INCITING FEAR
‘Assassin’ Luigi Mangione charged with killing CEO Brian Thompson as ‘act of terror’ as mom’s chilling comment revealed
Mangione could potentially be transferred to New York as early as Thursday
THE Ivy League graduate accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson has been indicted on first-degree murder charges.
, who is due in court on Thursday, is expected to waive his right to extradition to , where Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said he committed the "brazen, targeted, fatal shooting."
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Mangione, who is being held in the State Correctional Institution in Huntington, , on gun and forgery charges, was indicted on 11 criminal counts on Tuesday in connection with the December 4 in Midtown, Manhattan.
"This was a frightening, well-planned, targeted murder that was intended to cause shock, and attention, and intimidation," Bragg said during an afternoon press conference.
"It occurred in one of the most bustling parts of our city, threatening the safety of local residents and tourists alike - commenters and business people just starting out on their day."
The suspect was charged with one count of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder, seven counts of criminal possession of a weapon, and forgery crimes.
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Prosecutors said Mangione's actions were an intent to inflict terror after a Manhattan grand jury indicted the suspect of second-degree murder as a crime of terrorism.
A law passed in New York following the September 11, 2001, attacks allows prosecutors to charge crimes as acts of terrorism.
Crimes can be considered acts of terrorism when they are "intended to intimate 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," the state reads.
"This was a killing to invoke terror," Bragg said.
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"This was not an ordinary killing, not to suggest that any killing ordinary, but this was extraordinary, and the New York State Legislature has set out both the paths, both the murder one and murder two, and this, we allege, is squarely within those statutes which talk about intending to do exactly what we saw happen here."
'SOMETHING HE WOULD DO'
A New York detective revealed that an field office in San Francisco forwarded a tip to the department about a missing person case from November 18 that resembled the Midtown shooter.
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"The sergeant that was involved in that case reached out to the San Francisco field office and said, 'Hey, I'm working on a missing case. I saw the photograph that was distributed by the NYPD. There bears a resemblance," the official said.
The tip was received by the NYPD about two days after Thompson, 50, was assassinated outside the Hilton hotel in Midtown.
The official said a task force officer vetted the San Francisco lead, which was one of four tips received that day.
Part of their investigation into the tip involved contacting Mangione's mother, Kathleen Zannino, who reported her son missing on November 18 in .
"They had a conversation where she didn't indicate that it was son in the photograph, but said it might be something that she could see him doing," the official said of the December 7 conversation.
Kathleen told police she had not spoken to her son since July 1, according to .
Bragg said Mangione waited for Thompson for about an hour outside the Hilton hotel in the early hours of December 7 before allegedly sneaking up behind the healthcare executive and firing three shots.
Three of the bullet shell casings were engraved with the words "defend," "depose," and "deny," according to investigators.
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'COLD AND CALCULATED CRIME'
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch called Thompson's killing a "senseless act of violence."
"It was a cold and calculated crime that stole a life and put New Yorkers at risk," Tisch said.
She condemned the people who praised Mangione as a hero.
"We don't celebrate murders, and we don't lionize the killing of anyone," she added.
Mangione, 26, is expected to appear in a Pennsylvania courtroom for an extradition hearing on Thursday.
A judge will rule on the next steps for him to be returned to New York to be arraigned on murder charges.
He is facing life in prison if convicted in .
SICK 'TO-DO LIST'
Mangione was arrested on December 9 after an employee at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 280 miles west of the Hilton hotel in Midtown, recognized him from the shooter's wanted posters out of New York.
When confronted by Altoona police, Mangione presented a fake New Jersey identification card, which investigators believe was the same document he used to check into a hostel in the Upper West Side days before Thompson's killing.
The suspect became nervous and began shaking when police asked if he had recently been to New York.
Authorities also found a ghost gun, silencer, additional fake IDs, and a three-page handwritten manifesto on Mangione's person.
The suspect's backpack contained at least $8,000 in US currency and $200 in foreign cash, according to an arrest report.
Investigators also found a spiral notebook in Mangione's bookbag that contained a sick "to-do list," according to .
The notebook reportedly included several pages that detailed a list of tasks that needed to be planned out to pull off Thompson's murder.
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.
READ MORE SUN STORIES
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.
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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.
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