EJ Haust, a digital marketing expert and former journalist, brought attention to apparent inconsistencies with the alleged killer of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson who was apprehended in Pennsylvania on Monday.
Luigi Mangione, 26, was arrested in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday in connection with Thompson’s December 4 murder after he was recognized at a McDonald’s.
The alleged killer, whose last known address was in Hawaii, reportedly left a manifesto of which portions of its contents have since been published, including the following statement:
To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone.
Haust first raised questions about law enforcement’s decision to release Mangione’s manifesto, pointing out the double standard to law enforcement keeping manifestos written by other alleged criminals under wraps – including the alleged assassin who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump in Florida earlier this year and the Covenant School shooter.
“I’m not in favor of the FBI keeping things big, fat secrets, but the inconsistency [with the manifestos] is pretty intense,” Haust said on Tuesday’s edition of The Michael Patrick Leahy Show.
“The writings of Ryan Routh. Why don’t we have that? Why don’t we know more about Thomas Crooks? They pick and choose who they want us to know about. So that raises red flags in my mind,” Haust added.
Since his arrest and identity being revealed to the public, Mangione’s background and social media activity has been thrust into the spotlight.
Mangione, who reportedly comes from a prominent Maryland family, was valedictorian of his 2016 high school graduating class at the elite Gilman School in Baltimore and graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2020.
According to posts published to his social media accounts, Mangione appeared to be physically in shape.
However, reports have claimed that the alleged killer struggled with multiple health issues, including chronic back pain – which allegedly disrupted his romantic life – for which he underwent surgery to correct.
A photo on Mangione’s now-deleted X account shows an X-ray photo of a spine with four pins in it, however, it remains unclear if the photo is of Mangione’s back.
Haust said Mangione’s movements when he allegedly shot and killed Thompson did not appear to be the movements of a person with chronic back pain, as the suspect in the video shooting the CEO moved swiftly and proceeded to ride a bike away from the crime scene.
“I don’t deny the back problem, but is he taking something? Because he walked away calmly. He didn’t have a limp and he got on a bike,” Haust said.
Haust went on to point out other inconsistencies about Mangione, specifically his different appearances from the photos released of the suspect on the December 4 murder compared to the photos of Mangione released at the time of his arrest.
“I think there’s something weird about this one. This Luigi guy doesn’t look the same in all the images. He doesn’t have the same backpack. He’s clean shaven. Where’s his razor? Where’s the rest of his stuff? He’s obviously still fit…So I have questions. It’s not adding up,” Haust said.
Haust also questioned the motive behind Mangione’s alleged murder of Thompson, asking, “Did he have UnitedHeath insurance?”
“Has anybody bothered to ask? I haven’t heard one media person ask anyone,” Haust added.
Watch the full interview:
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
