Alleged manifesto of murder suspect Luigi Mangione highlights lessons learned from Unabomber: Court docs

Police caught up with Luigi Mangione, 27, at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, five days after he allegedly gunned down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a Manhattan hotel last December. In addition to allegedly finding a 9mm handgun, a homemade silencer, multiple cartridges, a fake New Jersey ID, a passport, approximately $7,800 in cash, and a written admission of guilt on his person, police reportedly found a notebook detailing plans for the shooting.

Mangione's defense attorney asked the court overseeing the case to rule the notebook inadmissible, claiming the search of Mangione's backpack where it was located violated his Fourth Amendment rights. The defense also asked the court to dismiss his indictment altogether.

Prosecutors responded with a damning court filing on Wednesday containing entries from Mangione's alleged notebook, which they claim reveals "in unambiguous terms [the] defendant's intent and motive in deliberately assassinating the CEO of the country's largest health company."

'Yet another indirect victim of the long-term lunacy of Ted Kaczynski.'

In an Aug. 15, 2024, entry, Mangione allegedly wrote, "I finally feel confident about what I will do. The details are coming together. And I don't feel any doubt about whether it's right/justified. I'm glad — in a way — that I've procrastinated bc it allowed me to learn more about UHC. KMD [the initials of another apparent target considered] would've been an unjustified catastrophe that would be perceived mostly as sick, but more importantly unhelpful."

Prosecutors indicated that Mangione traveled to New York the first week of December 2024 to attend UHC's investor conference, where Thompson was scheduled to speak. Thompson was, however, shot outside the Hilton Hotel in Manhattan hours prior to his presentation.

The entries shared in the court documents indicate that the author initially contemplated killing many more people, possibly by way of bombing; however, he decided against it, citing lessons learned from Theodore "Ted" Kaczynski, a domestic terrorist who targeted businessmen, scholars, and random civilians with homemade bombs from 1978 to 1995, injuring 23 victims and ultimately killing three people.

James R. Fitzgerald, a retired supervisory special agent with the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit best known for his role in the Unabomber investigation, told Blaze News, "It seems Brian Thompson, after his December '24 execution-style murder by an unhinged, misguided, and misinformed young zealot, is yet another indirect victim of the long-term lunacy of Ted Kaczynski, aka the Unabomber."

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Mugshot of domestic terrorist Ted Kaczynski. Photo by Bureau of Prisons/Getty Image

On Oct. 22, 2024, Mangione allegedly praised Kaczynski, the so-called Unabomber, but noted what he apparently got wrong.

"The problem with most revolutionary acts is that the message is lost on normies," says the entry. "For example, Ted K makes some good points on the future of humanity, but to make his point he indiscriminately mailbombs innocents. Normies categorize him as an insane serial killer, focus on the act/atrocities themselves, and dismiss his ideas."

'There's an implied sense of superiority in how he critiques Kaczynski’s failure to communicate his message.'

The Unabomber condemned all forms of technology and advocated for cultural primitivism in his 35,000-word manifesto titled "Industrial Society and Its Future," which he submitted to the Washington Post for publication. Whereas Mangione appears to enjoy standing in the spotlight, Kaczynski was a recluse who evidently preferred to remain planted in his remote Montana cabin.

"Most importantly — by committing indiscriminate atrocities — he becomes a monster, which makes his ideas those of a monster, no matter how true," continued the entry in the notebook attributed to Mangione. "He crosses the line from revolutionary anarchist to terrorist — the worst thing a person can be."

Dr. Kimberly Przeszlowski, assistant professor of criminal justice at Quinnipiac University, told Blaze News, "Mangione's reference to 'normies' misunderstanding Kaczynski as merely an insane serial killer reveals more than just admiration — it signals a detachment from mainstream society and a belief that he perceives the world more clearly than others."

"There's an implied sense of superiority in how he critiques Kaczynski’s failure to communicate his message, as if he believes he could do it better," continued Przeszlowski. "His alleged decision to avoid using bombings — unlike Kaczynski — seems deliberate, a way to present himself as a more focused and effective messenger."

Given the adoration of Mangione by elements of the American left, it appears he has been somewhat successful in this regard.

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Photo by Guy Smallman/Getty Images

Przeszlowski suggested that the alleged author of the journal entries does not necessarily regard himself "as someone trying to refine an ideology, but as someone capable of packaging and delivering it in a way that gains broader acceptance or resonates with a larger audience."

Clinical psychologist Franklin Carvajal suggested to Blaze News that Mangione is neither a psychopath nor a serial killer but rather an individual desirous for a "new cultural norm to emerge based on what he sees as his idea of justice."

"When he says 'normies' he means the average person who has been indoctrinated in what he believes is a different cultural framework or perspective," said Carvajal.

The psychologist noted that Mangione shares in common with Kaczynski and Timothy McVeigh the belief that "the end justifies the means."

Przeszlowski suggested that "while their tactics and time periods differ, [Mangione and Kaczynski's] underlying motivations share common threads — anti-modern views, deep distrust of institutions, and the belief that violence can serve as a wake-up call."

Mangione allegedly noted further in the notebook entry, "This is the problem with most militants that rebel against often-real injustices: They commit an atrocity whose horror either outweighs the impact of their message, or whose distance from their message prevents normies from connecting the dots. Consequently, the revolutionary idea becomes associated with extremism, incoherence or evil — an idea that no reasonable member of society could approve of."

The entry hints that the author contemplated bombing insurance companies' headquarters but ultimately determined that "bombs=terrorism" and would read as the "unjustified anger of someone who simply got sick/had bad luck and took their frustration out on the insurance industry."

Rather than engaging in bombing as Kaczynski had, the author of the entry suggested that one should instead "wack [sic] the CEO at the annual parasitic bean-counter convention," adding that the message the "greedy bastard ... had it coming" would be abundantly clear.

'These parasites simply had it coming.'

"As I had to constantly remind myself during my time on the UNABOM Task Force in the mid-1990s, while reading and rereading the 'Manifesto' day after day, one's actions greatly supersede one's words in any supposedly 'civilized' society," said Fitzgerald. "That is, in this context, unprovoked violence ultimately weakens one's argument. It certainly doesn't strengthen it. But to the unbalanced, that doesn't wholly register and/or guide them accordingly."

'The Kaczynskis and the Mangiones of the world are poor substitutes for great thinkers or philosophers," added Fitzgerald. "Their homicidal actions in the long run devalue their words — except to the also unhinged, misguided, and misinformed among us."

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Photo by Steven Hirsch - Pool/Getty Images

Prosecutors' Wednesday filing also included the note police reportedly found on Mangione at the time of his arrest, which states, "To the Feds, I’ll keep this short because I do respect what you do for our country. To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly I wasn’t working with anyone. This was fairly trivial, some elementary social engineering, basic [computer-aided design], and a lot of patience."

"I do apologize for any strife or trauma, but it had to be done. Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming," continued the note.

Mangione, who faces both New York state and federal charges in the murder of Thompson, has pleaded not guilty to murder as an act of terrorism as well as weapons charges.

Attorney General Pam Bondi has impressed upon federal prosecutors the need to seek the death penalty against Mangione, noting in an April 1 release, "Luigi Mangione’s murder of Brian Thompson — an innocent man and father of two young children — was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America."