UnitedHealthcare CEO killing latest: Luigi Mangione considered crime a ‘symbolic takedown’ of the company
Luigi Mangione is seen inside the police station in Altoona, Pennsylvania, Dec. 9, 2024/Obtained by ABC News
(NEW YORK) — Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old accused of gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel last week, considered the slaying to be a “symbolic takedown” of UnitedHealthcare over perceived corruption, according to a confidential assessment of the crime by the NYPD intelligence bureau described to ABC News.
Mangione “appeared to view the targeted killing … as a symbolic takedown and a direct challenge to its alleged corruption and ‘power games,'” the assessment said, according to a source. Mangione allegedly described himself as the “first to face” United Healthcare “with such brutal honesty.”
The assessment is based in part on the suspect’s writings.
When Mangione was arrested on Monday he had “written admissions about the crime” with him, according to the New York arrest warrant.
Mangione had several handwritten pages on him that expressed a “disdain for corporate America” and indicated “he’s frustrated with the health care system in the United States,” NYPD Chief of Detective Joe Kenny told ABC News’ “Good Morning America” on Tuesday.
“Specifically, he states how we are the No. 1 most expensive health care system in the world, yet the life expectancy of an American is ranked 42 in the world,” Kenny said.
Whether Mangione has a personal connection to UnitedHealthcare is unknown, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said, but the writings mention UnitedHealthcare by name, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
The sources described the handwriting as sloppy and included these quotes: “These parasites had it coming” and “I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done.”
Mangione — who was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday in connection with Thompson’s Dec. 4 slaying — is in custody in Pennsylvania and is set to appear at an extradition hearing at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The NYPD was “thrilled” to get the call from Altoona police that they had a person of interest in custody, Tisch told “GMA.”
Kenny said “the key to this case” was releasing the photo of the suspect’s face to the media and the public.
“That picture reached Pennsylvania,” where Mangione was recognized at a McDonald’s on Monday morning, Kenny said.
“We are grateful as a city to that person,” Tisch said.
“We had collected early in the investigation some forensic evidence, some DNA evidence, some fingerprints, so we were very confident that we were ultimately going to get to the right person,” Tisch added.
“We do have a lot of evidence in this case,” Tisch told “GMA.”
Mangione was apprehended “in possession of the same New Jersey fake identification that was used” to check into a hostel on New York’s Upper West Side before Thompson was gunned down, she said.
The gun Mangione was allegedly found with on Monday “looks very similar” to the gun used in the murder, “with a similar suppressor,” Tisch said. “So there’s a lot of reasons that we feel very strongly that he is the person of interest.”
Officers allegedly found a 3D printed pistol and a 3D printed silencer, according to the criminal complaint filed in Pennsylvania.
“The pistol had one loaded Glock magazine with six nine-millimeter full metal jack rounds. There was also one loose nine-millimeter hollow point round,” the complaint said.
Kenny described the weapon as a “ghost gun,” meaning it had no serial number and was untraceable.
Mangione, a Maryland native and Ivy League graduate, has been charged in New York with second-degree murder, possession of a loaded firearm, possession of a forged instrument and criminal possession of a weapon.
He was charged with five crimes in Pennsylvania, including carrying a gun without a license, forgery, falsely identifying himself to authorities and possessing “instruments of crime,” according to the criminal complaint.
Mangione’s family said in a statement that they’re “shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest. We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved.”
The Pennsylvania State Police is asking for the public’s help piecing together Mangione’s travel in Pennsylvania. Anyone with information is asked to call 1-800-4PA-TIPS.
Police are also looking at Mangione’s travel at various points across the United States and out of the county within the past year, sources said.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
(NEW YORK) — When Jordan Neely boarded the subway on May 1, 2023, he was homeless, ranting about having nothing to eat or drink and said he was willing to die, according to authorities. Perceptions of Neely’s final moments differ, but each account tells a similar story at its core: Neely appeared to be experiencing a mental health crisis when Daniel Penny put him in the chokehold that ended his life.
Opening arguments are set to begin in Penny’s trial in Neely’s death Friday. Penny, a former Marine, was charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in Neely’s death. He has pleaded not guilty. Jury selection began Monday.
Neely’s loved ones believe his story could have been different. To experts, Neely, who was known to city mental health professionals and law enforcement officials, has become a symbol of the need to look toward effective solutions to get homeless and mentally ill people off the streets and into care.
“Our system does not prioritize the seriously mentally ill,” Carolyn Gorman, a policy analyst at the public policy think tank Manhattan Institute, told ABC News. “Almost always, the individuals who are involved in these tragedies have a known mental illness, have been cycling through homelessness, through incarceration through the health care system. They’re known to authorities, and they haven’t fallen through the cracks. They’ve actually just been ignored by all of these systems.”
