A New York man has been charged with cyberstalking a family member of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, accused of leaving threatening voicemails, just hours after Thompson was fatally shot on a Manhattan sidewalk in December. The suspect, Shane Daley, 40, was arrested on Wednesday for reportedly making multiple phone calls to Thompson’s family member in the days following the shooting, leaving messages claiming the killing was justified and Thompson’s family member and children also deserve to die in the same way, reported CBS News.According to a criminal complaint filed in Albany federal court, the suspect left profanity-laced voicemails calling Thompson a “f****** capitalist pig” and claiming he was killed for “profiting off the backs of poor Americans,” as per CNBC.Daley, from Galway, New York, a small town north of Albany, was arrested on account of cyberstalking, made his initial court appearance on Wednesday. He was released under GPS monitoring and is due back in court Thursday afternoon, according to a spokesperson for the US attorney’s office in Albany.Daley’s attorney, Samuel Breslin, said that the allegations are under review.If found guilty, he can face a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.“Brian Thompson was gunned down in midtown Manhattan. Daley, as alleged, gleefully welcomed this tragedy and did all that he could to increase the Thompson family’s pain and suffering,” stated acting US attorney John A. Sarcone, as cited by CBS News.Daley’s calls were “more than callous and cold-hearted,” said Christopher Raia, the FBI’s New York assistant director in charge. “They were threatening and terrified a family already suffering following the violent death of their loved one,” Raia said, reported CNBC. Thompson, 50, was fatally shot outside the New York Hilton Midtown hotel on December 4, in what the police described as a targeted attack. The suspect, Luigi Mangione, was taken into custody in Pennsylvania after an extensive nationwide manhunt. Prosecutors said he was motivated by anger over perceived corporate greed. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to both state and federal charges.
