Luigi Mangione considered bombing Manhattan to kill Brian Thompson

• Luigi Mangione allegedly considered using a bomb to kill UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, Brian Thompson, but decided against it to avoid harming innocents.
• Mangione was arrested after a five-day manhunt, with evidence linking him to the shooting, including a notebook and fake IDs.
• His lawyer claims there is no evidence linking Mangione to the crime, suggesting a possible not guilty plea.

The alleged killer of UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive considered using a bomb for the murder, his notebook is reported to reveal.

Luigi Mangione reportedly wrote in a spiral notebook that he decided against staging an explosion in Manhattan because it “could kill innocents”.

Mangione, a 26-year-old Ivy League college graduate, is alleged to have written a to-do list in the recovered notebook. The notebook reportedly stated that he would “kill the CEO at his own bean-counting conference”.

He was shot dead on December 4 as he walked into the Hilton Midtown in Manhattan to attend a conference, sparking a five-day manhunt that led to Mangione’s arrest.

Along with a three-page manifesto in which Mangione allegedly said that he acted alone, police found pages of handwritten notes in a spiral notebook.

Suspected shooter Luigi Mangione is led into the Blair County Courthouse for an extradition hearing. Photo / Getty Images

Among the notes were the musings about possibly using a bomb versus a shooting, CNN reported.

According to the New York Times, the notebook stated: “What do you do?

“You wack the CEO at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention. It’s targeted, precise and doesn’t risk innocents.”

Fingerprints found at the scene of the shooting were said to match those taken from Mangione after he was arrested in Pennsylvania on Monday.

Police also found other items on Mangione which allegedly linked him to the crime including multiple fake IDs, and the “ghost gun” used in the shooting.

According to CNN there was an “oblique reference” in the notebooks to how Mangione figured out Thompson’s movements.

Mangione is reported to have written: “This wasn’t that difficult. It was a combination of social engineering and CAD (computer assisted design).”

Mugshot showing Luigi Mangione after his arrest in Altoona, Pennsylvania, over the death of healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Photo / Pennsylvania Department of Corrections

Mangione’s lawyer suggested his client could plead not guilty to the murder charges in New York. The suspect is currently detained in Pennsylvania, where he was arrested, on other charges including using a fake ID.

Speaking to ABC News, attorney Thomas Dickey said that Mangione, who comes from a wealthy real estate family in Maryland, would deny the charges in Pennsylvania.

Dickey said there was “no evidence” linking his client to the shooting and claimed that “a lot of guns look the same”.

He said: “I have not been made aware of any evidence that links the gun that was found on his person to the crime so these are things that we’re looking to see”.

In a statement, Thompson’s family thanked him for being a loving parent.

They said: “Brian was a devoted father to our two sons, and we will miss him for the rest of our lives. We appreciate the overwhelming outpouring of kind words and support we have received”.