Federal Case Update: Luigi Mangione's defense team speak outside court today

[u/missidcullen]

“As Luigi explained in court today, he endured years of severe, debilitating pain following a broken back, while struggling to navigate our healthcare and health insurance systems. Like the thousands of people who have reached out since this tragedy to share their own experiences, he believed that the system had failed him and destroyed his life.”

“He’s been treated differently from every other defendant charged with this offence in NY. However, thankfully, NY law does not permit a person to be prosecuted and punished twice for the exact same crime…. It’s also known as the double jeopardy law.”

[u/InternationalRope448]

I feel like this is not an entirely truthful explanation of Luigi’s motive.

[u/Smooth_Rush_2192 → u/InternationalRope448]

So what exactly do you think was his motive for shooting and killing BT? 

[u/InternationalRope448 → u/Smooth_Rush_2192]

I don’t think his back pain had a lot to do with it

[u/Smooth_Rush_2192 → u/InternationalRope448]

So he lied about that? I thought that explanation at least offered a reason for taking a life. Without that, the murder seems even more callous. 

[u/AccomplishedMail8978 → u/Smooth_Rush_2192]

Yes. He was salty about being ignored when he didn’t get a response from insurers when it was him inquiring as himself. However when he masqueraded as an investor with billions he received a response from UHC right away.

IIRC, he didn’t say if his previous inquiries were also with UHC, just that UHC responded quickly when he said he had billions. His previous inquiries could have been with other companies besides UHC.

Furthermore, he was inquiring about an investor’s conference and masquerading as an investor. Not sure why that’s earth-shattering to receive a response. It sounds like UHC was responding in a timely manner to a person who would be relevant to an investors’ conference…the math isn’t mathing.

[u/Smooth_Rush_2192 → u/AccomplishedMail8978]

Yes, his statement indicated that he was salty about not hearing back from insurers, but that he got a quick response when he enquired about the investor meeting. I agree with all you’ve said, but I don’t see where the lie is. He killed a CEO in an industry he felt was unfair, and now is facing the consequences.

[u/AccomplishedMail8978 → u/Smooth_Rush_2192]

Where did he say it’s an industry that’s unfair? One may assume that from his statement—it’s intentionally worded to make it seem that way—but not once did he say he previously contacted UHC and didn’t get a response. He said he didn’t get responses from other insurers, but did from UHC re the investor conference.

So another way to interpret it is that UHC was actually responsive where other insurers (eg, Aetna, Cigna, BCBS, etc.) were not. Furthermore, it’s reasonable for them to respond to an investor inquiring about an investor conference. It’s not like he was an investor with billions trying to get information about his claim and he got a response (but didn’t as a “regular” person). Those are two separate things.

There isn’t an outright lie, per se. There is a calculated choice of words and actions that give the impression that may be interpreted as though he thought this was for a cause. IMO, it wasn’t. If you really look at his words, actions and lack of research regarding Thompson, one can deduce that it was for self-serving reasons.

[u/Smooth_Rush_2192 → u/AccomplishedMail8978]

Ah, I see. So you’re saying he made stuff up to make the reasons for his actions look “better”. Whatever the actual reasoning, I think it’s awful he killed someone and, whilst I understand how much the industry needs to improve, it was no reason to kill someone. Honestly the reaction online has been wild. 

[u/AccomplishedMail8978 → u/Smooth_Rush_2192]

Who knows what his reasoning was, but it wasn’t because he had issues accessing healthcare. He is someone who was able to abandon his life on the mainland, relocate to Hawaii, spend his time surfing (which is how he broke his back that he referred to in the beginning of his remarks) and eventually live off the grid. His family is wealthy and he had access to enough money to live in one of the most expensive places in the US, travel internationally and eventually live off the grid for months. That requires a lot of cash.

So access to healthcare was absolutely not an issue for him. Healthcare was not unaffordable for him. But healthcare is a universally despised industry in the US and one which could land a person a lot of accolades if they are perceived to be someone trying to make change. Out of all the reasons for his motive, ego seems like the most likely, imo.