Maryland community still in shock as Luigi Mangione denied bond Tuesday

BALTIMORE, Md. - Bond was denied Tuesday for the suspect accused of shooting and killing the UnitedHealthcare CEO.

Luigi Mangione’s attorney told him "don’t say a word" during an extradition hearing in a Pennsylvania courtroom. It came after dramatic moments as the suspect entered court.

After he got out of the patrol car, he spun toward reporters and shouted something partly unintelligible, referring to an "insult to the intelligence of the American people." Deputies then pushed him inside. 

Mangione is now being held without bail in Pennsylvania on charges of possession of an unlicensed firearm, forgery and providing false identification to police. While in court, Mangione contested his extradition back to New York where he faces murder charges. His defense lawyer Thomas Dickey is asking for a hearing on the extradition.

Dickey spoke to press from his law office in Altoona, Penn. Tuesday evening, saying he "hasn’t seen any evidence that he [Mangione] is the shooter."             

Back in Maryland where Mangione was born and raised, those who knew him are still trying to reconcile the person they knew with the now-accused killer.

FOX 5 spoke with Tom Maronick Jr., an attorney who used to host a local radio talk show at Baltimore-based WCBM, the conservative talk programming station owned by the Mangione family.

The Mangione family also owns Hayfields Country Club in Cockeysville. The property is now surrounded by police and security vehicles.

Maronick says this family is philanthropic, well-regarded, and good to him when he had his radio show.

"I was in shock. I just couldn’t believe it was the same family," Maronick said. "I actually had to look it up. This local connection was the same family that had owned CBM for all these years. I had the same reaction, I’m sure as many of them did, which is just shock. I know they’re devastated." 

Maryland Delegate Nino Mangione is a cousin of the suspect.

In a post on his Facebook page Tuesday canceling a fundraiser for Thursday, he said, "I want to thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and support. My family and I are heartbroken and ask that you remember the family of Mr. Thompson in your prayers. Thank you."

In conversations FOX 5 had with a friend of Mangione’s Monday, and additional public reporting Tuesday, people close to Mangione hadn’t heard from him for the better part of the last year. 

Corey Wey told FOX 5 that Mangione’s name came up when he and some of their former Gilman School classmates got together a short time ago. 

"We were discussing people from our high school and how everyone’s doing and his name came up. There were questions about his whereabouts, and if anybody had been in contact with him," Wey said. "Me being a concerned person in general just because he’s a student I went to high school with, it just kind of struck me, like ‘dang, no one’s heard from him."  

The San Francisco Chronicle reported that his mother filed a missing persons report in California last month.

Background 

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed near W. 54th St. and 6th Avenue outside the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan around 6:45 a.m. on Dec. 4, 2024. Thompson was set to take part in the company's shareholder conference at the hotel.

Investigators quickly obtained video of the gunman firing shots from behind Thompson, striking him several times and authorities say the words "deny," "defend," and "depose" – a phrase critics use to describe insurance company tactics – were written on the ammo casings left behind at the scene. 

At some point, he went to a nearby Starbucks and purchased a bottle of water and at least one energy bar before returning to the hotel. Police released photos of the suspect from the Starbucks and over the weekend, they also released a new batch of photos showing the masked gunman riding in a cab.

Police said the shooting was premeditated and targeted. They believe the suspect rode a bicycle to the Hilton because it took him such a short time to get there, and that he also used a bike to get away from the scene after walking into Central Park. They say he later took a bus to leave the city. 

On Monday, Dec. 9, authorities received a call from a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania – about 300 miles outside of New York City – where an employee saw Mangione eating and noticed similarities between him and the alleged gunman. 

The tipster thought Mangione looked like the suspected gunman in photographs shared by police. He "had the same eyebrows," law enforcement sources said. 

Local authorities responded to the restaurant and took him into custody. Police say he was in possession of a "ghost gun," a silencer, multiple fake IDs and writings that were apparently critical of the health insurance industry. Mangione has remained in police custody since.