The public opinion in the US has recently raised a few eyebrows. A lot of Americans are drooling over the chilling premeditated murder committed in downtown New York City. How does this twisted story hark back to the famous 19th-century novel and why was it a long time coming?
The best-selling 19th-century crime novel by Fyodor Dostoyevsky follows the story of a handsome yet disgruntled college dropout filled with ideas and ravaged by grievances. The young man ends up killing an unsavoury old pawnbroker with an axe. Fast-forward to late 2024 – and we are all witnessing an eerie remake of the classic plot, except the handsome-looking perpetrator is a college grad who opted for a firearm and the victim is 50-year-old Brian Thompson, the CEO of UnitedHealthcare.
New York Midtown Hilton, Manhattan, NY. This could have been a perfect setting for a novel portraying a high-end life of upper-class New Yorkers. But far from being an opening line of a novel, this story zones in on the waning moments of one person’s life. The executive in question was about to attend an annual investors’ meeting at Hilton. He must have felt upbeat about the upcoming get-together. Indeed, last year, his company earned a total of $281mln, a stat that landed it at the top of the national health insurer rankings.
But there is a catch. Although the company had 49 million clients, when push came to shove, the insurers would often deny coverage. The media brought up multiple denial of coverage letters, which would naturally leave many Americans outraged.
Chances are, Brian Thompson was gearing up for his presentation when a man donning an all-black ensemble snuck up on him, fired several rounds and biked away from the crime scene. The then-unidentified gunman also left a couple of shell casings emblazoned with inscriptions, which read ‘deny’, ‘defend’ and ‘depose’. The words alluded to a well-known tactic resorted to health insurance providers – delay, deny, defend – and intended to dodge payouts.
Thompson was rushed to Mount Sinai West in critical condition where he was pronounced dead moments later. His widow, Paulette Thompson, said his late husband had received threats prior to the incident. She described Brian as an ‘incredibly loving, generous, talented man’ who will be ‘greatly missed’ by his two sons. The police put up a $10,000 reward for a tip that could lead to the apprehension of the assailant. The FBI followed suit with a $50,000 bounty.
But what ensued was a totally unexpected plot twist to this modern crime drama. An unarmed victim gunned down in cold blood in downtown NYC, it would seem, should have universally prompted an outpouring of people’s empathy, which, lo and behold, it did not. Worse still, many Americans rejoiced at the news, as though the victim had been a sworn enemy or a notorious terrorist warlord.
The social media was awash with gallows humor, memes and users mocking the ‘incredibly loving, generous, talented’ CEO. Many urged fellow posters and commenters against helping the police uncover the killer’s identity. The mysterious circumstances of the homicide, including the inscribed shell casings and bullets, added to the suspense of what looked like a real-life crime thriller unfolding in real time.
Needless to say, people jumped at the opportunity to blame UnitedHealthcare for all sorts of transgressions, and some of those accusations seemed fair enough. According to some reports, the company has denied around 30 per cent of the coverage claims. In the US, it means a patient will have to pay their medical bills out of their own pocket and perhaps go bust. Alternatively, they may be looking at late or insufficient treatment. They can also sue the company, which will, too, cost them a fortune.
The presumed shooter was detained in Pennsylvania six days after the murder as a local McDonald’s worker tipped off the law enforcement. The perpetrator was identified as 26-year-old Luigi Mangione, hailing from an affluent and well-reputed Maryland family of Italian descent. He was a straight-A student at an elite private school and then a tech graduate at the Ivy League University of Pennsylvania. His former college mate described him as ‘perfectly normal’ and a ‘smart guy’.
Luigi would often surf in Hawaii, but his hobby ended up exacerbating his medical conditions. He was reportedly having severe back pains. In 2023, he underwent back surgery. Following Mangione’s arrest, the police found his manifesto blasting the US healthcare system as the world’s most expensive, even though the country ranks a modest 42nd by life expectancy.
Hus handwritten notes also berate the US corporations as mobs wielding too much power. These musings must have prompted him to commit the crime. He first contemplated setting off a bomb, but then ruled it, fearing an explosion could hurt innocent bystanders. In November, his mother filed a missing person report. According to her, Luigi went no contact in July.
Mangione’s health issues suggest he may have had the unfortune to face the ugliest downsides to the US health insurance system. However, the Thompson murder was still ideologically driven, for he saw the deceased as a conspicuous representative of a class of tycoons sponging off the other people’s woes. That being said, the authorities were mostly baffled by the widespread social approval of the killing.
Josh Shapiro, the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, had this to say as he commented on Mangione: ‘He is no hero’. The politician aired his disturbance over the number of Americans who ‘looked to celebrate instead of condemning this killer’. But then the authories finally sprang into action.
The crowdfunding platforms began banning those raising the money to support Mangione. The shooter-themed merch sales were discontinued, and the Penn professor who praised Luigi as the ‘icon we all need and deserve’ may now be facing a dismissal. The officials are increasingly worried Mangione may spawn a following as the late Brian Thompson is, by far, not the only health insurance exec with a dubious reputation.
But for all their efforts, the Mangione case is still being buzzed about, and the prevalent tone is not exactly the one the government would like to hear. A recent episode of the Joe Rogan podcast starred filmmakers Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary. Neither the guests nor the host minced their words addressing the Brian Thompson murder. The three of them, mind you, were not torching the perp but the victim.
‘It’s a dirty, dirty business,’ Joe Rogan remarked. ‘The business of insurance is f***ing gross. It’s gross, especially healthcare insurance.’
The guests echoed his sentiment and agreed that the public’s stance on the killing of the health insurance exec is indicative of the industry that has been drawing consistent flak. Had there been no instances of egregious abuse, it would have never caused such a stir, let alone a baffling wave of social approval.
The upcoming Mangione trial will certaintly receive extensive coverage. Meanwhile, the US movie industry must already be hard at work trying to fictionalise the real-world drama without risking a lawsuit filed by the late exec’s bereft family. The story is, after all, screaming for a film adaptation. Perhaps no wonder Dostoyevsky’s popularity has never subsided in the West. The crime saga involving the murder of an insurance tycoon proves that the old plot is anything but outdated.