Fingerprints match between Luigi Mangione and prints found at scene of UnitedHealthcare CEO killing, sources say
By Dalia Faheid, Emma Tucker, Michelle Watson, Elise Hammond, Bonney Kapp, John Miller and Dakin Andone, CNN
(CNN) — Fingerprints collected at the scene of the assassination of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO and those taken in the arrest of suspect Luigi Mangione show a positive match, two law enforcement officials briefed on the matter told CNN Wednesday, as authorities investigate the motive behind the killing.
This marks the first positive forensic match investigators say directly ties Mangione to the crime scene outside of a Midtown Manhattan hotel, where Brian Thompson was gunned down one week ago.
CNN has reached out to Mangione’s attorney for comment on the fingerprint match.
The development comes as authorities are probing the history of suspect Luigi Mangione, who remains in custody in Pennsylvania as he fights extradition to New York.
Since he was arrested thanks to a tipster at a McDonald’s on Monday, the 26-year-old’s background is starting to come into focus. The privileged scion of a well-to-do family, high school valedictorian and Ivy League graduate vanished from view of his loved ones in recent months, only to emerge as the suspect in a high-profile killing potentially fueled by his struggle with a painful back injury.
The killing of Thompson – a husband and father of two – has laid bare many Americans’ fury toward the health care industry, with Mangione, their avatar, garnering sympathy online and offers to pay his legal bills. It’s also struck fear in C-suites across the country, as an NYPD intelligence report obtained by CNN warns online rhetoric could “signal an elevated threat facing executives in the near-term…”
Mangione’s lawyer denied his client’s involvement in the killing and said he plans to plead not guilty to Pennsylvania charges related to a gun and fake ID police found when they arrested him in Altoona.
“I haven’t seen any evidence that they have the right guy,” Thomas Dickey told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins on “The Source.” On ABC’s “Good Morning America” Wednesday, Dickey reiterated he had not seen the evidence, including writings police said were in Mangione’s possession at the time of his arrest.
In some of Mangione’s writings, he referenced pain from a back injury he sustained in July 2023, New York Police Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told Fox News Tuesday. Investigators are looking into an insurance claim for the injury.
“Some of the writings that he had, he was discussing the difficulty of sustaining that injury,” Kenny said. “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.”
Mangione – who faces a slew of charges in New York and Pennsylvania – was denied bail at an extradition hearing Tuesday afternoon at the Blair County Courthouse in Pennsylvania.
As the suspect entered the courthouse, shackled at the hands and feet and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit with DOC emblazoned on the back, he could be heard yelling, in part, “It’s completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people. It’s lived experience.”
Investigators detail evidence found
New York prosecutors charged Mangione with one count of murder, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, one count of second-degree possession of a forged document, and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, online court documents show.
In the charging documents, detective Yousef Demes of the Midtown North Detective Squad outlined evidence that officials say proves Mangione is the person depicted in surveillance video fatally shooting Thompson outside of a Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan as Thompson made his way to his company’s annual investor conference. He noted the man seen in surveillance footage from a New York hostel is wearing the same clothing.
After arresting Mangione in the Altoona McDonald’s, police found “a black 3D-printed pistol and a black silencer” that was also 3D printed, according to the criminal complaint. While being taken into custody, Mangione also presented a forged New Jersey ID with the name Mark Rosario listed as his identification, which matched the ID the man at the hostel used, Demes wrote.
Dickey said his client would be pleading not guilty to the charges he faces in Pennsylvania. He also anticipates Mangione will plead not guilty to the murder charge in New York and said it’s possible he could represent him there.
Because Mangione is fighting extradition, a Pennsylvania court has given him 14 days to file for writ of habeas corpus, and a hearing will be scheduled if he does.
Prosecutors have 30 days to obtain a governor’s warrant, which New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she will work with prosecutors to sign. Weeks said his office is prepared “to do what’s necessary” to get Mangione back to New York.
Why Magione may be fighting extradition to New York
There could be several reasons why Mangione is fighting his extradition, Agnifilo said. It allows him more time to think about his defense, demand prosecutors present more evidence at his next hearing or try to get bail in Pennsylvania, which is unlikely, said Agnifilo, who previously worked at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office.
Because Mangione is fighting extradition, it could take weeks before authorities can bring him to New York to face prosecution, according to Karen Agnifilo, a CNN legal analyst and defense attorney.
Most criminal defendants facing prosecution on more serious charges in another state waive their right to extradition, but in murder cases like Mangione’s, “there’s no chance he’s going to be let out, so he’s fighting extradition,” she said.
“Eight or nine out of 10 times, defendants waive extradition because they realize this is so perfunctory, it’s so easy, and most of them don’t want to languish in detention in the other state because you don’t even get to fight your case yet,” Agnifilo said.
Judge Dave Consiglio denied bail related to both state dockets, saying Mangione would remain at the Huntingdon State Correctional Institution. It could take up to two months before authorities can bring Mangione back to New York after the governor’s warrant is obtained, Agnifilo said.
Suspect appeared to view targeted killing as a ‘symbolic takedown’
The suspect appeared to be driven by anger against the health insurance industry and against “corporate greed” as a whole, according to an NYPD intelligence report obtained by CNN Tuesday.
“He appeared to view the targeted killing of the company’s highest-ranking representative as a symbolic takedown and a direct challenge to its alleged corruption and ‘power games,’ asserting in his note he is the ‘first to face it with such brutal honesty,’” says the NYPD assessment, which was based on Mangione’s “manifesto” and social media.
Along with a three-page handwritten “claim of responsibility” found on Mangione when he was taken into custody, investigators are looking at pages of notes in a spiral notebook that the suspect wrote in, a law enforcement source briefed on the matter told CNN.
It included to-do lists of tasks that needed to be completed to facilitate a killing, as well as notes justifying those plans, the source said. In one notebook passage, Mangione wrote about the Unabomber, who he wrote about in online posts as well.
Mangione was aware UnitedHealthcare was holding an investors’ conference around the time Thompson was shot and killed — and the suspect mentions he will be going to the conference site, NYPD chief detective Kenny said.
In the notebook passage, Mangione concludes that using a bomb against his intended victim “could kill innocents” but shooting would be more targeted, musing what could be better than “to kill the CEO at his own bean counting conference.”
The three-page document did not include specific threats but indicated “ill will towards corporate America,” Kenny said.
CNN’s Steve Almasy, Sara Smart, Gloria Pazmino, Amanda Musa, Celina Tebor, Elizabeth Hartfield, Jordan Valinsky and Kara Scannell contributed to this report.
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