Category: National

(NEW YORK) — The ghost gun allegedly in Luigi Mangione’s possession when he was arrested in Pennsylvania has been matched to three shell casings recovered at the scene of Brian Thompson’s murder in New York City, NYPD Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Wednesday.

Fingerprints recovered from a water bottle and a Kind bar near the crime scene have also been matched to Mangione, she said.

Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League graduate, is accused of gunning down Thompson, the UnitedHealthcare CEO, outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel on Dec. 4.

Written on the shell casings were the words “deny,” “defend” and “depose,” according to police sources.

Mangione was apprehended in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday after nearly one week on the run.

Mangione allegedly had a spiral notebook detailing plans about how to eventually kill the CEO, according to law enforcement officials.

One passage allegedly said, “What do you do? You whack the CEO at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention,” the officials said.

The writings said using explosives in the attack could “risk innocents,” according to the officials.

Detectives are still examining Mangione’s writings but are considering the contents of the notebook to represent a confession, sources said.

Investigators have started interviewing members of Mangione’s family, according to sources.

A judge in Pennsylvania ordered Mangione held without bail on Tuesday. In Pennsylvania he faces charges including allegedly possessing an untraceable ghost gun.

Mangione plans to challenge his extradition to New York, where he faces charges including second-degree murder.

“He has constitutional rights and that’s what he’s doing” in challenging the interstate transfer, defense attorney Thomas Dickey told reporters on Tuesday.

Mangione is “taking it as well as he can,” Dickey added.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said it will seek a governor’s warrant to try to force Mangione’s extradition. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement that she’ll sign a request for the governor’s warrant “to ensure this individual is tried and held accountable.”

Mangione’s attorney told ABC News’ “Good Morning America” on Wednesday that anyone speculating on the case should take the potential evidence “in its entirety,” not taking pieces of writing or other evidence “out of context.”

“People put out certain things, parts of different things,” he said. “I think any lawyer involved in this situation would want to see it all.”

Mangione plans to plead not guilty to the charges in Pennsylvania, Dickey said. Dickey said he anticipates Mangione would also plead not guilty to the second-degree murder charge in New York.

ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik, Mark Crudele, Luke Barr, Peter Charalambous and Josh Margolin contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — Millions of Americans should prepare for an Arctic blast that will blanket much of the country in below-freezing temperatures over the next several days.

Frigid conditions are expected over a large swath of the contiguous U.S. in the aftermath of a powerful cold front moving through the East Coast on Wednesday, forecasts show.

Once the rain and wind has subsided, the icy conditions will extend east and south from the upper Midwest — reaching as far as Texas and Florida.

The cold air moving over the Great Lakes while they are still ice-free is expected to generate a lake effect snow event.

The National Weather Service has issued a lake effect snow warning for portions of northwestern Pennsylvania and western New York, where locally 2 feet to 3 feet of snow is possible, forecasts show.

A winter storm warning has also been issued across portions of Wisconsin and Michigan, where locally 1 foot to 2 feet of lake-effect snow is possible.

Chilly temperatures got an early start in the upper Midwest. On Wednesday morning, wind chills dipped to as low as -38 degrees in eastern North Dakota.

The arctic air mass will then move east and south, bringing the coldest air of the season from Texas to New York. A frost advisory has even been issued for parts of northern Florida, including Gainesville.

The frigid temperatures are expected to last through Friday and evening Saturday morning in some regions, including Minneapolis, Chicago, New York City and Atlanta.

The cold will begin to ease this weekend, first across the center of the country, then reaching the East Coast by Sunday and Monday.

Above average temperatures are favored across much of the country next week, according to the latest forecast from NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center.

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(MALIBU, Calif.) — A raging wildfire fanned by strong Santa Ana winds has spread to nearly 4,000 acres in Malibu, California, destroying homes and leaving more than 20,000 people under evacuation orders, including 98-year-old actor Dick Van Dyke and other celebrities in the oceanfront community.

The Franklin Fire, which erupted Monday night near the campus of Pepperdine University, was 7% contained on Wednesday morning as more than 1,500 firefighters were deployed to battle the blaze in the rugged and hilly terrain of Malibu Canyon, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire).

