Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old suspect accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was never insured by the company, according to its parent firm UnitedHealth Group, as law enforcement continues to investigate a motive in the crime.
Mangione was charged with second-degree murder in the fatal shooting of CEO Brian Thompson.
Mangione was not a member of UnitedHealthcare and has never been insured by the company, company spokespeople UnitedHealthcare and UnitedHealth Group told multiple outlets late Thursday.
New York Police Department Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told NBC News there is “no indication” that Mangione was ever a client of UnitedHealthcare, though Kenny said Mangione had referred to the company as one of the largest corporations in the U.S., suggesting “that’s possibly why he targeted that company.”
Police say Mangione was critical of the insurance industry: Kenny previously said a three-page manifesto found on Mangione when he was arrested indicated he had “some ill will toward corporate America,” with Mangione writing, “Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.”
Neither UnitedHealthcare nor UnitedHealth Group immediately responded to a request for comment from Forbes.
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Mangione’s social media and other writings suggested he suffered a “life-altering injury” to his back, Kenny said. Comments written by a Reddit account allegedly linked to Mangione suggest he suffered from spondylolisthesis, a rare back condition caused by the vertebrae in the spine moving out of place. Mangione reportedly told friends he received spinal fusion surgery to realign his out-of-place vertebrae in July 2023.
Kathy Mangione, Luigi’s mother, spent nearly a year searching for her son, people close to the family told the Wall Street Journal. One of those people said Luigi Mangione had “went off the grid six months to a year ago and wasn’t communicating with anybody,” while another suggested he hadn’t been seen “for about eight months.” Kathy Mangione called the San Francisco Police Department to report Luigi as missing in November, after several of his family members emailed his friends to help find him, the Journal reported.
Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group’s health insurance division, was fatally shot on Dec. 4 outside the New York Hilton Midtown. A video of the shooting showed a suspect walking behind Thompson and firing multiple times before fleeing from the scene. Police said at the time they believed the shooting was a “brazen targeted attack” and searched New York City before suggesting the suspect had left the city on a bus. Mangione was arrested after being recognized in a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, where police found him with “fraudulent IDs,” a passport, a firearm and suppressor similar to what was used in the shooting and a document that police said “speaks to both his motivation and mindset.” Mangione was charged on Monday with second-degree murder, three weapons-related charges and one forgery charge. His attorney has said Mangione will plead not guilty to all charges as they contest extradition to New York.