According to law enforcement sources, Luigi Mangione’s mother filed a missing persons report for her son on November 18 in San Francisco, 16 days before he reportedly shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City.
Mangione appeared in court in Pennsylvania on Monday, shortly after being apprehended at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, following a five-day manhunt over several states. Mangione told a judge that he was in contact with his family “until recently.”
According to law enforcement officials, Mangione’s mother spoke with an FBI task team and New York Police Department officers the day before her son’s arrest on December 9.
That chat came after the FBI received a tip from police in San Francisco, where Mangione’s mother had filed a missing persons report.
The report from the SFPD was based on physical appearance, and Mangione’s mother told the Joint Violent Crimes Task Force last Sunday that the individual in the surveillance photographs disseminated by the NYPD could be her son, according to sources.
When Mangione, 26, was arrested in Altoona, the task force was still processing information submitted by his mother and the San Francisco Police Department.
The Mangione family made a statement saying they were “shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest” and offered “our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson, as well as for all involved.”
Mangione is presently in detention in a Pennsylvania state prison after a judge denied him bail on Tuesday. Mangione is facing charges in Pennsylvania, including suspected possession of an untraceable ghost pistol. In New York, he is facing allegations of second-degree murder.
Mangione’s new counsel.
Mangione has now engaged veteran former New York City prosecutor Karen Friedman Agnifilo to represent him, according to a statement from her law company, Agnifilo Intrater LLP.
From 2014 to 2021, Friedman Agnifilo was the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office’s second-in-command, reporting to former District Attorney Cyrus Vance. According to her legal firm’s website, she led the prosecution of “high-profile violent crime cases,” including mental health and cold case homicides.
“Karen Friedman Agnifilo has three decades of experience in criminal justice, litigation, and trial. Her practice concentrates on criminal defense in state and federal courts, drawing on her significant expertise prosecuting major violent offenses, including complicated homicide cases, from accusation to investigation to arrest and trial, according to the profile.
“While serving in the Manhattan DA’s office, Ms. Friedman Agnifilo was also integral to creating the office’s Human Trafficking Unit, Hate Crimes Unit, Antiquities Trafficking Unit, Terrorism Unit, its Cybercrimes and Identity Theft Bureau, as well as working on the creation of Manhattan’s first Mental Health Court,” according to the biography.
Friedman Agnifilo is also a regular TV news guest and pundit, having previously worked as a legal analyst on CNN.
She co-hosts a weekly podcast on the Meidas Touch Network about developing legal topics and litigation strategy, and she also works as a legal counsel for the television show “Law and Order.”
Writings were studied.
According to law enforcement authorities, the suspect’s writings show he developed a fascination and rising hostility toward UnitedHealthcare and allegedly discussed hurting its boss for months.
According to the sources, certain notes in Mangione’s notebook recovered during his detention date back as far as mid-2024.
According to the sources, that focus eventually led to the alleged plan to shoot executive Thompson.
Some of the notes were diary-like, detailing how he felt and what he did that day. According to the reports, he also expressed a desire to improve his health and discover his purpose.
However, as time passed and Mangione allegedly lost contact with friends and family and became increasingly isolated, some writings revealed a deterioration in his mental state, indicating a gradual buildup to the alleged plan to kill Thompson at what the writings described as UnitedHealthcare’s “annual parasitic bean-counter convention,” according to sources.
According to Mangione’s papers, which ABC News obtained, the United States has the most expensive health-care system in the world yet ranks approximately 42nd on life expectancy.
He stated that UnitedHealthcare “has grown and grown,” but what about our life expectancy? No, the reality is that these [indecipherable] have just become too powerful, and they continue to exploit our country for enormous profit.”
“I do apologize for any strife or trauma, but it had to be done,” he reportedly wrote. “Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.”
According to UnitedHealth Group, Mangione and his parents did not obtain insurance through UnitedHealthcare.
