Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old suspect accused of killing UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson on a midtown Manhattan sidewalk, allegedly took several sophisticated-sounding steps to thwart detection. Thompson was killed in a highly surveilled urban setting, but his assailant wore a mask and hood and used a pistol equipped with a silencer to suppress the noise of gunshots. When Mangione was arrested a few days later at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pa., officers say he showed them a fake ID. And his backpack contained a functional handgun made with 3D-printed parts: a so-called ghost gun.
Investigators also say Mangione was carrying a handwritten note explaining his motivation. In that document Mangione described his plan as “fairly trivial,” requiring “some elementary social engineering” plus “basic CAD”—computer-aided design—and “a lot of patience.” CAD can be used for 3D printing gun parts, and it can also help make a tremendous number of other objects. The New York City Police Department’s commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters on Wednesday that the gun in Mangione’s possession matched three bullet casings that were recovered from the crime scene. Officials have not publicly said whether they believe Mangione built the gun.
The suspect faces forgery and weapons charges in Pennsylvania, where he has been denied bail, and has been charged with second-degree murder in New York State. The latter hopes to extradite him, a move he is challenging. Thomas Dickey, an Altoona-based lawyer, who represents Mangione, told Good Morning America this week, “I have not been made aware of any evidence that links the gun that was found on his person to the crime. These are things we’re looking to see.” (Dickey did not immediately reply to Scientific American’s request for comment.)
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