UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson was killed on December 9 and since then Ivy League Graduate Luigi Mangione has been charged with numerous criminal charges.
After pleading not guilty to all charges- which, to name a few, include one count of first-degree murder, two counts of stalking, and one count of terrorism-related offense- on December 23, Mangione’s trial was finally set for February 21, after facing multiple delays, according to the United State Department of Justice’s Office of Public Affairs.
With the severity of the charges, Mangione, if proven guilty, faces the possibility of multiple counts of life in prison.
And “at least one charge” Mangione’s been accused of “carries the possibility of the death penalty,” but whether or not that punishment will be pursued is to be “made by the Justice Department in Washington,” said NBC News.
The Official Department of Public Affairs (ODPA) also said “Mangione is charged with one count of using a firearm to commit murder… one count of interstate stalking resulting in death… one count of stalking through use of interstate facilities resulting in death… and one count of discharging a firearm that was equipped with a silencer in furtherance of a crime of violence.”
During the investigation period, it was discovered that the whole attack was meticulously planned.
“Mangoine was a careful and complicated man who planned the attack carefully” and he also took the time to “[make] the murder weapon and the suppressor,” said CBS News.
And while there is no officially known motive, there is speculation that “it has, in part, something to do with an injury Mangione suffered,” which was a lower back injury according to CBS News.
However, according to The Washington Posts, Mangione “was never a client of the United HealthCare [industry]” so why Thompson became his target still remains unclear.
Regardless, it’s important to note that Mangione is to remain assumed innocent until proven guilty.
Many federal judges believe that this act of murder was used as a ‘sign,’ or a warning, to those who work in the healthcare industry.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said “People know how challenging it is navigating our healthcare system on many levels, the cost of healthcare system. Some of the denials, some of the of illnesses that are not covered. And all across America, people have experienced that disappointment. And so you’re seeing a response to that.”
“Here you have a young man who went to an Ivy League school, came from an affluent background and family, and had all the things that many Americans would like to have. But he found himself hating corporations and hating other things,” said Adams on the Reset Talk Show according to ABC New York.
Part of the reason why Mangione is considered the prime suspect in this case is the manifesto found in his bag alongside multiple pieces of monopoly game money.
What was readable in the manifesto that matches Magione’s handwriting mainly apologies for any trauma he caused and the inconvenience of having to clean up after his actions.
“To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone’” is a direct quote from Mangoine’s manifesto according to NewsWeek.
Since news of his trial dates, suspected actions, and accumulating evidence reached the internet, Mangione has become an icon for people who find themself sick of the American health system and the disparity of the United State’s wealth distribution.
In fact, Mangione has also been at the center of a “never-ending flood of conspiracy theories about everything from his eyebrows to the number 286,” according to Wired.
However, because of the bias that surrounds Mangione his jury may nullify the trial’s results of his trial even if there is an abundance of evidence against him, said CNN News.
