A photo said to show accused CEO murderer Luigi Mangione smiling in prison has emerged.
The 27 year-old was seen in typical prison garb of a white T-shirt, gray sweatpants and a simple digital watch in a snap said to have been taken at the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York.
Mangione threw up a shaka sign with his left hand in the picture, which is popular in Hawaii where he is known to have spent at least half a year living in 2022.
Another inmate was seen posing beside him in a similar sweat suit with black sandals and noticeable hand tattoos, their identity is not known.
The photo first appeared on Reddit and has subsequently been picked up by TMZ. Mangione’s lawyers refused to comment on it when contacted by Daily Mail Thursday morning – but did not deny its authenticity.
Mangione has been locked up inside the facility after he was arrested last December for the shooting of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson, he has pleaded not guilty.
The release of the Mangione photo has sent the alleged killer’s many fans into a frenzy.
One person posted: ‘Face card still going crazy, god bless and protect this man’, another added: ‘The most photogenic innocent man I’ve ever seen.’
The 27-year-old wore typical prison grab with a white t shirt and sweatpants in the picture captured inside the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York
Mangione has been locked up inside the facility after he was arrested last December for the shooting of UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson, he has pleaded not guilty
Another said: ‘Look at that innocent face’, with another then posting: ‘This man doesn’t have any bad photos.’
Mangione, the heir to a Maryland property fortune, is facing a state murder charge in the killing of Thompson and a parallel federal death penalty prosecution.
His lawyers urged a judge in May to throw out the state charges, arguing that the state case amounted to double jeopardy.
If that fails, they are looking to have his terrorism charges dropped and prosecutors barred from using evidence collected at his arrest last December.
That includes a 9mm handgun, ammunition and a notebook in which authorities claim Mangione say he described his intent to ‘wack’ an insurance exec.
Prosecutors claimed last month that he mused about rebelling against ‘the deadly, greed fueled health insurance cartel’ in his handwritten diary.
The DA’s office quoted extensively from the notebook, highlighting his alleged praise for the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski as they fought to uphold his state charges.
They also cited a confession they say he penned ‘to the feds,’ in which he wrote that ‘it had to be done.’
UnitedHealthCare CEO Brian Thompson, seen here, was murdered outside of a midtown Manhattan hotel in December, an extensive manhunt was launched for his killer
After the picture emerged online earlier this week, his supporters have fawned over the recent picture
The Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC), where Luigi Mangione is in custody in Brooklyn, New York City
Mangione’s next federal court date is December 5, a day after the one-year anniversary of Thompson’s death. If convicted, Mangione could face life in prison without parole.
He has been fiercely backed by a slew of fans who have praised him for his alleged actions and started a GiveSendGo page to raise money for his legal defense.
Some have even made art depicting him as a saint, saying he is a hero who has taken a stand against America’s broken healthcare system.
The killing of Thompson was captured on surveillance video showing a masked gunman shooting him from behind at the New York Hilton Midtown hotel.
Police said that the words ‘delay, deny, and depose’ had been inscribed on the ammunition, a phrase used to describe how insurers avoid paying claims.
Mangione was arrested Dec. 9 at a McDonald´s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, 230 miles away.
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has called the ambush ‘a killing that was intended to evoke terror.’
US Attorney General Pam Bondi announced in April that she was directing federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty for ‘an act of political violence’.
Mangione’s defense team have yet to reveal how they plan to push back on the criminal charges against him, after prosecutors insisted they have a ‘slam-dunk’ case.