Luigi Mangione’s lawyer responds to new evidence against CEO shooting suspect: Updates

That the man accused in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson remained in a Pennsylvania jail without bail, New York police officials said they significant ground in the investigation in the mad killing.

Luigi Mangione, 26 years oldwas linked to shooting scene through fingerprints — found on a water bottle and a protein bar wrapper — and a match between guns police found when they arrested him in Pennsylvania and shell casings outside the Manhattan Hilton where Thompson was killed on Dec. 4, said New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

Mangione’s attorney, Thomas Dickey, said his client will plead not guilty to all charges against him and will fight extradition to New York, where a second-degree murder charge is pending. One CNN interview wednesday Dickey said he wanted to see fingerprints and ballistics evidence.

More: The CEO who shot the suspect left a winding trail of Reddit posts about health issues

“Those two sciences, in and of themselves, have been criticized in the past in terms of their credibility, veracity and accuracy,” Dickey told the press. He said his office would have experts review the evidence before “we challenge its admissibility and challenge the accuracy of these results.”

Investigators said that when police arrested Mangione after an informant recognized him at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, they found writings on the suspect which express “ill will” toward corporate America and include “confessions of murder.”

More: In Luigi Mangione’s hometown of Maryland, questions swirl about an unlikely murder suspect

Did Luigi Mangione’s family recognize him? Police are investigating tips

It remains unclear whether Mangione’s family recognized him from the various surveillance images released by the NYPD following the shooting and before his arrest in Pennsylvania.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Fox News that none of the more than 200 tips to the NYPD named Mangione.

In an appearance on Wednesday on MSNBCNYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell and Deputy Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry were asked if Mangione’s family or friends had come forward and reported him to law enforcement.

“The investigation after the arrest here, I think all of those things will be asked and answered in time,” Chell said.

Daughtry told the media that the NYPD has received more than 400 tips and that police are “still verifying” each one.

Where is Luigi Mangione being held?

As of Monday night, Mangione is being held at SCI Huntingdon, Pennsylvania’s oldest state prison.

The jail, located between Pittsburgh and Pennsylvania, has a population of 1,853 and was at 99 percent capacity as of Nov. 30. according to a Pennsylvania Department of Corrections report.

When the facility opened in 1889, it was intended to reform and educate young male offenders, housing those deemed too young for an adult penitentiary and too old for a juvenile institution, a state website says. In 1960, SCI Huntingdon made the final change in its conversion to a maximum security prison.

The prison now includes 14 housing units and has around 660 full-time workers. The facility has about 212 inmates through its warehouse, print shop, sign shop, clothing store and a soap and detergent store, according to the state.

People have donated more than $30,000 for Luigi Mangione’s legal costs

Although Mangione comes from a wealthy and prominent family, anonymous online donors raised thousands of dollars to fund his legal defense.

A fundraiser on the Christian Free Speech Fundraising Platform GiveSendGo had raised more than $31,000 as of Wednesday afternoon on its way to a $200,000 goal. The New Jersey fund was created by a newly formed “December 4th Legal Committee,” which may refer the date of the shooting.

Representatives from GiveSendGo told USA TODAY that several campaigns have been created for Mangione, including a smaller fundraiser that was undisclosed Wednesday. Other social media pages have linked to Mangione’s jail commissioner account, asking for donations of “snacks, juice, an iPad, etc.”

Mangione’s attorney did not respond to USA TODAY’s request for comment, but told CNN on Tuesday that he “probably would not” accept donations to pay his client’s legal costs.

– N’dea Yancey-Bragg and Nick Penzenstadler

More: People donate $30,000 to Luigi Mangione’s defense as experts warn donors to be careful

Insurers beef up security after UnitedHealthcare CEO killed

Companies are reevaluating their security measures following last week’s fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. A number of companies have purged their websites of biographies and photos of top executives. Others are closing offices or canceling in-person events.

Matthew Petersvice president of protective services at security provider Guidepost Solutions, said phone calls have “at least quadrupled” since Thompson’s killing, and companies in “every industry” are reevaluating their security programs, particularly security in around in-person events like investor meetings and holiday parties.

Additional security comes in the form of law enforcement agencies from across the country I am on alert for copycat actors targeting other principals. Chicago police, for example, launched an investigation after someone spray painted “Kill Your CEO” at several businesses over the weekend, according to local news station reports.

This week, police in Lakeland, Florida, arrested a woman who allegedly ended a phone call to an insurance provider with the words “delay, deny, file” — referring to the words allegedly written on shell casings found at the scene of last week’s shooting. in manhattan WFLA reported. The woman, who told police she was denied coverage, was charged with threatening a mass shooting or act of terrorism, according to Polk County Courthouse website.

– Bailey Schulz

More: Insurers step up security after killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson

Attorney Thomas Dickey on Luigi Mangione’s outburst: ‘He’s irritated’

As deputies escorted Mangione to the Blair County courthouse for an extradition hearing Tuesday, the video captured the suspect pointing at reporters and shouting phrases including “Completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people.” Additional remarks shouted by Mangione were inaudible.

IN A interview with CNNMangione’s attorney, Dickey, said the outburst was likely the result of “frustration (of) being a young man thrown into prison and charged with very serious matters.”

“In relation to this outrage, he’s irritated, agitated by what’s happening to him and what he’s accused of,” Dickey said, adding that he had not met Mangione when those comments were made outside court.

“Now he has a spokesperson and someone who will fight for him,” he told the media. “And so I think you’ll see a big difference in behavior.”

More: Video captures CEO of shooting suspect Luigi Mangione yelling at media as he walks into court

Luigi Mangione’s Reddit posts about health issues

Mangione appears to have posted on Reddit under the username “Mister_Cactus.” On the platform, he addresses his health issues and a host of symptoms that have affected his daily function for over a decade.

His pain began in January 2022, he posted. In July 2023, he said his “back and hips locked up after the accident and my whole lower back/hips have been let down (sic) ever since”. He also wrote that he suffered bladder and genital pain, back pain and sciatica after the back injury. He started having numbness in his groin and bladder and below his right knee, one post said.

In a thread where another user asked for advice about surgery on the lumbosacral joint known as L5-S1, the username linked to Mangione wrote about his own procedure: “The surgery wasn’t nearly as scary as I thought it would be. I realized it was mine. head and knew it was the right decision within a week.”

In other Reddit posts from “Mister_Cactus,” he referenced health struggles with Lyme disease as a teenager and the “brain fog” that came with it. He missed football tryouts when he contracted Lyme disease at 13 and didn’t make the team, then began noticing “mild cognitive decline” when he was 15, he posted. He said his symptoms worsened in 2017 while he was a student at the University of Pennsylvania, but additional tests for Lyme disease came back negative.

In July 2018 she posted about restless sleep, and in August of the same year she posted in a group about irritable bowel syndrome, asking for advice on a diet change to improve her condition.

Contributing: Jorge L. Ortiz, Chris Kenning, Natalie Neysa Alund, and Dinah Voyles Pulver

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Luigi Mangione’s lawyer says he wants to see evidence in the CEO’s shooting