The family of the man suspected of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson operates a well-diversified business that includes a conservative radio station in Maryland, The Desk has learned.
On Monday, 26-year-old Luigi Mangione was detained by police in Pennsylvania following a five-day manhunt that spanned much of the northeastern United States. He was later charged with five criminal counts related to the brazen murder of Thompson, who was gunned down outside a hotel in New York City hours before an investor’s conference.
Officially, as of Monday evening, Mangione has not been charged with anything related to Thompson’s murder, with police calling him a “strong person of interest” in the case. His charges include two related to the possession of a so-called “ghost gun” — a firearm that is difficult to trace to a person through conventional means — and three related to the holding of false identification.
But media reports strongly indicate that Mangione is the person that police were looking for all along. According to CNN and the New York Times, investigators recovered a handwritten note that spanned nearly 300 words, on which someone believed to be Mangione claimed to have acted alone and apologized “for any strife and trauma.”
“These parasites had it coming…it had to be done,” the manifesto said, according to the New York Times.
Mangione also resembles the individual pictured in numerous photographs from surveillance video and similar cameras released by New York-area police over the past few days. That person was staying at a hostel in the city at the time Thompson was gunned down, presented false ID cards to check in, and was seen leaving on a Greyhound bus.
Police tracked Mangione down to a Greyhound bus that had stopped at a McDonald’s restaurant in Altoona, Pennsylvania, according to reports. An employee of the fast food chain thought Mangione resembled the person in the photos released by investigators last week and called police. Mangione was detained a short time later.
Mangione hails from a wealthy family in Maryland, one that has donated considerable amounts of money to local health care groups, according to the Baltimore Banner. Among the businesses the Mangione family operate is a broadcast radio station, WCBM (680 AM), which airs conservative talk programming across Maryland.
Nicholas Mangione, Sr. purchased the station out of bankruptcy in 1988, and was one of the first broadcasters to air “The Rush Limbaugh Show” in the Baltimore area between the late 1980s and early 1990s, later replacing the show with one hosted by Dr. Laura Schlessinger.
The senior Mangione died in 2008, but some of his children continued to operate the radio station as part of the family business. The estate of Nicholas Mangione, Sr. continues to own WCBM Maryland, Inc., the parent company of WCBM, according to public records reviewed by The Desk.
The younger Mangione — the one who allegedly carried the gun and the false ID cards, and who is most likely connected to the killing of Thompson — does not appear to have touched on the family business. His last employment was not known, but the 26-year-old recently lived in Hawaii; a former roommate said he underwent surgery for “debilitating back pain” last year.
The handwritten note recovered from Mangione included references to the state of the American healthcare industry, with the author complaining that health care organizations put profits over patient care.
Nino Mangione, a Republican delegate who is serving as a spokesperson for the Mangione family, said they could not comment on reports about the arrest because “we only know what we have read in the media.”
“Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest,” he said. “We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved. We are devastated by this news.”