Burning through thick dry vegetation, the fire has been fueled by Santa Ana winds that have topped 90 mph, officials said.

In a message posted on his Facebook page, Van Dyke, who is set to turn 99 on Friday, said he and his wife, Arlene, were forced to evacuate as flames threatened their home in the secluded community of Serra Retreat in the hills of lower Malibu Canyon. He said all of his pets, except for his beloved cat Bobo, managed to escape.

“Arlene and I have safely evacuated with our animals except for Bobo…,” Van Dyke wrote. “We’re praying he’ll be ok and that our community in Serra Retreat will survive these terrible fires.”

In a follow-up Facebook message, Van Dyke posted a video of his cat, writing, “Hoping Bobo is ok.” 

Other celebrities residing in the area were forced to flee the flames or stay on lockdown. Recent Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Cher also evacuated, according to her publicist.

“Star Wars” actor Mark Hamill said in an Instagram post that he has also been affected by the fire.

“We’re in lockdown because of the Malibu fires,” the 73-year-old Hamill said in the post. “Please stay safe everyone! I’m not allowed to leave the house, which fits in perfectly with my elderly-recluse lifestyle.”

The Franklin Fire erupted just before 11 p.m. Pacific time on Monday and quickly grew amid the blustery Santa Anna winds, which blow southwest toward the Pacific Ocean.

At least seven homes have been destroyed by the fire and another eight have been damaged, according to Cal Fire.

Power to about 40,000 customers was shut off by Monday night, including 11,000 in Los Angeles County, as Southern California Edison worked to mitigate the impacts of the Santa Ana winds, whose strong gusts can damage electrical equipment and spark more wildfires.

There have been no reports of deaths or injuries. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

Pepperdine University canceled classes for the second straight day. When the fire erupted, officials put the campus on lockdown for about six hours before the order was lifted. As the fire grew on Tuesday, students were again ordered to seek shelter in the campus center and library, where students said they watched flames creep onto campus.

“Fire activity around Pepperdine’s Malibu campus has greatly diminished as the Franklin Fire has burned through most of the fuel immediately surrounding campus, but some flames are still visible in small pockets of campus,” the university said on its website.

Malibu resident Fred Robert described to ABC News seeing flames “coming straight down Malibu Canyon like a blowtorch.”

Red Flag warnings issued by the National Weather Service signaling the high risk of fire danger remained in effect Wednesday in the Malibu area.

“Time is of the essence for us to grab hold of the fire and start getting containment,” Los Angeles County Fire Chief Anthony C. Marrone said at a news conference Tuesday evening.

Marrone said firefighters are tackling the blaze from the ground and air “as they struggle to contain this stubborn fire.”

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(NEW YORK) — The Alexander brothers — Alon, Oren and Tal — have been arrested on federal sex trafficking charges, according to New York prosecutors.

For well over a decade, the prominent real estate brothers conspired to “repeatedly and violently drug, sexually assault and rape dozens of women,” according to an indictment unsealed Wednesday in New York after the brothers were arrested in Miami on Wednesday.

“At times, the Alexander brothers arranged for these sexual assaults well in advance, using the promise of luxury experiences, travel and accommodations to lure and entice women to locations where they were then forcibly raped or sexually assaulted, sometimes by multiple men, including one or more of the Alexander brothers,” the indictment said.

The allegedly “long-running sex trafficking scheme” began in 2010 and relied on “deception, fraud and coercion,” with the brothers flaunting their wealth to induce women to attend parties, events and trips where they were then attacked, prosecutors said.

Trips were organized in advance and the brothers allegedly shared photographs of women to make sure they were “sufficiently attractive.” The brothers used dating apps or social media to contact them or used party planners as intermediaries, according to the indictment.

The Alexanders also procured drugs, including GHB and cocaine, and would sometimes spike women’s drinks before assaulting them, the indictment said.

The brothers allegedly held down women and “ignored screams and explicit requests to stop.”

The indictment includes two victims, identified only as Victim 1 and Victim 2, and charges the brothers with conspiracy and forcible sex trafficking.

