Caught while eating a hash brown: Pictures show healthcare chief's 'assassin' in McDonald's, moments before arrest

10 December 2024, 15:50 | Updated: 10 December 2024, 16:10

New picture emerges of Ivy League ‘assassin’ accused of killing US healthcare CEO removing mask to eat hash brown before his arrest
New picture emerges of Ivy League ‘assassin’ accused of killing US healthcare CEO removing mask to eat hash brown before his arrest. Picture: Police

By Kit Heren

The Ivy League graduate suspected of gunning down a health insurance CEO has been shown eating McDonald's moments before his arrest.

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Luigi Mangione, who was charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare boss Brian Thompson in New York last week, was arrested on Monday in a McDonald's in Pennsylvania.

He was found with a gun, mask and writings linking him to the ambush of Mr Thompson.

Mangione, who was also charged with weapons, forgery and other charges, will be extradited to New York to face charges in connection with Mr Thompson's death.

The chance sighting at the restaurant led to a dramatic break in the fast-moving investigation that had captivated the public in the five days since the shooting that shook the health insurance industry.

Read more: Ivy League graduate Luigi Mangione, 26, charged with murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson

Read more: Family of Luigi Mangione break silence after 26-year-old charged with murder of health insurance boss

Mangione had a gun believed to be the one used in last Wednesday's shooting of Mr Thompson, as well as writings suggesting anger with corporate America, police said.

He was sitting at a table in the rear of the McDonald's wearing a blue medical mask and looking at a laptop computer, documents said.

Luigi Mangione
Luigi Mangione. Picture: Social media

When an officer asked if he had been to New York recently, he "became quiet and started to shake."

After being charged, Mangione was ordered to be held without bail during a brief court hearing.

Asked if he needed a public defender, he asked if he could "answer that at a future date".

Luigi Mangione is seen in a holding cell after being taken into custody
Luigi Mangione is seen in a holding cell after being taken into custody. Picture: Altoona Police Department

Mangione is said to have suffered severe mental health issues - and is thought not to have seen his family in around a year.

Police have not made clear a motive for the attack, but Mangione is said to have singled out Thompson in the manifesto found on him.

These parasites had it coming. I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done."

He also said the health insurance companies "continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allowed them to get away with it".

The short statement is said to have read: "To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone.

He had a back condition that was made worse by a surfing injury, a former roommate said on Tuesday.

Luigi Mangione has been named as the prime suspect the killing of Brian Thompson
Luigi Mangione has been named as the prime suspect the killing of Brian Thompson. Picture: Twitter

RJ Martin, who lived with Mangione in a co-living space in Hawaii, told the New York Times: "He knew that dating and being physically intimate with his back condition wasn’t possible,

"I remember him telling me that, and my heart just breaks."

Martin said that Mangione suffered from the back condition spondylolisthesis that was made worse by a surfing mishap.

He added: "His spine was kind of misaligned. He said his lower vertebrae were almost like a half-inch off, and I think it pinched a nerve."

Martin said that one surfing lesson caused Mangione to be laid up for a week.

"It was really traumatic and difficult, you know, when you’re in your early twenties and you can’t, you know, do some basic things."

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