Luigi Mangione has been granted a major perk behind bars as he awaits trial for the alleged assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
The 27-year-old suspect has been given access to a laptop to use in jail in preparation of the murder trial.
The laptop will be ‘prepared by the government’ and handed over to Mangione seven days a week, for use between 8am and 4pm, the NY Post reported.
U.S. District Judge Margaret M. Garnett signed an order on Monday demanding the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn begin preparations to secure the laptop.
Mangione’s attorneys, Karen Friedman Agnifilo, Marc Agnifilo and Jacob Kaplan, told the judge the letter would allow Mangione to ‘adequately prepare for trial and assist in his own defense.’
But the laptop will be disabled from accessing the internet or any wireless networks, Mangione’s attorneys revealed.
It will be set up with case-related documents and videos provided to Mangione’s defense by the government.
Mangione is accused of murdering Thompson, a 50-year-old father-of-two, outside a Manhattan hotel while he was attending a work conference on December 4, 2024.
A red diary found in the 27-year-old‘s possession when he was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, at the end of a five-day manhunt, have offered insight into his alleged motive.
The diary documented Mangione’s musings on what Unabomber Ted Kaczynski got wrong during his reign of terror between 1978 and 1995, according to court filings.
In one entry from August 15, 2024, Mangione writes that he is ‘confident’ about his plan – four months before the shooting took place – and that he believes it to be ‘right/justified.’
‘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,’ his scrawling writing reads.
‘I’m glad-in a way-that I’ve procrastinated bc [sic] it allowed me to learn more about UHC [UnitedHealthcare].’
‘The target is insurance. It checks every box.’
In another diary entry dated two months later on October 10 2024, Mangione allegedly marks a countdown to the day of the attack: ‘1.5 months.’
In the rambling diary entry, Mangione goes on to refer to those in the healthcare industry as ‘parasites’ and ‘mafioso’ and describes UnitedHealthcare’s December conference as a ‘true windfall’ that ’embodies everything wrong with our health system.’
The 27-year-old has pleaded not guilty to both state and federal charges in connection with the December murder.
If he is convicted, federal prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty.
