Luigi Mangione seems to be the new Ted Bundy, with some differences. The main suspect in the case of the shooting against UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, far from becoming a pariah, is quite a celebrity in jail.
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A spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections confirmed to The Independent that Mangione received over 100 letters in just over a week after his arrest.
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What has Luigi Mangione received in prison?
By Thursday morning, the 26-year-old had received 54 emails, 87 letters, and 163 deposits into his commissary account, used by inmates to purchase products within the prison. However, the total balance of the account was not disclosed to the media.
Mangione was in pretrial detention at a state penitentiary in Huntingdon before being extradited on Thursday to New York, where he faces murder charges for the fatal shooting of Brian Thompson, CEO of an insurance company, which occurred on December 4th in Manhattan.
Since the murder became public knowledge and, subsequently, Mangione's identity was revealed upon his capture, the man has attracted a wave of followers and radicalized individuals who support his cause against insurance companies in the United States. Even online retailers started selling products with Mangione's mugshot and the slogan "Free Luigi" on them.
Along with this, his lawyer in Pennsylvania told journalists that he had rejected offers from strangers to finance Mangione's legal bills. Nevertheless, his supporters managed to raise over $100,000 for a defense fund.
The suspect appeared before the court on Thursday, where he waived his right to extradition and is now being transferred to New York to face charges of first-degree murder in support of terrorism, as well as two charges of second-degree murder. On the morning of this Friday the 20th, it was reported that he is being held in the same facility as the famous rapper Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, who is accused of sex trafficking charges, among others.