Newly unsealed court documents reveal chilling diary entries from Luigi Mangione, detailing his motivations and meticulous planning ahead of the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.According to USA Today, Mangione’s writings describe a shift from plotting a mass-casualty bombing to targeting a specific executive. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office released excerpts from the diary on June 4 in response to the defence team’s motion to stay or dismiss the New York state case.“I finally feel confident about what I will do. The details are coming together. And I don’t feel any doubt about whether it’s right/justified,” Mangione wrote in an entry dated August 15, 2024. “I’m glad- in a way- that I’ve procrastinated bc [sic] it allowed me to learn more about (UnitedHealthcare),” which he later called a company “that literally extracts human life force for money.”The writings suggest that Mangione initially contemplated a broader attack, but ultimately deemed such a plan counterproductive. He called the original idea “an unjustified catastrophe” that would “do nothing to spread awareness/improve people’s lives.” “The target is insurance. It checks every box,” he wrote.Authorities discovered the red notebook containing these entries after Mangione was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on December 4- hours after Thompson was fatally shot in Manhattan while en route to an investor conference.A federal grand jury indicted Mangione in April on multiple charges, including murder with a firearm, a charge that carries the possibility of the death penalty. He also faces related charges in both Pennsylvania and New York. Mangione has pleaded not guilty to all counts.Court records show that in October 2023, Mangione viewed the conference as symbolic of deeper systemic issues: “The investor conference is a true windfall,” he wrote. “It embodies everything wrong with our health system.”His writings explain the rationale behind targeting a CEO at such an event. “So say you want to rebel against the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel. Do you bomb the HQ? No. Bombs=terrorism.”Assistant District Attorney Joel Seidemann argued that the diary entries make Mangione’s intent unmistakable:“All of these writings convey one clear message: that the murder of Brian Thompson was intended to bring about revolutionary change to the healthcare industry. Defendant’s targeting of UHC had nothing to do with anything that the company had done to him personally.”“Brian Thompson and UHC were simply symbols of the healthcare industry and what defendant considered a deadly greed-fueled cartel,” Seidemann added.Court filings detail that on the evening of December 3, Mangione was seen near West 54th Street and Sixth Avenue, near the Hilton Hotel, appearing to speak on the phone as Thompson passed by. The next morning, prosecutors allege, he returned to the same location, waited across the street, then approached Thompson from behind and shot him.Investigators recovered three cartridge shells at the scene engraved with the words “deny,” “delay,” and “depose”- phrases believed to reference insurance claim processes. The shells were confirmed to match Mangione’s weapon, and his DNA was found on various objects near the site of the killing.Mangione’s diary further reveals a desire to minimise collateral harm: he wrote that he decided to “wack [sic] the CEO” during the conference to avoid harming “innocents.”Prosecutors argue that the writings, coupled with the planning and execution, justify the terrorism-related first-degree murder charge. “If ever there were an open and shut case pointing to defendant’s guilt, this case is that case,” Seidemann said. “Simply put, one would be hard pressed to find a case with such overwhelming evidence of guilt as to the identity of the murderer and premeditated nature of the assassination.“
