Murder Suspect For Healthcare CEO Arrested

A 26-year-old man has been arrested in connection with last week’s fatal shooting in New York City of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Luigi Mangione was taken into custody at a McDonald’s in the town of Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 280 miles (450km) west of New York City on Monday after a customer at the fast-food outlet recognised him.

He was found in possession of a handwritten document that indicated “motivation and mindset”, according to police.

Mr Mangione appeared later in a Pennsylvania court to be arraigned on five initial counts and was denied bail. A prosecutor said he expected a homicide charge to be filed soon.

Mr Mangione was formally charged on Monday evening with forgery, carrying firearms without a licence, tampering with records or identification, possessing instruments of crime and providing a false identification to police.

Pete Weeks, a district attorney in Pennsylvania’s Blair County, said that homicide charges from New York would be filed “tonight or tomorrow” or in the “near future”.

Mr Mangione stopped co-operating after he was detained, officials said.
Handcuffed at the wrists and ankles, he appeared in court on Monday wearing jeans and a dark blue jersey. He appeared calm during the hearing, occasionally looking around at those present, including the media.

Mr Thompson, 50, was fatally shot in the back last Wednesday morning outside the Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan where UnitedHealthcare, the medical insurance giant he led, was holding an investors’ meeting.

Police say he was targeted in a pre-planned killing.

The words “deny”, “defend” and “depose” were written on shell casings found at the scene.

Investigators believe they could be a reference to what critics call the “three Ds of insurance” – tactics used by insurance companies to reject payment claims by patients in America’s complicated and mostly privately run healthcare system.

BBC/Ejiofor Ezeifeoma