Police have found fingerprints of the man suspected of shooting dead a US health insurance boss match those found near the crime scene in New York, Sky News’ US partner NBC News is reporting.
Luigi Mangione has been charged with the murder of UnitedHealthcare chief executive Brian Thompson, who was shot dead in Manhattan last week.
Dressed in an orange prison uniform, the 26-year-old appeared at Blair County Courthouse on Tuesday, where he decided to challenge his extradition to New York, triggering a legal process that could last weeks.
But as prosecutors seek to build a case against the alleged suspect, NBC News quoted an official close to the case who claimed investigators have found prints near the scene in New York that match Mangione’s own.
It isn’t clear where the prints were taken from.
Police said the suspect previously visited a Starbucks before the shooting, and then was seen on an e-bike cycling away from the scene.
Speaking recently, Mangione’s attorney Thomas Dickey said: “Listen, I haven’t seen any evidence that says he’s the shooter.
“I haven’t seen anything. I have not seen one scintilla, one speck, one drop of any evidence yet.”
NBC News also reported, citing two sources familiar with the ongoing investigation, that Mangione was carrying a notebook when found.
In it, he allegedly wrote about wanting to target a chief executive at a conference with a gun, adding that method was preferable to other means like an explosive device because it meant bystanders would not be hurt.
‘These parasites had it coming’
After a high-profile manhunt, Mangione was arrested after a tip off from a McDonald’s worker, and he was found with a gun, mask and writings, police said, that linked him to the ambush attack.
NBC News spoke to a customer who spotted Mangione in the restaurant in Altoona, around 230 miles (370km) west of New York.
The man, who only gave his name as Larry, said his friend told him “that looks like the shooter from New York”, adding that a backpack looked similar to one the suspect was carrying.
Larry added: “I thought it was one of the employees, because they go back here on break, and they put their hoods up, and he was in the corner with his hood up.”
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Mangione had three pages of writings on him at the time he was taken into custody, officials also told NBC News.
Those writings reportedly said “frankly these parasites had it coming” and “I wasn’t working with anyone” during broader criticism of the US healthcare industry and large corporations, including UnitedHealthcare.
Pennsylvania prosecutor Peter Weeks said Mangione, who gave officers a fake ID, was found with a passport and $10,000 (£7,840) in cash – $2,000 of it in foreign currency.
An Ivy League tech graduate, Mangione’s alleged actions have catapulted him to online notoriety, with Etsy and eBay among the websites selling T-shirts and other products referencing him.
Some on social media have expressed sympathy and support for Mangione.
Support for him appears to come from long-standing resentment over the US healthcare system and allegations that firms like UnitedHealthcare go to great lengths to avoid paying for treatments in order to maximise profits.
