(CNN) โ The 3D-printed gun that health care CEO killing suspect Luigi Mangione had when he was arrested this week in Pennsylvania matches three shell casings found at the crime scene in Midtown Manhattan, the New York Police Department commissioner said Wednesday, as authorities continue to investigate the motive for the killing.
Also, Mangioneโs fingerprints match those investigators found on items near the scene of the December 4 assassination of the UnitedHealthcare chief, Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a public event.
Three 9 mm shell casings from the crime scene had the words โdelay,โ โdenyโ and โdeposeโ written across them, one word per bullet, NYPDโs Chief Detective Joseph Kenny has said. Police have been looking into whether the words, which title a 2010 book critiquing the insurance industry, may point to a motive in CEO Brian Thompsonโs killing.
โFirst, we got the gun in question back from Pennsylvania. Itโs now at the NYPD crime lab,โ Tisch, the commissioner, said Wednesday. โWe were able to match that gun to the three shell casings that we found in Midtown at the scene of the homicide.โ
โWeโre also at the crime lab able to match the person of interestโs fingerprints with fingerprints that we found on both the water bottle and the KIND bar near the scene of the homicide in midtown,โ she said. Authorities had been probing DNA material and a partial fingerprint from a discarded Starbucks water bottle and an energy bar wrapper surveillance images showed the suspect buying about 30 minutes before the shooting.
The fingerprints were the first positive forensic match tying Mangione directly to the scene where Thompson was gunned down just over a week ago outside a hotel, two law enforcement officials briefed on the matter told CNN earlier Wednesday.
CNN has reached out to Mangioneโs attorney for comment on what police have said about the shell casing and fingerprint matches.
The killing of Thompson โ a husband and father of two โ has laid bare many Americansโ fury toward the health care industry, with Mangione garnering sympathy online and offers to pay his legal bills. Itโs also struck fear in C-suites across the country, as an NYPD intelligence report obtained by CNN warns online rhetoric could โsignal an elevated threat facing executives in the near-term โฆโ
The fingerprint and firearms disclosures come as authorities dig into Mangione, who remains in custody in Pennsylvania on gun-related charges as he fights extradition to New York, where heโs charged with murder.
Since his arrest Monday thanks to a tipster at a McDonaldโs, the 26-year-oldโs background also is starting to come into focus. The privileged scion of a well-to-do family, high school valedictorian and Ivy League graduate vanished from view of his loved ones in recent months, only to emerge as the suspect in a high-profile killing potentially fueled by his struggle with a painful back injury.
Mangioneโs lawyer has denied his clientโs involvement in the killing in New York and anticipates he will plead not guilty there to the murder charge, among other counts. Mangione also plans to plead not guilty to Pennsylvania charges related to a gun and fake ID police found when they arrested him in Altoona, attorney Thomas Dickey said.
โI havenโt seen any evidence that they have the right guy,โ Dickey told CNNโs Kaitlan Collins on โThe Source.โ Dickey has not seen the evidence, including writings police said were in Mangioneโs possession at the time of his arrest, the lawyer reiterated Wednesday on ABCโs โGood Morning America.โ
In some of Mangioneโs writings, he referenced pain from a back injury he got in July 2023, New York Police Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told Fox News on Tuesday. Investigators are looking into an insurance claim for the injury.
โSome of the writings that he had, he was discussing the difficulty of sustaining that injury,โ Kenny said. โSo, weโre looking into whether or not the insurance industry either denied a claim from him or didnโt help him out to the fullest extent.โ
Mangione was denied bail at an extradition hearing Tuesday afternoon at the Blair County Courthouse in Pennsylvania.
As he entered the courthouse, shackled at the hands and feet and wearing an orange prison jumpsuit with DOC emblazoned on the back, he yelled, in part, โItโs completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people. Itโs lived experience.โ
Investigators detail gun, silencer and fake ID
New York prosecutors charged Mangione with one count of murder, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, one count of second-degree possession of a forged document, and one count of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, online court documents show.
