The New York Police Department (NYPD) has revealed that Luigi Mangione, who is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, may have been driven to commit the crime by a life-changing back injury.
This was disclosed on Thursday by NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.
Tribune Online reports that Mangione, a data engineer from a wealthy Baltimore family was arrested at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania after allegedly shooting Thompson in cold blood last week.
While speaking to NBC, Kenny linked Mangione’s actions to a severe back injury he suffered in July 2023.
“It seems that he had an accident that caused him to go to the emergency room back in July of 2023 and that it was a life-changing injury,” Kenny said.
“He posted X-rays of screws being inserted into his spine. So the injury that he suffered was, was a life-changing, life-altering injury, and that’s what may have put him on this path.”
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Kenny also stated that detectives believe Mangione may have targeted UnitedHealthcare due to its status as the largest healthcare organisation in the United States, despite finding “no indication that (Mangione) was ever a client of UnitedHealthcare.”
According to The New York Times, when police arrested Mangione, they found a notebook detailing plans for the murder, including an entry that read, “What do you do? You wack the CEO at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention. It’s targeted, precise, and doesn’t risk innocents.”
Mangione also carried a three-page handwritten text criticising the U.S. healthcare system, which he described as prioritising profits over people.
Investigators have matched Mangione’s fingerprints to those found at the crime scene, and shell casings match the gun recovered during his arrest.
Mangione remains in custody in Pennsylvania, where he is resisting extradition to New York. Meanwhile, prosecutors at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office have begun presenting evidence to a grand jury, aiming to secure an indictment that could strengthen the case for his extradition.
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