A three-page manifesto on the American health system, “the most expensive in the world”, where “the life expectancy of an American is ranked 42nd in the world”. This is what was found on Luigi Mangione, the man suspected of having shot dead Brian Thompson, CEO of health insurance giant UnitedHealthCare, on Wednesday December 4 in the street in New York, revealed the police who are trying to establish his motivations this Tuesday, the day after his arrest.
In this text, the suspect “suggests that he is frustrated with the health system of the United States”, explained the chief of investigators of the New York police, Joseph Kenny, on the show “Good Morning America” on the ABC channel. “He has written extensively about his disdain for corporate America and particularly the health care industry,” he added.
The book “Delay, Deny, Defend” in the spotlight
Luigi Mangione, a 26-year-old engineering graduate and computer enthusiast, was arrested Monday, December 9, at a McDonald’s in the rural town of Altoona, 300 miles west of New York. He is suspected of having shot dead Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthCare, the country’s leading private health insurer, on Wednesday December 4 at dawn in the middle of the street in downtown Manhattan.
If the death of Brian Thompson caused great emotion, it also gave rise to numerous hateful comments on social networks against American health insurance programs, illustrating deep anger in the country with regard to a lucrative system accused of enriching itself on the backs of patients.
In an internal memo, cited by the New York Times, the police are concerned that the suspect is perceived “as a martyr” by some and “an example to follow”. Especially since a book is in the spotlight. The book “Delay, Deny, Defend: Why Insurance Companies Don’t Pay Claims and What You Can Do About It” by American insurance lawyer Jay Feinman. In this book, published in 2010, the author criticizes the criticized practices of health insurance companies which are often quick to reject reimbursement requests.
If the work attracts all the attention, it is because cartridge cases engraved with the words “Delay”, “Deny” (refuse) and “Depose”, which could refer to it, were found on the crime scene, according to the New York press. On Amazon, the book is listed as out of stock.
“I have not seen any evidence that proves he is the shooter”
Charged with murder, he appeared Tuesday in a court in Blair County, Pennsylvania. He contested his transfer to New York, where justice awaits to judge him, which will slow down the procedure and create “more obstacles”, admitted the county prosecutor, Peter Weeks.
Luigi Mangione’s lawyers have 14 days to file their arguments against their client’s transfer to New York. One of them, Thomas Dickey, told reporters in Pennsylvania he planned to plead not guilty. “I have not seen any evidence that proves that he is the shooter,” said Luigi Mangione’s defender, according to ABC News television.
Images showed the athletic-looking young man, with curly black hair and an orange prison jumpsuit, exiting a police vehicle handcuffed to be taken to court. We suddenly see him become agitated, forcing the police officers who escort him to hold him down and pin him against a wall. He vehemently throws out the words “unfair” and “this is an insult to the intelligence of the American people.”
Six days after the crime, the police are seeking to explain why this brilliant former student of the prestigious University of Pennsylvania and originally from a wealthy Baltimore family coldly shot Brian Thompson at the foot of a hotel in the heart of Manhattan.
Back problems
According to the court document indicting him for murder, he was in particular in possession of a fake driver’s license and “a semi-automatic pistol with what appears to be a 3D printed magazine and a silencer, as well as a confession writings on crime,” when he was arrested. The document does not detail his “confessions”, but the police indicated on Monday that a three-page text had been found on the suspect.
According to people who knew him, quoted in the New York Times, the young man suffered from serious back problems which handicapped him in his daily and intimate life. Among the photos posted on his X profile is a medical X-ray image that appears to show pins implanted in a person’s lower back. Another shows Luigi Mangione all smiles, shirtless and muscular, during a hike in a superb mountain setting. Police say the suspect’s last known address is in Honolulu, Hawaii.
“The use of violence to fight corporate greed is unacceptable,” condemned White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Pierre on Tuesday. “We don’t kill people in cold blood for political issues or to express a point of view,” Pennsylvania Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro also condemned on Monday.