The brothers began their careers at Douglas Elliman, focusing on the real estate market in New York and Miami. They left and launched their own firm, Official, in 2022.

They had previously been accused in civil lawsuits of various acts of sexual misconduct.

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(NEW YORK) — Fingerprints taken from Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, appear to match fingerprints recovered from items found near the shooting scene, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

The prints recovered from a water bottle and a cellphone were smudged, but the sources said they appear to match the prints sent from Altoona, Pennsylvania, where Mangione was arrested on Monday.

If confirmed by detectives, it would represent the first forensic tie between the murder and 26-year-old Mangione.

Mangione also allegedly had a spiral notebook detailing plans about how to eventually kill the CEO, according to law enforcement officials.

One passage allegedly said, “What do you do? You whack the CEO at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention,” the officials said.

The writings said using explosives in the attack could “risk innocents,” according to the officials.

Detectives are still examining Mangione’s writings but are considering the contents of the notebook to represent a confession, sources said.

Investigators have started interviewing members of Mangione’s family, according to sources.

Mangione plans to challenge his extradition from Pennsylvania to New York, where he faces a charge of second-degree murder in connection with Thompson’s Dec. 4 shooting death outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel.

“He has constitutional rights and that’s what he’s doing” in challenging the interstate transfer, defense attorney Thomas Dickey told reporters on Tuesday.

Mangione is “taking it as well as he can,” Dickey added.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said it will seek a governor’s warrant to try to force Mangione’s extradition. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement that she’ll sign a request for the governor’s warrant “to ensure this individual is tried and held accountable.”

A judge in Pennsylvania ordered Mangione held without bail on Tuesday.

The Ivy League graduate was arrested on Monday in Altoona and charged in Pennsylvania for allegedly possessing an untraceable ghost gun.

New York police have not said whether the gun recovered in Pennsylvania is considered a match for the one used in the Midtown killing, but said it looks similar and that it would undergo ballistic testing.

Mangione’s attorney told ABC News’ “Good Morning America” on Wednesday that he had “not been made aware of any evidence that links the gun that was found on his person to the crime.”

“A lot of guns look the same,” Dickey said. “If you brought a gun in and said, ‘Well, it looks like that,’ I don’t even know if that evidence would be admissible. And if so, I would argue that it wouldn’t be given much weight.”

Dickey also cautioned that anyone speculating on the case should take the potential evidence “in its entirety,” not taking pieces of writing or other evidence “out of context.”

“People put out certain things, parts of different things,” he said. “I think any lawyer involved in this situation would want to see it all.”

Mangione plans to plead not guilty to the charges in Pennsylvania, Dickey said. Dickey said he anticipates Mangione would also plead not guilty to the second-degree murder charge in New York.

ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik, Mark Crudele, Luke Barr, Peter Charalambous and Josh Margolin contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — The Alexander brothers — Alon, Oren and Tal — have been arrested on federal charges out of New York, according to prosecutors.

The prominent real estate brothers have previously been accused in civil lawsuits of various acts of sexual misconduct.

The criminal charges have not been unsealed.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

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(ALTOONA, Penn.) — Before he was arrested Luigi Mangione walked into the Horseshoe Curve Lodge in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday looking for a room, according to the desk clerk who greeted him and noticed what he described as the man’s shifty behavior.

“He basically just walked in kind of cagey, just looking around, making sure he wasn’t being watched, asked if he could get a room here,” the hotel clerk, John Kuklis, told ABC News.

But that wasn’t the reason Kuklis had to turn the man away. They didn’t have a clean room available at that early hour, he said.

“I told him that he wouldn’t be able to get one right now, that our housekeeper hadn’t cleaned the rooms yet, that he had to come back at one o’clock. He asked if he could wait here. I told him no, because at the time, I didn’t know that I could just allow him to wait for, you know, half the day. And he said, ‘OK.’ And he turned around and just left. Didn’t say nothing. Never took his mask down,” Kuklis said.

Mangione’s arrival on Monday, the morning he was later arrested, came days after last week’s fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan. Mangione faces a second-degree murder charge in connection with that killing. His defense attorney, Thomas Dickey, said he anticipates that Mangione will plead not guilty.

