Investigators search for motive in killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO as suspect’s attorney denies client’s involvement

Investigators are searching for a motive in the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as murder suspect Luigi Mangione fights his extradition to New York from Pennsylvania, where police detained him at a McDonald’s on Monday.

Investigators are searching for a motive in the assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson as murder suspect Luigi Mangione fights his extradition to New York from Pennsylvania, where police detained him at a McDonald’s on Monday. Mangione’s lawyer denied his client’s involvement in the killing and said he plans to plead not guilty to Pennsylvania charges related to a gun and fake ID police found when they arrested him after being tipped off by customers at the fast-food restaurant in Altoona. The 26-year-old Ivy League graduate from Maryland – who faces a slew of charges in the two states related to the deadly shooting in Manhattan last week – was denied bail at an extradition hearing Tuesday afternoon at the Blair County Courthouse in Pennsylvania. As the suspect entered the courthouse, shackled at the hands and feet and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit with DOC emblazoned on the back, he could be heard yelling, in part, “It’s completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people. It’s lived experience.” New York prosecutors charged Mangione with one count of murder, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, one count of second-degree possession of a forged document, and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, online court documents show. In the charging documents, detective Yousef Demes of the Midtown North Detective Squad outlined evidence that officials say proves Mangione is the person depicted in surveillance video fatally shooting Thompson outside of a Hilton hotel in Midtown Manhattan as Thompson made his way to his company’s annual investor conference. He noted the man seen in surveillance footage from a New York hostel is wearing the same clothing.