UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, who was gunned down on the streets of Manhattan last week, was laid to rest in his hometown Monday – the same day his alleged assassin Luigi Mangione was arrested.
Thompson’s loved ones gathered for a private funeral at a Lutheran church in Maple Grove, Minnesota, according to The New York Times.
His family noted that Thompson played many roles – a husband, brother, and friend – but above all, he was a ‘devoted father’ to his two sons.
‘Brian was an incredibly loving husband, son, brother and friend. Most importantly, Brian was a devoted father to our two sons, and we will miss him for the rest of our lives,’ his family said.
‘We appreciate the overwhelming outpouring of kind words and support we have received.’
Thompson was fatally shot early Wednesday morning while on his way to an investor conference.
Chilling surveillance footage captured the very moment his masked killer opened fire on him with a large gun fitted with a silencer outside of the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan.
The NYPD searched for days trying to find his killer up until Monday when Mangione, 26, was arrested at an Altoona, Pennsylvania McDonalds and identified as the CEO’s alleged murderer.
The 50-year-old was gunned down around 6:45 am in Midtown, hours before New Yorkers gathered in the neighborhood for the annual Christmas tree lighting at Rockefeller Center.
The father-of-two was fatally shot in the chest and leg in the targeted attack, with the killer fleeing on an electric bicycle.
Witnesses said the suspected gunman was seen waiting outside the hotel before the shooting, and knew which door Thompson was going to emerge from before shooting him at point-blank range.
Footage from after the fatal shooting showed NYPD officers performing CPR on the married father, before he was rushed to Mount Sinai Hospital in critical condition, where he was pronounced dead.
Mangione, who comes from a wealthy Maryland family, has since been charged with second degree murder.
He was found at the fast food restaurant after both a worker and elderly person spotted him and called the police.
The Ivy League student was found with a 3D-printed pistol and black silencer, with police saying the pistol was loaded with one Glock magazine comprising six 9mm full-metal jacket rounds.
He made his first court appearance after being charged with murder on Tuesday – pouting as he was escorted out of the hearing, after suffering a ferocious public meltdown hours earlier.
The orange jumpsuit-clad suspect had to be restrained as he screamed at police while heading into court in Altoona.
Thomas Dickey, Mangione’s lawyer, said on Tuesday night that his client will also plead not guilty to the gun possession charges he is facing in Pennsylvania.
Dickey also told reporters he hopes to represent Mangione in New York, and indicated that he expects to plead not guilty.
He also said that he’s not seen ‘any evidence’ that Mangione is the shooter.
Dickey said: ‘I haven’t seen any evidence that says he’s the shooter. The fundamental concept of American justice is a presumption of innocence until you’re proven guilty.
‘I’ve seen zero evidence at this point. But that (pleading not guilty in New York) would be my expectation. That certainly would be my advice.’
It has since been claimed that he had a manifesto against United Healthcare after suffering a debilitating back injury which required painful spinal surgery.
In it, Mangione condemned the American healthcare system, and apparently also had a spiral notebook in which Mangione wrote a ‘to-do list,’ CNN reported.
He also allegedly ruled out the prospect of using a bomb to kill Thompson because it ‘could kill innocents,’ and determined a shooting would be more targeted.
He also reportedly mused on the prospect of killing Thompson ‘at his own bean-counting conference,’ as the insurance CEO was set to disclose the financial gains the company made this year.
Authorities have also noted that Mangione also published a three-page manifesto, which they have labeled a ‘claim of responsibility.’
He wrote about the grandiose size of UnitedHealthcare and how much profits it makes, and went on to condemn health insurance companies more broadly for placing profits over care.
‘To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone. This was fairly trivial: some elementary social engineering, basic CAD, [and] a lot of patience,’ Mangione allegedly wrote in the manifesto, according to the Daily Beast.
He went on to say he had ‘respect’ for federal investigators, and apologized for causing any ‘traumas,’ but seemed to defend his alleged actions.
‘Frankly these parasites had it coming,’ the manifesto wrote.
Before becoming CEO of the largest healthcare company in the US, Thompson grew up in Jewell, Iowa in a working-class family.
‘He was just a farm kid living it out in rural Iowa,’ a close friend told NYT. ‘Everybody got along with him and he got along with everybody else.
‘He was just a great, silly, funny, smart guy to be around all through the years that I have known him,’ they added.
Thompson was the valedictorian of his senior class at South Hamilton High School in 1993.
He went on to attend the University of Iowa, graduating with a degree in business administration and accounting in 1997.
His wife, Paulette Reveiz, also attended the college, as the pair went on to raise their two sons in the Minneapolis suburb of Maple Grove.
Following his death, it was revealed that he and his wife were separated and living in separate homes that are less than a mile apart, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Thompson purchased the $1million home near his family home in 2018, according to public records, with neighbors telling the Journal that he spent much of his time traveling.
His wife Paulette, a practicing physical therapist, disclosed that her husband had previously received threats. She referenced a ‘lack of coverage.’ Despite the reported threats, Thompson did not travel with security.