UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione suggests evidence ‘planted’ after arrest
UnitedHealthcare CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione suggests evidence ‘planted’ after arrest
Excerpt:
Prosecutors highlighted “about $10,000 — $8,000 in U.S. dollars and then $2,000 in foreign currency that was found on his person,” CNN correspondent Danny Freeman said following the court hearing.
“Also they said that he had a Faraday bag,” which blocks cell signals, a move that prosecutors alleged marked “an indication of criminal sophistication and reason they should hold him on bail,” Freeman continued.
After prosecutors made the claims, Mangione said he would like to “correct two things.”
“I don’t know where any of that money came from — I’m not sure if it was planted. And also, that bag was waterproof, so I don’t know about criminal sophistication,” the suspect said in a statement that suggested police framed him.
A LOT of yesterday's arrest is REALLY suspicious. Dude who could easily have fled the country (for a lot of reasons) and had done such a great job of covering his tracks is sitting in a mickey d's with his murder weapon and a manifesto.
But... a lot of his social media history (which is not impossible to fake but...) kind of suggests he was very mentally unwell. Which... uh doy? And he is mostly focused on the money (super easy to plant) and the "faraday bag".
As for the faraday bag? A LOT of dry bags (an internal bag you put electronics and valuables into if you are going to hike in the rain or go rafting/boating) have a metal mesh. Because they need to withstand abrasians either from being near other gear (you would be shocked how much jagged metal is in a backpack when you go on a proper alpine overnight) or just being able to survive falling overboard and bouncing on the end of a rope in rapids. And guess what a metal mesh does?
So he presumably got a dry bag of some form to stash his personal shit in while he stashed the second backpack. And I know plenty of hikers and climbers who learn the fun way that the phone they carried "in case someone needs to get a hold of me" had zero signal the entire time it was protected from the rain.
197From the article:
Although a host of eyewitness accounts and video camera footage recorded Mangione’s movements before and after Thompson was killed in New York City on Wednesday, police said they were unable to locate him until a McDonald’s employee identified the suspect at a Pennsylvania franchise nearly a week later.
They should have said "the suspect's movements" or "the shooter's movements". Not "Mangione's movements". They are already presuming guilt by saying it was Mangione who was recorded. Newspapers used to be careful about doing this. I think they can be sued for defamation for this, can't they?
159My ez-pass transponder came with a faraday bag - clearly ez-pass is a criminal organization
A former employer handed out branded faraday phone and wallet bags as a tchotchke- I must have worked for organized crime.
Oh no, passport faraday bags are all over Amazon - clearly criminal and needs to be shut down
83Yeah, prosecutors are really trying to smear this guy to look dangerous. Try harder. An RF-blocking bag is just to prevent theft, hacking and protect privacy. I'm a bit confident he's the guy but I can't say beyond a reasonable doubt given the circumstances and how the police are incentivised to frame anyone.
Since news reports keep jumping around between a McDonald's customer and a McDonald's employee offering the tip, every inconsistency will only bolster this guy's case. I can make guesses that this guy wanted to get caught or was a little sloppy, but if he says otherwise then finding everything including the gun is a little suspicious. Get him the best lawyer in the biz, I'm sure crowdfunding will cover it many times over.
80He had Ill will against corporate America, nobody would have that unless they were the killer! Sick evidence coppers!
61It makes perfect sense for this to be a frame up because one of the incriminating items was a "Recently Used Ghost Gun", a cheaply made 3D Printed gun that leaves no special marking on the bullet and can only really be used once. They are made to be used for crimes and discarded quickly, which is why some congressmen want to see restrictions on 3D Printers.
This raises an interesting question: How the fuck is he dumb enough not to dispose of the gun that was meant to be disposed? And has two answers: He's just that fucking stupid or The evidence was planted
58What if you find shooter's backpack ditched in park with jacket, gun, silencer, and fake ID used at hostel, but say it only had a jacket and monopoly money. And say that the guy probably left the state on a bus. Now you can pretty much do anything you want with any plausible-looking guy in the country you want.
I'm just asking questions! Also, most of the bags and purses you see for sale these days have a "faraday" phone bag or pocket in them, no level of sophistication required.