New York City’s clubhouses — member-run facilities that offer support to those with serious mental health conditions — are proving that recovery and rehabilitation are possible, with some lawmakers like Rep. Ritchie Torres, D-N.Y., hoping to expand the availability and access to these institutions for more residents.
Fountain House, which touts itself as the pioneer of the modern clubhouse model, aims to put an end to the “punitive, ineffective and costly” approaches to those with mental illness, who cycle through jails, emergency rooms, shelters and the streets without proper care or support to lead healthy and happy lives, the organization said.
The goal is to give members a sense of stability and community. At the clubhouses, they get a helping hand to obtain an education, find work, achieve health goals while readily having access to clinical care, housing assistance and other supportive services.
“What we are looking to do is to help people truly recover, and so that means help them return to jobs, be neighbors, and live out in the community and to have meaningful relationships,” Ian Campbell, Fountain House’s Senior Director of Employment and Learning, told ABC News.
However, Gorman, of the Manhattan Institute, said that despite their effectiveness, clubhouses won’t be the solution for all people dealing with severe mental illnesses.
“Fountain House is definitely one model. And it’s a model that works well. But some patients just do need a higher level of oversight and intensive care than a place like the clubhouse model can provide. And that is inpatient treatment,” or hospitalization, said Gorman.
Clubhouses set an example for mental health care
What makes the clubhouse model so successful, Campbell said, is that they fill gaps not filled in a clinical setting. They support members with both economic barriers as well as the loneliness or isolation that patients are likely to also be experiencing.
“The U.S. has historically spent most of its mental health care dollars on clinical treatment, such as medication and therapy, with a fraction allocated to fund the community-based social supports people also need to manage their mental illness,” read a Fountain House report.
About 15% of people with severe mental illness successfully return to work, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness — but at Fountain House, 25 to 30% of their active membership has returned to work.
A New York University study on Fountain House found that its services save Medicaid costs by up to 21% by reducing hospitalizations and ER visits as well as increasing primary care visits, increased outpatient mental health visits, and increased pharmacy visits – “essentially a better adherence to other forms of treatment that can further support members’ recovery,” Fountain House said in a statement.
Researchers at Fountain House also found that the roughly 60,000 people clubhouses nationwide serve each year yield an estimated savings of over $11,000 per person — or at least $682 million total each year.
Fountain House also touts that members who enroll in degree or certificate-seeking educational programs have a 90% average semester completion rate.
For Torres, mental health care is personal.
“About 15 years ago, I found myself at the lowest point in my life. I had dropped out of college. I found myself struggling with depression. I even attempted suicide and underwent hospitalization for a period of time,” Torres told ABC News. “I felt as if the world around me had collapsed, and I never thought seven years later, I would become the youngest elected official in America’s largest city, and then seven years later, become a member of the United States Congress.”
He has called for more federal funding for community-based programs like Fountain House.
“The challenge of mental illness is often compounded by the problem of loneliness, and clubhouses represent the creation of a community,” he said. “It is an elegant solution to the problem of loneliness. It provides community where none exists. It fills the human gap that’s often left by isolation, and so I would love to see the proliferation of clubhouses across the country.”
And for those who may need more assistance than an outpatient resource can offer, Gorman believes the focus should be on the rehabilitative efforts, not punitive ones.
“Involuntary treatment and inpatient treatment are last resorts, they are only tried when everything else fails,” Gorman said. “I think if we do not consider those options, then we have to be ready to admit that we already are institutionalizing the mentally ill, but in jails and prisons. These are punitive settings, not therapeutic settings. So it’s hard to see how this is more humane.”
A clubhouse success story
Carmen Murray-Williams, now 65, had been homeless on-and-off since she was 14, when she left her home amid a “rough” and “uncomfortable” living situation with her family.
“There were times where I couldn’t find any help. I was so tired that I would get a cardboard box, flatten it down on the ground wherever I was, and sleep there. And once or twice, I woke up, and I found myself buried in snow,” Murray-Williams told ABC News. “I said, I really have to get out of the situation. And I kept knocking on doors … I prayed all the time. I mean, every chance I got, I prayed.”
She said she lived on the streets until she was about 17, when her grandmother found her, took her in, and convinced her to continue her education. She got her GED and was excited to start college, but her grandmother’s death left her both heartbroken and homeless once more.
“She’s my everything,” Murray-Williams said. “She got me to believe that life keeps going on and you don’t have to worry about your age and whatnot. Just keep on trying. I love my grandmother. I miss her.”
Life continued to present challenges for Murray-Williams, who had lost contact with the rest of her family. She recalls her past addiction to crack cocaine, an accidental fall from an apartment balcony that broke her back, and a boyfriend who opened credit cards from a joint bank account, putting her thousands of dollars in debt.
