Obamacare provision among Ivy League murder suspect’s possible triggers: Ret. FBI agent

The alleged murderer of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO Brian Thompson, distinguished by his past as a valedictorian at a private school and his education at an Ivy League college, might have been provoked by his age and a specific Obamacare policy, a former detective suggests.

At 50 years old, Thompson was fatally shot in the back while walking outside a Hilton hotel in New York City on Dec. 4, as he was heading to a meeting with shareholders. Luigi Nicholas Mangione, 26, was apprehended by authorities in a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after being on the run for five days as the prime suspect in Thompson’s murder.

“At the age of 26, you’re removed from your parents’ insurance plan,” stated Scott Duffey, a retired FBI agent, to Fox News Digital. “The questions I would be asking are whether he had sufficient insurance coverage or not.”

Obamacare, also known as the Affordable Care Act, requires health plans that offer dependent child coverage to make the coverage available until the adult child reaches the age of 26, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. 

Surveillance footage released by the NYPD shows the alleged suspect wanted for the shooting death of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan

Surveillance footage released by the NYPD shows the alleged suspect wanted for the shooting death of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson in Midtown Manhattan on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. (NYPD )

Mangione will fight extradition to New York, but Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s office has vowed to get the murder suspect to New York City to face justice as fast as possible. 

“Profilers talk about …what makes people tick and do the things they do,” Duffey said. 

“It ultimately comes down to idealizing, turning it into a fantasy. And that fantasy just controls your everyday thoughts, and then ultimately … you commit the act that you fantasized about.”

Fox News’ Michael Ruiz contributed to this report. 

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