The Horseshoe Curve Lodge is roughly a 17-minute walk from the McDonald’s where authorities would later confront Mangione, and take him into custody. Rooms at that hotel cost around $60 a night, according to a review of online price quotes.

At first, Kuklis thought the young man might be a veteran just returned to civilian life — there are “a lot of vets that stay here,” Kuklis said, and thought that might perhaps be why the young man was acting somewhat circumspect.

He added, “When [vets] come back, they have — anybody that walks up behind ’em, or you feel a little shadow, or you hear a specific noise, you just kind of look over your shoulders, watch yourself, and he just, he was like, wouldn’t turn his head, but his eyes were constantly looking like, is there somebody coming behind me, watching his surroundings?”

Had Mangione been able to get a room, Kuklis said, he would have been asked to show ID — but that didn’t happen. Mangione has been charged with falsely identifying himself to police, according to a complaint filed in Blair County, Pennsylvania.

Tuesday, officers called the hotel, asking if the suspect had stayed there, the clerk said.

“They called this morning and asked if he had stayed here, I says, no,” Kuklis said, but mentioned to police the young man’s earlier attempt to book a stay. “The officer goes, ‘did he have a mask on? Did he ever take a mask off?'” Kuklis said, realizing in real time to the officer, “No, he never did take the mask off.'”

“Next thing I know there’s three Logan Township police cars pulling in the parking lot. I’m like, holy crap” Kuklis said. “We pulled up our surveillance stuff, they go, ‘Yeah, that’s him.'”

Looking back, Kuklis said he “didn’t even realize” that furtive young man might have been carrying the very weapon allegedly used to gun down the CEO. “I mean, theoretically, I guess he could have just pulled it out and shot me.”

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(GREEN LAKE, Wis.) — Ryan Borgwardt, the husband and father who authorities said faked his own death and fled the U.S., is back in custody in Wisconsin, according to the Green Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

Green Lake County Sheriff Mark Podoll will announce more details at a news conference at 11 a.m. ET Wednesday.

The case began on Aug. 11, when Borgwardt texted his wife that he was turning his kayak around on Green Lake and heading to shore soon, Podoll said.

But the dad of three never came home.

Responders found Borgwardt’s overturned kayak and life jacket in the lake and believed he drowned, officials said.

Crews scoured the lake for weeks using divers, drones, sonar and cadaver K-9s, but never found him, officials said.

In October, investigators discovered Borgwardt’s name had been checked by law enforcement in Canada two days after he vanished on the lake, the sheriff said.

Authorities also learned Borgwardt had been communicating with a woman from Uzbekistan, the sheriff said.

Borgwardt’s other suspicious behavior included: clearing his browsers the day he disappeared, inquiring about moving funds to foreign banks, obtaining a new passport and getting a new life insurance policy, the sheriff said.

Authorities determined Borgwardt was alive out of the country, but didn’t know exactly where he was located. Authorities made contact with a woman who speaks Russian, and on Nov. 11, they reached Borgwardt through that woman, authorities said.

Borgwardt told police he was safe but didn’t reveal his location, the sheriff said.

Podoll said Borgwardt did reveal to them how he faked his death.

“He stashed an e-bike near the boat launch. He paddled his kayak in a child-sized floating boat out into the lake. He overturned the kayak and dumped his phone in the lake,” the sheriff said. “He paddled the inflatable boat to shore and got on his e-bike and rode through the night to Madison, [Wisconsin]. In Madison, he boarded a bus and went to Detroit, and then the Canadian border. He continued on the bus to an airport and got on a plane.”

One of the reasons Borgwardt picked Green Lake is because it’s one of the deepest lakes in the state, Podoll said.

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(NEW YORK) — The defense attorney representing Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, said he has seen “no evidence” linking his client to the killing, adding that “a lot of guns look the same.”

“I have not been made aware of any evidence that links the gun that was found on his person to the crime so these are things that we’re looking to see,” attorney Thomas Dickey told ABC News’ “Good Morning America” on Wednesday.