And one day, she said, “I absolutely lost my mind. I just started screaming and hollering or turn up things” and the police were called on her. She was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the age of 42 following the outbursts.
After receiving inpatient treatment for her disorder, she was accepted as a member of Fountain House to get her back on her feet.
Fountain House members like Murray-Williams have access to supportive resources — including meals, job training, education, and housing assistance — while developing social supports to build relationships and reintegrate into their community.
“We’ll have a morning meeting and we decide who does what chores. After that, we start doing the chores that they give us. Chores could be putting data entry into the computer or could be cleaning up the front of the clubhouse,” Murray-Williams said. Clubhouse members help the organization function; they prepare meals, man the phones, and fundraise.
“If you’re in the horticulture unit, which is now ‘home and garden,’ you do the gardens. And we do a lot here. I go to the gym and wellness unit twice a week,” she said.
Murray-Williams has a jam-packed schedule, which includes running the Bingo gathering multiple times a week — “my favorite days of the week” — and helps lead a dance exercise group.
“Getting to 65 and still being here? I didn’t think I was gonna make it to 65,” Murray-Williams said. “But I’m just grateful for every day and every opportunity that I get.”
(ALPINE, TEXAS) — A hiker has been found dead at a national park in Texas after authorities discovered a car had been parked for several days and launched a search and rescue operation, officials said.
The body of the unnamed 24-year-old hiker was discovered in Big Bend National Park in Texas on Monday after an aerial and ground search by National Park Service rangers and U.S. Border Patrol. Supported by helicopters from the Texas Department of Public Safety and U.S. Customs Air and Marine Operations, they found the hiker’s remains along the park’s “rugged” Marufo Vega Trail, according to a statement from the National Park Service.
“The day before, park rangers observed a vehicle that had been parked for multiple days at the Trailhead for Marufo Vega / Strawhouse / Ore Terminal Trail,” NPS said. “Records indicated that there were no overnight backpackers listed for that area for those nights. A quick search by the park pilot was unable to locate hikers in the area.”
On Monday morning, the park search and rescue team was mobilized across three different trails and air assets were directed to the remote area, authorities said.
“The victim was located along the rugged Marufo Vega Trail. A Department of Public Safety helicopter was utilized to remove the body from the remote area,” NPS said.
The Marufo Vega Trail is a “spectacular yet challenging 14-mile loop that winds through rugged desert and along rocky limestone cliffs. No shade or water makes this trail dangerous during the warmer times of year,” park officials continued. “Even though it is late October, daily temperatures along the Rio Grande and desert areas of Big Bend remain extreme; close to 100 degrees each afternoon. Park Rangers wish to remind all visitors to be aware of the dangers of extreme heat. Hikers should be prepared to carry plenty of water, salty snacks, and to plan on being off desert trails during the heat of the afternoon.”
“Big Bend National Park staff and partners are saddened by this loss,” stated Deputy Superintendent Rick Gupman. “Our entire park family extends condolences to the hiker’s family and friends.”
(NEW YORK) — Three Fort Cavazos soldiers have been accused of a conspiracy to smuggle undocumented immigrants, according to the Department of Justice.
The Texas-based soldiers were caught on Nov. 27 allegedly driving three people — one Mexican national and two Guatemalan nationals — after a United States Border Patrol Agent initiated a vehicle stop in Presidio.
An agent approached the vehicle, which then fled and “struck a second USBP vehicle, injuring an agent inside,” the DOJ said.
Police eventually stopped the vehicle and apprehended the three undocumented immigrants, as well as one of the soldiers, identified as Emilio Mendoza Lopez.
The car’s driver, who was allegedly Angel Palma, “fled on foot and was located the following day at a hotel in Odessa,” prosecutors said.
The Department of Justice has accused Mendoza Lopez and Palma of traveling to the Army base to Presidio “for the purpose of picking up and transporting undocumented noncitizens.”
A third soldier, identified as Enrique Jauregui, has been accused of recruiting and facilitating the scheme.
Text messages between the three soldiers, which were obtained through a search of Palma’s phone, allegedly revealed communications “indicating collaboration in the smuggling operation.”
Mendoza Lopez is charged with one count “of bringing in and harboring aliens” and made his initial court appearance on Monday.
Palma and Jauregui are both charged with one count of “bringing in and harboring aliens” and one count of assaulting a federal agent. They were arrested Tuesday, and are expected to appear in court on Friday.
It was not immediately clear if any of the soldiers had obtained attorneys.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Army base said they “are aware of the arrest of three Fort Cavazos Soldiers” and said they would “continue to cooperate with all federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies.”
