Luigi Mangione, the suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, reportedly had to-do lists to complete a killing, CNN reports.
Mangione was taken into police custody at a McDonalds in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday and charged with weapons and forgery charges. Hours later, authorities in New York charged him with second-degree murder related to Thompson’s shooting.
In a Tuesday news conference, New York Police Department (NYPD) Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said Mangione had a three-page handwritten manifesto on him. Prosecutors in Pennsylvania say Mangione also had fake identification and money on him.
Mangione disputed that he had money on him in a court hearing Monday night, saying, “First, I don’t know where any of that money came from; I’m not sure if it was planted.”
According to CNN, investigators are also looking at a spiral notebook allegedly belonging to Mangione, citing a law enforcement source with information on the matter. The notes include “to-do lists of tasks that needed to be completed to facilitate a killing, as well as notes justifying those plans,” CNN reported.
Newsweek reached out to the NYPD and Mangione’s lawyer for comment via email on Tuesday night.
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CNN says that one passage in the notebook reportedly references the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski. Magione called the Unabomber an “extreme political revolutionary” in a review he left on Goodreads in January of Kaczynski’s manifesto.
Mangione reportedly wrote in the notebook that using a bomb against his victim “could kill innocents,” and it would be more precise to use a gun, pondering what would be better than “to kill the CEO at his own bean counting conference.”
Mangione’s attorney, Thomas Dickey, said Tuesday night on CNN that he hasn’t seen any evidence that authorities in New York “have the right guy.”
“I don’t see any evidence of a forgery…I need to see these things,” Dickey said regarding Mangione’s charges in Pennsylvania.
When CNN anchor Kaitlan Collins asked if he was being paid by Mangione’s family to represent him, Dickey said, “I’m not going to comment on that…I’ve been retained. I’m not court-appointed. I’ve been retained, and that’s all I can tell you.”
Dickey also spoke about Mangione’s extradition hearing in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, saying that the U.S. Constitution “gives you certain rights” and that he needs to make an “informed decision” with his client.
Legal analyst Jonathan Turley told Newsweek when asked if delayed extradition could help prosecutors mount more evidence against Mangione: “Sometimes, it can also give defense counsel more time to establish a team and strategy. However, it is not going to make a material difference on either side. The evidence is overwhelming.
“There are still outstanding issues, from mental capacity to DNA evidence, that will have to be addressed. Extradition is a foregone conclusion. Absent a finding on incapacity, Mangione may have little in terms of a viable defense short of an evil twin claim.”
