The murder of CEO Brian Thompson takes a new turn
New York: There has been a major development in the investigation into the murder of Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare. Three bullet casings discovered at the shooting site match the 3D-printed firearm that suspect Luigi Mangione was carrying when he was taken into custody in Pennsylvania, the New York Police Department (NYPD) said, CNN reported.
As officials continue to look into the motivation behind the death, Commissioner Jessica Tisch of the New York Police Department stated on Wednesday that Mangione’s fingerprints also match those that detectives discovered on objects close to the site of the December 4 murder in Midtown Manhattan.
Earlier this week, Mangione, the suspect, was taken into custody in Pennsylvania.
According to NYPD Chief Detective Joseph Kenny, the words “delay,” “deny,” and “depose” were inscribed on three 9 mm shell casings recovered from the murder site, one word for each round.
A 2010 book that attacks the insurance sector also has these phrases as its title. According to CNN, police are looking into whether these remarks might indicate a motivation for the murder of CEO Brian Thompson.
“First, we received the disputed firearm back from Pennsylvania. The NYPD crime lab now has it,” Commissioner Tisch said on Wednesday. “We were able to match that gun to the three shell casings that we found in Midtown at the scene of the homicide.”
“We’re also at the crime lab able to match the person of interest’s fingerprints with fingerprints that we found on both the water bottle and the KIND bar near the scene of the homicide in midtown,” she said.
Authorities have discovered a positive forensic match that links Mangione to the murder site, CNN reports. DNA evidence and a partial fingerprint discovered on an energy bar wrapper and a discarded Starbucks water bottle were used to make the match. About half an hour before the incident, Mangione is seen purchasing these products on surveillance footage.
The fingerprints, according to two law enforcement officials, were the first forensic match that directly linked Mangione to the shooting scene outside a hotel a little over a week ago.
His extradition to New York is being contested by Mangione. The 26-year-old defendant was charged with murder and other offenses by New York authorities, and he showed up for an extradition hearing at the Blair County Courthouse in Pennsylvania.
After a Pennsylvania judge refused him bail on Wednesday, Mangione screamed at the media, saying, “It’s totally out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people.” It’s a lived experience. according to CNN.
CNN reported that Mangione was charged by New York prosecutors 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 during his Monday arrest at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
According to the charge filed in court, Mangione was discovered in possession of “a black 3D-printed pistol and a black silencer.”
According to CNN, detective Yousef Demes of the Midtown North Detective Squad presented evidence that Mangione is the one seen shooting Thompson to death outside a Midtown Manhattan Hilton Hotel on security footage.
