NEW YORK — Luigi Mangione, who has been charged with killing Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthCare, was found with a notebook that detailed plans for the shooting, according to two law enforcement officials.

The notebook described going to a “bean-counter” conference and killing an executive, the officials said.

“What do you do? You wack the CEO at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention. It’s targeted, precise, and doesn’t risk innocents,” was one of the passages written in the notebook, the officials said.

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The shooting occurred early Dec. 4 as Thompson arrived early at a Hilton hotel on West 54th Street to prepare for a UnitedHealthcare investors’ day gathering.

Mangione, 26, was captured after a tip from an employee at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, who was alerted by a customer who recognized him.

The suspect was found with a ghost gun; a firearm suppressor, known in generic terms as a silencer; and false identification cards similar to those believed to have been used by the killer, officials said. In addition to the false identification cards, he was carrying identification with his real name.

The authorities also found a 262-word handwritten note with him, which begins by appearing to take responsibility for the killing. The note, which officials described as a manifesto, also mentioned the existence of a notebook.

The recovery of the notebook was first reported by CNN.

Mangione, who faces a murder charge, is fighting extradition to New York, which starts a process that could take weeks. He was denied bail.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Ashley Southall and Maria Cramer/Rachel Wisniewski
c. 2024 The New York Times Company