Person Of Interest In CEO Killing Worked For Santa Monica Company

SANTA MONICA, CA — The 26-year-old man dubbed a person of interest in the killing of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO previously worked for a Santa Monica-based company and at Stanford University.

The man, Luigi Nicholas Mangione, was taken into custody in Pennsylvania Monday. He has since been charged with five crimes in that state.

Police said Mangione had a gun believed to be the one used in last Wednesday’s shooting of Brian Thompson, as well as writings suggesting anger with corporate America, New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.

Mangione was born and raised in Maryland, had a last known address in Honolulu and has ties to California, according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny.

Mangione's LinkedIn profile shows that as he was studying for a master's degree in computer science at the University of Pennsylvania, he worked for a summer at Stanford University.

A Stanford spokesperson confirmed to the Los Angeles Times that a person named Luigi Mangione was employed as a head counselor under the Stanford Pre-Collegiate Studies program between May and September of 2019.

The program is for middle and high school students from across the U.S., according to Stanford's website. Mangione's LinkedIn said the job consisted of teaching high school students about artificial intelligence, supervising 40 student residents and leading a team of residential staff.

His LinkedIn profile also shows Mangione has worked as a data engineer at Santa Monica-based TrueCar, a firm that specializes in car pricing.

"We can confirm that Luigi Mangione has not been an employee of our company since 2023," a TrueCar spokesperson told Patch.

Mangione's arrest came after someone at a Pennsylvania McDonald's recognized him Monday morning from images widely circulated by law enforcement after the CEO's killing.

Police found Mangione was in possession of a ghost gun, multiple fake IDs and a multi-page document suggesting "ill will toward corporate America," according to Kenny.

A masked gunman shot Thompson at point-blank range Wednesday outside the New York Hilton Midtown, where UnitedHealthcare was holding an investors conference.

Surveillance videos show the killer shot Thompson at around 6:45 a.m. before fleeing on foot and then on a bike into Central Park. Authorities believe he left New York City on an interstate bus.

Although police have not disclosed a possible motive for the killing, shell casings found at the crime scene had the words "deny," "delay" and "depose" written on them. The slaying has triggered intense discussion and criticism of the American health insurance industry.

Max Bennett and Eric Heyl contributed reporting.