Prosecutors say Luigi Mangione kept diaries chronicling in chilling detail his plans to assassinate UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and revealing he backed off of a mass-casualty attack he had initially conceived.
The self-proclaimed anti-capitalist wrote in his manifesto that he chose to “wack the CEO” rather than bomb the UnitedHealthcare headquarters because he believed it would generate better headlines and be less likely to be deemed “terrorism,” according to court documents revealed this week.
“So say you want to rebel against the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel. Do you bomb the HQ? No. Bombs=terrorism,” Mangione allegedly wrote in a red spiral notebook found in his backpack upon his arrest five days after the shooting.
Manhattan prosecutors are confident that this is “open and shut case,” pointing to evidence continuing to pile up indicating that Mangione’s goal was “to send a message.”
In parts of the diaries that had been previously released, Mangione reasoned that someone should “wack the CEO at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention. It’s targeted and precise and doesn’t risk innocents.”
The University of Pennsylvania graduate justified targeting insurance providers because they “literally extract human life force for money,” and seemed fixated on how his actions would be perceived by the public, adding that “the point is made in the news headline ‘Insurance CEO killed at annual investors conference.’ It conveys a greedy bastard that had it coming.”
Mangione expressed relief that he had not followed through with a mass-casualty event, allegedly writing, “I’m glad — in a way — that I’ve procrastinated [because] it allowed me to learn more about UHC.”
“KMD would’ve been an unjustified catastrophe that would be perceived mostly as sick, but more importantly unhelpful,” Magione allegedly wrote of a potential attack in his home state of Maryland.
The accused assassin reportedly came to this conclusion by analyzing the public reaction to Ted Kaczynski, known as the Unabomber.
“Ted K makes some good points on the future of humanity, but to make his point he indiscriminately mailbombs innocents. Normies categorize him as an insane serial killer, focus on the act/atrocities themselves, and dismiss his ideas,” Mangione wrote, apparently having a desire for his act of violence to be as palatable as possible for “normies” to get behind.
The filing adds that authorities found a note, which has been previously reported on, in Mangione’s possession during his arrest at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, addressed to federal investigators.
“To the Feds, I’ll keep this short because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly I wasn’t working with anyone,” Mangione wrote, describing his attack as “fairly trivial,” involving “some elementary social engineering, basic [computer aided design], and a lot of patience.”
The note continued with an unapologetic justification: “I do apologize for any strife or trauma, but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming,” then launching into a sanctimonious rant about the state of health care in America.
“If ever there were an open and shut case pointing to a defendant’s guilt, this case is that case. Simply put, one would be hard pressed to find a case with such overwhelming evidence of guilt as to the identity of the murderer and the premeditated nature of the assassination,” prosecutors wrote regarding the entries.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg argued that even disregarding the mountains of physical evidence presented in Wednesday’s filing, the prosecution still would have enough to convict Mangione on the terrorism count.
“The shooting itself speaks volumes of the defendant’s intent. Defendant chose to shoot the CEO of the United States’ largest health insurance company in front of the hotel where the company was about to conduct its annual investor conference,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg wrote in the filing.
Mangione, 27, faces both state and federal murder and terrorism charges in connection with the shooting death of Thompson in Midtown Manhattan on December 4, leading to a five-day manhunt that ended with Mangione’s arrest in Pennsylvania. Mangione has pleaded not guilty on all charges.
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According to authorities, Mangione murdered Thompson, a father of two young children, in a “premeditated, cold-blooded assassination” as an act of “political violence.”
On the federal level, Attorney General Pam Bondi announced in late May that the DOJ intends to pursue the death penalty in the Mangione case.
Mangione’s attorneys have moved to exclude his writings from the court record, arguing their client wasn’t afforded his constitutional rights when arrested.
Prosecutors responded, agreeing to pre-trial hearings on the admissibility of the evidence, including the red spiral notebook and statements made to police officers.
Mangione is scheduled to appear in court for his state charges on June 26.