“Today’s another day,” he added. “We’re looking forward to beginning our inquiry as to what evidence may or may not be out there.”

The attorney said Mangione is “taking it as well as he can.”

Mangione, 26, plans to challenge his extradition from Pennsylvania to New York, where he faces a charge of second-degree murder in connection with Thompson’s Dec. 4 outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel.

The Ivy League graduate was arrested on Monday in Altoona, Pennsylvania, and charged in Pennsylvania for allegedly possessing an untraceable “ghost” gun.”

“He has constitutional rights and that’s what he’s doing” in challenging the interstate transfer, Dickey told reporters on Tuesday.

Police officials in New York have not said whether the gun recovered in Pennsylvania is considered a match for the one used in the killing last week, but said it looks similar and that it would undergo ballistic testing.

“A lot of guns look the same,” Dickey said on Wednesday. “If you brought a gun in and said, ‘Well, it looks like that,’ I don’t even know if that evidence would be admissible. So I would argue it wouldn’t be given much weight.”

He also cautioned that anyone speculating on the case should take the potential evidence “in its entirety,” not taking pieces of writing or other evidence “out of context.”

“People put out certain things, parts of different things,” he said. “I think any lawyer involved in this situation would want to see it all.”

Mangione plans to plead not guilty to the charges filed against him in Pennsylvania, Dickey said. A judge in Pennsylvania ordered Mangione held without bail on Tuesday.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said it will seek a governor’s warrant to try to force Mangione’s extradition. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement that she’ll sign a request for the governor’s warrant “to ensure this individual is tried and held accountable.”

Dickey said he anticipates that Mangione would also plead not guilty to the second-degree murder charge in New York.

Mangione yelled to the press about “an insult to the intelligence of the American people” as he was physically dragged into the courthouse on Tuesday.

When Mangione was arrested on Monday, he had “written admissions about the crime” with him, according to the New York arrest warrant.

Mangione’s writings, obtained by ABC News, were addressed to the “Feds” and said, “I do apologize for any strife of traumas but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.”

He claimed that the U.S. has the most expensive health care system in the world, but ranks about No. 42 in life expectancy. He said UnitedHealthcare “has grown and grown, but as our life expectancy? No the reality is, these [indecipherable] have simply gotten too powerful, and they continue to abuse our country for immense profit.”

Whether Mangione has a personal connection to UnitedHealthcare is unknown, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

A UnitedHealth Group spokesperson said in a statement that they hope the arrest “brings some relief to Brian’s family, friends, colleagues and the many others affected by this unspeakable tragedy. We thank law enforcement and will continue to work with them on this investigation.”
 

ABC News’ Peter Charalambous and Josh Margolin contributed to this report.

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(NEW YORK) — The suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson plans to challenge his extradition from Pennsylvania to New York, where he faces a charge of second-degree murder in connection with last week’s high-profile fatal shooting.

The suspect, Luigi Mangione, 26, was arrested on Monday and charged in Pennsylvania for allegedly possessing an untraceable “ghost” gun.”

“He has constitutional rights and that’s what he’s doing” in challenging the interstate transfer, his attorney, Thomas Dickey, told reporters in Pennsylvania.

He also plans to plead not guilty to the charges filed against him in Blair County, Pennsylvania, Dickey said. A Pennsylvania judge ordered Mangione, 26, held without bail on Tuesday.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said it will seek a governor’s warrant to try to force Mangione’s extradition. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in a statement that she’ll sign a request for the governor’s warrant “to ensure this individual is tried and held accountable.”

Dickey said he anticipates that Mangione would plead not guilty to the second-degree murder charge in New York.

The attorney said he has limited information about the facts of the New York murder case but he conceded Mangione is “accused of some serious matters.” He added that Mangione is “taking it as well as he can.”

Mangione’s defense was on Tuesday given 14 days to file a formal challenge to the extradition. The suspect was shackled at the waist and ankles during the hearing at Blair County Court House in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania.

The judge ordered Mangione held without bail, returning him to the State Correctional Institution in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, where he’s listed as inmate QQ7787.

ABC News’ Peter Charalambous and Josh Margolin contributed to this report.

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