Manhattan prosecutors have started to present evidence against Luigi Mangione, who is accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. This information comes from several news organizations citing unnamed police sources.

The goal of the prosecutors is to secure an indictment, which would strengthen their case for bringing Mangione back to New York, as reported by ABC News and CBS News.

The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office has not yet responded to YSL News’s request for a statement.

Mangione is currently incarcerated in Pennsylvania while investigators work to gather further evidence, and while New York authorities pursue his extradition. He faces several charges, including second-degree murder. His attorney, Thomas Dickey, stated he would contest the extradition and that Mangione plans to plead not guilty to all allegations.

This week, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch confirmed that Mangione’s fingerprints matched those found at the crime scene of the shooting on December 4. Furthermore, the gun seized in Pennsylvania during his arrest was linked to the shell casings discovered in front of the hotel where Thompson was killed, according to Tisch.

Dickey expressed a desire to review the evidence to analyze it thoroughly and to challenge its admissibility and the accuracy of the findings.

UnitedHealthcare Confirms Mangione and His Mother Are Not Clients

Despite Mangione’s claims about severe back pain on social media and to friends, he is not a member of UnitedHealthcare, according to a spokesperson for UnitedHealth Group, who spoke to YSL News. Additionally, his mother, Kathleen Mangione, is also not a client.

On Thursday, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny mentioned that even though Mangione isn’t a client, he referenced the company in writings found at his arrest location in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

Kenny noted that Mangione mentioned that UnitedHealthcare is the fifth-largest corporation in America, which could indicate why he targeted it.

Kenny also disclosed that Mangione experienced a significant injury requiring emergency attention in July 2023, which may have initiated his troublesome path.

Investigators from the NYPD noted they have had no communication with Mangione’s family, according to Kenny’s statement.

CEO of UnitedHealth Group Acknowledges Issues Within Health Care System

In an op-ed in The New York Times, Andrew Witty, the CEO of UnitedHealth Group, praised his late colleague and spoke about the widespread discontent concerning the health care system following Thompson’s murder.

“We recognize that the health system is not functioning optimally and understand people’s frustrations,” he stated. He added, “We share the commitment to creating a more effective healthcare system for everyone, which is the mission of our organization.”

Witty described Thompson as a model of the company’s core principles, advocating for “making health care more affordable, transparent, intuitive, compassionate — and more humane.”

In the aftermath of Thompson’s death, some individuals on social media supported the suspect’s actions as a protest against a frequently criticized industry regarding health care coverage denials. White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre condemned this notion earlier this week, stating, “Violence as a means to address corporate greed is entirely unacceptable.”

Police Request Warrant for Burner Phone: Reports

Authorities have obtained a search warrant for a mobile phone discovered in an alley near the location of last week’s shooting, as reported by various news sources.

This phone, which police suspect is linked to the alleged shooter, has been identified as a burner phone that was abandoned in an alley before the suspect entered Central Park, according to CNN and ABC News.

Law enforcement officials have confirmed that they found a phone along with a water bottle and a protein bar wrapper at the crime scene. Fingerprints on the water bottle and the wrapper correspond to those taken during Mangione’s arrest in Pennsylvania, Tisch stated.

Is Luigi Mangione able to avoid extradition? Experts say probably not

Legal experts inform YSL News that it seems unlikely that Mangione will manage to prevent law enforcement from extraditing him to New York.

David Harris, a law professor at the University of Pittsburgh, mentioned that while Mangione does have the right to a hearing to contest the charges against him, this will only “delay” the process by a few weeks. “It won’t change the eventual outcome,” he indicated.

Harris referenced statements from New York Governor Kathy Hochul, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, and Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks, all of whom have expressed their intention to work together to bring the suspect back to New York City.

Brian Zeiger, a criminal defense lawyer in Pennsylvania, explained that interstate extraditions are quite typical and generally occur smoothly. In his 24 years of experience in the state, Zeiger has never observed an accused individual—particularly in a prominent murder case—successfully contesting extradition to another state.

Tracking Luigi Mangione’s movements

Police have gained a clearer understanding of how the suspected gunman escaped the shooting scene and traveled to Pennsylvania, though there are still some unanswered questions.

Kenny, the head detective at the NYPD, informed NBC New York that Mangione rode an e-bike into Central Park before taking a cab to Washington Heights. Following this, he used the subway to return to Penn Station and then headed to Philadelphia, Kenny explained.

It is still unclear how he made his way to Altoona, where a customer recognized him from surveillance pictures that the NYPD had released.