Luigi Mangione latest: UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting suspect’s motive in doubt as key detail revealed

The manhunt for the masked gunman suspected of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on December 4 came to an end after six days when Larry, a McDonald’s employee, called 911, saying he recognized a customer nibbling on hashbrowns from the photos circulated by NYPD. Now, that worker is eligible to collect tens of thousands of dollars in reward money.

Mangione, 26, has been charged with second-degree murder in New York in connection to Thompson’s death. He also faces gun charges in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested.

The FBI was offering up to $50,000 and NYPD Crime Stoppers was offering $10,000 for information that led to an arrest or conviction.

“The individual in Pennsylvania, who called in a tip, is eligible to receive the reward,” the Police Foundation board said in a statement Wednesday.

Since most rewards require a conviction, Larry might have to wait until a trial completes, which could take a year or more, the Associated Press reported.

“Delay, deny, depose. You people are next.” Briana Boston of Lakeland allegedly told a BlueCross BlueShield employee at the end of a call about a recently denied medical insurance claim.

Those same words were found scrawled on three bullet casings at the scene of Thompson’s murder. Police believe they are a reference to “Delay, Deny, Defend” – which is the name of a book attacking insurance companies, and a phrase used to describe how insurance companies delay payments, deny claims and defend their actions.

Because of the recent fatal shooting of Thomspon, the employee perceived the words as a threat and called FBI officials, said officials.

Ariana Baio has the full story.

Joe Rogan chalked up the country’s mixed reactions to the fatal shooting of the UnitedHealthcare CEO to the “dirty business” of health insurance.

Rogan and his guests, filmmakers Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary, discussed the December 4 death of Brian Thompson on a Midtown Manhattan street on Tuesday’s episode of the mega-popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast.

The podcaster and his guests predicted there wouldn’t be much sympathy for the 50-year-old insurance executive due to the state of health insurance in the US.

“I don’t think anybody is going to be crying too hard over” Thompson’s death, Avary said.

“Maybe his family, but that’s about it,” Rogan replied. “It’s a dirty, dirty business. The business of insurance is f***ing gross. It’s gross, especially healthcare insurance.”

December 4: The suspect set off from an Upper West Side hostel before dawn. He was seen on surveillance video walking back and forth at 54th Street and Sixth Avenue, near the Hilton Hotel where the UnitedHealthcare Group was holding its conference. After opening fire, the suspect fled by bike through Central Park before getting into a cab and was later spotted at a bus station. A manhunt ensued.

December 5: Investigators revealed a cryptic message carved onto the shell casings: “delay,” “deny” and “depose.” NYPD also released images of the suspect.

December 6: Police announce they believe the suspect has left New York City, expanding the desperate search. A backpack, thought to belong to the suspect, was found in Central Park and sent in for forensic testing. The now-viral “flirtatious” photo of the suspect speaking to a hostel worker was released.

December 7: NYPD releases another photo of the suspect, this time in the back of a taxi. The FBI also joined the hunt for the suspect, offering a $50,000 reward for information.

December 8: Although no leads on the suspect’s whereabouts were made public, investigators revealed the contents of the backpack included Monopoly money and a Tommy Hilfiger jacket.

December 9: A private service for Brian Thompson was held. Also that day, a McDonald’s employee in Altoona, Pennsylvania tipped recognized Mangione from the photos circulated by police. He was arrested in Pennsylvania on gun charges and hours later faced a murder charge in New York.

Luigi Mangione was not insured by UnitedHealth Group, UnitedHealthcare’s parent company, told NBC News.

The update comes after police said that there was “no indication” that Mangione was registered with UnitedHealthcare, whose CEO was murdered on December 4 in Midtown Manhattan.

“We have no indication that he was ever a client of United Healthcare, but he does make mention that it is the fifth-largest corporation in America, which would make it the largest health care organization in America,” Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told NBC New York. “So that’s possibly why he targeted that company,” Kenny said.

Investigators are still looking into a motive and have said that he suffered from debilitating back pain.

Betting platform Polymarket started taking bets on Luigi Mangione’s future after the 26-year-old was charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

The bets started appearing on the website on Monday shortly after Mangione was arrested in a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on gun charges, according to Forbes.

The betting platform surged in popularity during the 2024 presidential election, when gamblers spent more than $3.3 billion guessing the results.

So far, users have wagered thousands of dollars worth of cryptocurrencies speculating over Mangione’s alleged motive and outcome of the case.

A bet with one of the highest trading volumes, $125,000, is on whether Mangione was “motivated by denied [health insurance] claims.” Polymarket’s betting odds give it a 24 percent chance of being true.

Rhian Lubin has the full story.

Luigi Mangione has been charged with murder in connection to the death of the UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside his Manhattanhotel on December 4.

Mangione, 26, was spotted eating a meal inside a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday morning, with an employee calling the tip into police.

He is currently being held in a Pennsylvania jail without bond as he awaits extradition to New York where he faces a murder charge. He also faces charges for gun law violations in Pennsylvania.

Thompson, 50, was shot dead on December 4 outside the New York Hilton Midtown. That launched a massive manhunt for the suspect who eluded police for nearly a week.

New York Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez told CBS News that she believes Americans view health insurance companies denying their claims as an “act of violence.”

“I think that this collective American experience, which is so twisted to have in the wealthiest nation in the world, all of that pain that people have experienced is being concentrated on this event. And it’s really important that we take a step back,” the Democrat said Thursday.

“This is not to comment and this is not to say that an act of violence is justified, but I think for anyone who is confused or shocked or appalled, they need to understand that people interpret and feel and experience denied claims as an act of violence against them,” she continued.

California police had identified the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting suspect as Luigi Mangione and alerted the FBI four days before he was eventually arrested in Pennsylvania, according to a report.

An officer in the San Francisco Police Department’s Special Victims Unit is said to have tipped off the bureau on December 5 after recognizing Mangione in images circulated by the NYPD, sources told the San Francisco Chronicle.

Mangione had actually been on the radar of San Francisco authorities two weeks prior to the December 4 shooting of Brian Thompson.

Mangione’s mother, Kathleen Mangione, had reported her son missing on November 18 after the family had been unable to contact him since July 1, the sources told the Chronicle. An acquaintance told The New York Times the suspect had lost touch with friends and family after undergoing major surgery for debilitating, chronic back pain in July 2023.