In a case that has shocked not only the country but the world, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, a former data engineer with excellent credentials, stands accused of murdering UnitedHealth Care CEO Brian Thompson in cold blood. What would have driven Mangione to murder a CEO in an attack which seemed cautiously calculated. The questions are how he knew what he was wearing and where the CEO would have been at the time of the attack. Could there be more people involved? An inside Job perhaps?
On the morning of Dec.4, United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a well-known figure, was shot and killed outside the New York Hilton Hotel in Manhattan by Suspect Luigi Mangione in act that seemed to be that of vengeance. On Monday, he was apprehended in Altuna, Pennsylvania, after being on the run for several days. Surveillance footage revealed that he had travelled by bus. New York to Philadelphia, Pittsburg and then to Altuna according to the Pennsylvania Governor. Luigi was later found by cops in a Mcdonald’s, where he was promptly arrested and then taken into custody. He was found with multiple identifications, which include The Ghost gun or gun silencer.
Mangione faces charges of second-degree murder, possession of weapons and forgery charges. He was also denied bail. In an interview, his attorney claimed that he and his client are willing to fight for his clients’ rights. Again, so many questions and things are being looked at trying to answer the question of how a successful young man with good opportunities would be driven to such a brutal act of violence.
A 3-page handwritten document found with Luigi, which is being referred to as a “Manifesto,” proves to be the plan behind the attack of Mr. Thompson. The NYPD confirmed that the attack was indeed targeted. Some part of this document read “To the feds, I’ll keep this short because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone…. the spiral notebook if present, has some struggling notes and to do list that illuminate the gist of it.” In another part he says UnitedHealth Care is mentioned specifically saying “United is the largest company in the US by market cap, behind only Apple, Google, Walmart. It has grown and grown but as is our life expectancy?”
To answer some questions, Sidebar with Jess Weber did an interview with a retired detective Tom Verni to what the whole manifesto would be and why Luige would have possibly chosen to take this upon himself. Mr. Verni goes on to explain, claiming that he feels it is clear that it was a premeditated attack. Mr. Thompson might not have been in any case related to something but was the head of many companies that have been problematic, However, murdering is in no way the correct way to resolve issues. The words in Luige’s book resembled that of a book that was critical of the health care industry titled “DeLay, Deny Defend.” It was also confirmed that his guns seemed to match up to those showcasing’s. Another part of his manifesto read, “Frankly these parasites had it coming,” which makes you wonder if this was just a message to Mr. Thompson or a warning to all insurance and related companies. Unfortunately, Brian Thompson was a representation of a group of people that have caused the American citizens great grief.
As the case is still being investigated, this was a targeted attack. Another part of his manifesto, Luigi talked about wanting to use a bomb but was concerned about taking innocent lives. In a slight defense and the theory all over the place is that Luigi did not harm anybody and caused no public threat. He shot at his target and left in almost a “heroic move,” showing the seriousness of the pain these insurance companies inflict on their people after taking so much from them.
