Healthcare killing suspect receives fan mail and cash

Luigi Mangione, the suspect at the centre of the UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting, has received more than 100 pieces of mail just over a week after he was taken into custody, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections confirmed to The Independent.

- MICHELLE DEL REY

As yesterday morning, Mangione had received 54 emails, 87 pieces of mail and 163 deposits into his commissary account, an account that allows inmates to purchase items from behind bars. The spokesperson did not confirm how much money was in the account. Mangione was being held in pre-trial detention at a state correctional facility in Huntingdon before he was extradited to New York, where he’s been charged with murder in connection with the fatal shooting of Brian Thompson, the healthcare company’s CEO, on 4 December in Manhattan.

It’s not clear if the suspect will be able to access the Pennsylvania emails and mail from New York.

The alleged assassin has drawn wide support from internet admirers after he was taken into custody at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania last week. Upon his arrest, online retailers began hawking merchandise featuring Mangione’s mugshot and the words “Free Luigi”.

Moreover, his Pennsylvania attorney told reporters he had to decline offers from strangers to fund Mangione’s legal bills. Even so, his supporters managed to raise over $100,000 for a defence fund.