Mangione is the person seen in surveillance video fatally shooting Thompson outside a Hilton hotel en route to his companyโs annual investor conference, ๏ปฟofficials assert, citing charging documents in which Detective Yousef Demes of the Midtown North Detective Squad outlines evidence, including that the man seen in surveillance footage from a New York hostel is wearing the same clothing.
After arresting Mangione in the Altoona McDonaldโs, police found โa black 3D-printed pistol and a black silencerโ that was also 3D printed, according to the criminal complaint. While being taken into custody, Mangione also presented a forged New Jersey ID with the name Mark Rosario, which matched the ID the man at the hostel used, Demes wrote.
Suspect appeared to view targeted killing as a โsymbolic takedownโ
The suspect appeared to be driven by anger against the health insurance industry and against โcorporate greedโ as a whole, according to an NYPD intelligence report obtained Tuesday by CNN.
โHe appeared to view the targeted killing of the companyโs highest-ranking representative as a symbolic takedown and a direct challenge to its alleged corruption and โpower games,โ asserting in his note he is the โfirst to face it with such brutal honesty,โโ says the NYPD assessment, which was based on Mangioneโs โmanifestoโ and social media.
Along with a three-page handwritten โclaim of responsibilityโ found on Mangione when he was taken into custody, investigators are looking at the suspectโs writing in a spiral notebook, a law enforcement source briefed on the matter told CNN.
It included to-do lists to facilitate a killing, as well as notes justifying those plans, the source said. In one notebook passage, Mangione wrote about the late Ted Kaczynski, the so-called Unabomber who justified a deadly bombing campaign as an effort to protect against the onslaught of technology and exploitation. Mangione had written about the Unabomber in online posts as well.
Mangione knew UnitedHealthcare was holding an investorsโ conference around the time Thompson was shot and killed โ and the suspect mentioned in writings he would be going to the conference site, the NYPDโs Kenny told Fox News on Tuesday.
In the notebook passage, Mangione concludes using a bomb against his intended victim โcould kill innocentsโ and shooting would be more targeted, musing what could be better than โto kill the CEO at his own bean counting conference,โ a law enforcement official briefed on the matter told CNN.
The three-page document did not include specific threats but indicated โill will towards corporate America,โ Kenny said.
Why Mangione may be fighting extradition
With Mangione fighting extradition, a Pennsylvania court has given him 14 days to file for writ of habeas corpus โ putting the burden of proof on those detaining the person to justify the detention โ and a hearing will be scheduled if he does.
Pennsylvania prosecutors have 30 days to get a governorโs warrant, which New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said she will work with prosecutors to sign and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro โis prepared to sign and process โฆ promptly as soon as it is received.โ Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks said his office is prepared โto do whatโs necessaryโ to get Mangione back to New York.
There could be several reasons Mangione is fighting his extradition, said Karen Agnifilo, a CNN legal analyst and defense attorney. It would give him more time to think about his defense, demand prosecutors present more evidence at his next hearing or try to get bail in Pennsylvania, which is unlikely.
Indeed, it could take up to two months before authorities could bring Mangione back to New York after the governorโs warrant is obtained, said Agnifilo, who previously worked at the Manhattan District Attorneyโs Office.
Most criminal defendants facing prosecution on more serious charges in another state waive their right to extradition, but in murder cases like Mangioneโs, โthereโs no chance heโs going to be let out, so heโs fighting extradition,โ she said.
โEight or 9 out of 10 times, defendants waive extradition because they realize this is so perfunctory, itโs so easy, and most of them donโt want to languish in detention in the other state because you donโt even get to fight your case yet,โ Agnifilo said.
Pennsylvania state Judge Dave Consiglio denied Mangione bail related to both state dockets, saying he would remain at the Huntingdon State Correctional Institution.