UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting: Suspect fights extradition, wrote 'these parasites had it coming'

Mangione was seen near a Port Authority bus station 46 minutes after the shocking crime, New York police said, before he made his way to Pennsylvania, where he was eventually arrested.

Thompson was shot from behind outside the New York Hilton Midtown hotel last Wednesday as he was on his way to UnitedHealth Group’s investor conference, officials have said.

Police believe Mangione left the city, triggering an intense manhunt that led to his arrest at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, days later. He evaded police for “several days” in Pennsylvania, authorities have said, and his exact whereabouts between the morning of the shooting and his arrest remain a mystery.

See the full timeline here.

The brother of Ted Kaczynski, the domestic terrorist known as the "Unabomber," says that he hopes Mangione doesn't view his brother as a "key model" and that he is distressed that his brother's actions decades ago may motivate violence today.

Mangione had reviewed Kaczynski's "Industrial Society and Its Future," also known as "The Unabomber Manifesto," on the site Goodreads in January, rating it four stars.

"To the extent that he may have attributed at all to sort of normalizing or recasting the violent acts as beneficial to humanity is a terrible mistake,” David Kaczynski said of his brother.

"Many factors go into a person's motivation that they drastically act like this," David Kaczynski added of Thompson's killing, "and I hope my brother wasn't in a way a key model for him."

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New York police investigators are looking at whether there is any connection between a back injury suffered by Mangione and the killing of United Healthcare’s CEO, the chief of detectives told Fox News.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said that according to Mangione's writings and his social media profile, he may have sustained a back injury in July 2023.

“He was posting an X-ray on his social media showing numerous screws being inserted into his spine. Some of the writings that he had, he was discussing the difficulty of sustaining that injury,” Kenny said on Fox News today.

“So we’re looking into whether or not the insurance industry either denied a claim from him or didn’t help him out to the fullest extent,” Kenny said.

A friend of Mangione’s who knew him from a Honolulu co-living community called Surfbreak said on MSNBC that Mangione suffered a back injury but that he remained positive.

Mangione’s attorney said a Pennsylvania judge should have set bail in some amount.

Attorney Thomas Dickey said that in Pennsylvania, bail can be denied in capital cases or when someone is charged with first-degree murder involving life without parole.

Mangione was arrested yesterday in that state on charges that include a weapons and a forgery count, but authorities in New York have charged him with murder. A Pennsylvania judge denied him bail yesterday.

“I think he was entitled to bail. And if the judge makes it $100 million or $10 billion or $100,000, he’s entitled to bail,” Dickey said.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she will sign a warrant for Mangione's extradition to New York.

Various merchandise is being sold online glorifying Mangione. Ornaments, bracelets and T-shirts are among some of them. 

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Mangione's lawyer said he hoped today's shouted statement is his last one.

“Hopefully, there won’t be any more of that,” attorney Thomas Dickey told reporters.

Outside court, Mangione shouted, “It’s completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people.”

Pennsylvania State Police have said that after Mangione was arrested in Altoona yesterday, he had initially talked to authorities but has since stopped.

Asked about Mangione’s emotional state, Dickey said anyone would experience a range of feelings.

“If you put yourself in, if you or a loved one were in that position — it’s a natural, I think, thing to go through many emotional states,” Dickey said.

“As far as him not talking, I’m going to be his lawyer, I’m going to do the talking,” he said.

Mangione will plead not guilty to charges in Pennsylvania and is expected to do the same in New York on any murder charge, his lawyer said today.

“Listen, I haven’t seen any evidence that says he’s the shooter,” Mangione’s attorney in Pennsylvania, Thomas Dickey, told reporters.

Mangione, a suspect in Thompson’s killing, has not waived extradition from Pennsylvania to New York, meaning he could contest it.

“Remember, and this is not just a small thing: A fundamental concept of American justice is the presumption of innocence, and until you’re proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt,” Dickey said.

Dickey said “I’ve seen zero evidence at this point” that Mangione is the shooter.

Mangione was arrested in Altoona yesterday and is charged forgery, possession of a weapon and other counts there. He is not charged with murder in Pennsylvania.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she is coordinating with prosecutors on a governor's warrant to extradite Mangione to New York to face charges in Thompson's killing.

Hochul promised she would sign a request for a warrant, which a Pennsylvania judge gave prosecutors 30 days to obtain, to ensure Mangione "is tried and held accountable."

"Public safety is my top priority, and I’ll do everything in my power to keep the streets of New York safe," Hochul said.

Investigators are still trying to determine whether Mangione made the gun they allege he used to kill Thompson, two senior law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation told NBC News.

Law enforcement officials had said Mangione was found with what has been described as “ghost gun,” but the officials told NBC News it is unclear whether he made it himself or bought it or was given the firearm.

However, those officials said, there’s little doubt that the gun and the suppressor were both homemade.