NEW YORK – While there are still many investigative leads to follow up, top NYPD officials say they are now getting a clearer picture of Luigi Mangione, The suspect in last week’s murder of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson.
They told CBS News New York’s Marcia Kramer on Tuesday they believe they now better understand the accused’s motives, his methods and The reasons that allegedly drove him to plot the shooting.
Suspect described as a careful and complicated man
NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny and Rebecca Weiner, the Deputy Commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism, spoke about Mangione’s arrest. They said investigators found many things that will play into the case, including a fake ID and a device called a Faraday bag that helped prevent police from tracking him.
“You can put your phone in there so we can’t track your phone. It doesn’t send a signal. It blocks the signal,” Kenny said. “Essentially, it’s like wrapping your phone in aluminum foil and putting it in a bag.”
Obtained by CBS News
They said Mangione was a careful and complicated man who carefully planned the attack and apparently believed the murder weapon and suppressor himself had been used in the shooting. They said he apparently ordered a receiver – the lower part of one ghost gun – From an online site and may have had it delivered to his home in San Francisco. They say he made the rest of the gun with a 3D printer, adding the silencer was also homemade.
What about the motive?
There are things police know and things they are still working through, including motive. They said they believe it partly has something to do with an injury Mangione suffered.
“We are learning that he may have been in an accident that caused him to visit the emergency room on July 4, 2023,” Kenny said.
Officials said the two-and-a-half-page handwritten document recovered by Altoona from his backpack also told Pennsylvania police that Mangione was infuriated by the health care system. Authorities say the document will help link him to the crime.
“When you start using rhetoric like ‘these parasites had it coming,’ you are referring to an anti-corporatist mentality that goes beyond an individual grievance toward a particular injury he may have suffered,” Weiner said.
And then there’s Mangione’s apparent fixation with the “Unabomber,” Ted Kaczynski. Weiner said researchers have found an online review of his book by Mangione that they say explains: “According to him, violence can be justified to right social wrongs. So this was an endorsement of Ted Kaczynski and his book.”
Kramer asked Weiner, “So, do you think he felt vindicated, where you said, ‘Righten the wrongs?'”
“That will be the subject of investigation for the detectives,” Weiner said.
Lots of forensic evidence
Officials say they were able to act quickly to identify Mangione as the alleged shooter through extensive forensic evidence.
“We have DNA. We have one… we have fingerprints that are being processed as well,” Kenny said, adding, “There were no fingerprints on the bullets at this point, but we had one fingerprint on the cell phone that was restored.”
Marcia Kramer