55This could be a scapegoat
But this could also be the perpetrator claiming he's a scapegoat, which is probably the best way to get a Jury to acquit, just plant doubts.
I'm gonna say that this is probably the actual perpetrator and I guess he was planning on more targets, but got caught before he could do more "deposing".
49If the police did this, that’s not surprising, but they are really stupid.
This case is going to be under a microscope like an inverted OJ trial, and every bit of police misconduct is ammunition for his lawyers
Imagine the uproar if this guy gets away on a technicality… it would be a national celebration, lol.
48- Likely wearing similar clothes to the widely circulated photographs. Otherwise how did anyone recognize him?
- Still had his ghost gun and manifesto on him.
- Cops asked him for an ID and he gave them the same fake New Jersey ID that had been widely reported as what he used to check into a hostel in NYC.
Where these just common mistakes? Made by the same person who succeeded at avoiding so many others? But if he was trying to turn himself in, getting arrested at McDonalds doesn't seem like the method I would have chosen. Was he trying for suicide by police?
I'm leaning on the side of a normal human 'on the run' and making normal mistakes. But there is enough to make me doubt that.
Also if they ever make a movie out of this, James Franco's brother Dave Franco has a passing resemblance.
48Age 20-30, has a good bag to carry thier tech around day to day, dislikes american health insurance, and may be mentally unwell without proper diagnosis; Describes every college student I know.
If the more concrete evidence is you where within a few miles of the incident in NY, as well know NY is not a dense urban city....
It's all hard to say, rampant distrust of the police means, knowing they are desperate to pin it on anyone, we can't trust what they say.
35and then $2,000 in foreign currency
Seems like the typical American Scapegoat™. I wonder what "foreign currency" they're referring to... Feels like an urge from US authorities to use this case as "muh [placeholder for the name of some imaginary international bogeyman which US authorities believe it's under their beds right now]".
“Also they said that he had a Faraday bag,” which blocks cell signals, a move that prosecutors alleged marked “an indication of criminal sophistication
Something that's one of the most sold products from Amazon, Shopee, AliExpress, among other marketplaces. For example, it's sold even in some major grocery stores here in Brazil, so I imagine that a similar scenario happens in the US.
It's got protection especially for contactless cards (so these cards can't be used at a distance for paying things the cardholder isn't aware of), and it generally offers some water protection (it's not expected to be diving together at some beach with the cardholder, but it'd definitely offer some protection against spills and minimal soaked clothes due to rain, for example).
33Of course it was. He’s not the dude. Let this shit play out and become a cold case.
30the NYPD are lying about everything. Luigi seems like a cool dude but he's not the shooter.
21This stinks to high heaven.
18I don't believe this guy is guilty. He doesn't even look like the guy in the photo, whose jacket isn't even the same color as the shooter, not that it even means anything. That shit's mass produced just like almost everything else.
14I have no doubt, I trust him.
10I am ripe for a headline like this, but the Examiner?
9I am not sure prosecution can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that he’s the guy. Some of this evidence seems flimsy or circumstantial, but I don’t know the whole picture.
8Duh
5As much as I want to believe all the conspiracies... the arrest happened in Pennsylvania... and since it was at a food place after a tip, there was no time to bring in pre-screened cops. And the odds that the local law enforcement would not leak that they planted evidence and such in this high profile case are about nil. Those local cops don't like the snutty feds anyway, so they have plenty of motivation to leak any shenanigans.
3A lot of people on all platforms trying to explain why he kept his gun, why he was caught so easily, and most coming up with easy explanations that fit their conspiracy theories.
The simple explanation is, he might be smarter than most, but maybe not enough to outsmart the whole NYPD police department. Maybe he kept his gun because he didn't want to leave a trace. Maybe he wanted to get caught peacefully in a McD rather than dying in a shooting.
Also, to those who still don't believe he's the killer: he is. Police don't go capture a random dude and then plant every evidence on him "because they need a scapegoat". There's a whole judicial process that goes on after the arrest, and if he's found not to be the killer, the police will have to go back to square one on a cold trail. They usually don't want that.
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