to-do list," including plans to use a bomb to kill Brian Thompson, according to reports.
- Months before the December 4 assassination, Mangione stopped speaking to his friends and family.
- Friends of Mangione said he 'went crazy' after having giant screws put in his spine.
- Mangione's mother, Kathleen, reported her son missing in San Francisco on November 18.
- The McDonald's worker who reported Mangione to the police may lose out on the $60,000 reward after committing a critical error.
Mangione is facing gun and forgery charges in Pennsylvania and is fighting his extradition to New York, where prosecutors have filed second-degree murder charges against him.
Mangione, who was valedictorian of the class of 2016 at Baltimore's Gilman School, was described as a "well-educated and popular" student-athlete by his former classmates.
A former housemate at a co-living community in Honolulu, Hawaii, where the alleged assassin lived for a few months in 2023, said severe back pains made it impossible for Mangione to have a normal lifestyle.
RJ Martin, the founder of the co-living community Surfbreak in Honolulu, recalled how basic surf lessons left Mangione bedridden for weeks.
"He said his lower vertebrae were almost like a half-inch off, and I think it pinched a nerve.
"Sometimes he'd be doing well and other times not."
Mangione confided in Martin and several other roommates that he was incapable of being in a relationship due to his back problems.
"He knew that dating and being physically intimate with his back condition wasn't possible," Martin added.
"I remember him telling me that, and my heart just breaks."
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Mangione underwent back surgery in 2023 that left him with screws in his back, Martin told CNN.
"He sent me the X-rays. It looked heinous with just giant screws going into his spine," he added.
Timeline of Brian Thompson's murder
BRIAN Thompson, the 50-year-old CEO of UnitedHealthcare, was shot to death in Manhattan in an execution-like killing.
Here is everything we know about Thompson's murder so far.
Monday, December 2 - Thompson travels from his home in Minnesota to New York City for an investor conference in Midtown Manhattan.
Wednesday, December 4, 6:45 am - Thompson walks from his hotel across the street to the New York Hilton Midtown and is murdered by a masked shooter. The execution was caught on surveillance, and the suspect was seen biking away toward Central Park. Cops spark a citywide search for the assassin.
11:30 am - Cops released disturbing images of the execution, offered a reward for information, and made a desperate plea for New Yorkers to keep their eyes out.
12:00 pm - Thompson's estranged wife Paulette revealed her husband had been threatened before he was shot.
2:45 pm - Cops released more eerie images of the suspect ordering at Starbucks that partially revealed his face. The U.S. Sun confirmed the coffee shop was just two blocks away from the shooting, but it's unclear when he stopped by.
December 5, 6 am - Reports claim the words "deny," "dispose," and "defend" were engraved on live rounds and shell casings left behind by the assassin. These words echo the book Delay, Deny, Defend, which is about the failings of the healthcare industry. The author of the book had no comment on the reports.
8 am- Cops raid a hostel in the Upper West Side of New York City where the suspect is said to have stayed. It's believed he wore a mask for most of the time he was there.
11 am - A person of interest in Thompson's murder is pictured. He's wearing a hood in the photo, but his full face could be seen breaking into a beaming grin. Still, no arrests have been made in the investigation.
Afternoon - Law enforcement confirms the suspect arrived in New York City on a Greyhound bus on November 24. It's also confirmed that the suspect dropped a burner cell phone near the scene of the shooting.
December 6, 3 pm - Police announce they believe the killer has left New York City via interstate bus. They release more surveillance footage that shows him taking a taxi to the George Washington Bridge Bus Station.
December 9 - Luigi Mangione, 26, is arrested as a "strong person of interest" at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania. He was carrying a three-page manifesto, fake IDs, and a gun similar to the one used in Thompson's murder.