ALTOONA, Pa. — Before being apprehended, Luigi Mangione entered the Horseshoe Curve Lodge in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday inquiring about a room, as recalled by the front desk attendant who observed his suspicious demeanor.
“He entered discretely, scanning the surroundings cautiously, ensuring he was not under scrutiny, and requested a room here,” narrated the hotel clerk, John Kuklis, in an interview with ABC News.
But that wasn’t the reason Kuklis had to turn the man away. They didn’t have a clean room available at that early hour, he said.
“I informed him that there were no available rooms at that moment, as our cleaning staff had not yet serviced the rooms, advising him to return at one o’clock. He inquired if he could wait on the premises. I declined, as I was initially unsure about granting permission for an extended stay. He acknowledged this and departed without uttering a word or removing his mask,” Kuklis detailed.
Mangione’s arrival on Monday, the morning he was later arrested, came days after last week’s fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in Manhattan. Mangione faces a second-degree murder charge in connection with that killing. His defense attorney, Thomas Dickey, said he anticipates that Mangione will plead not guilty.
The Horseshoe Curve Lodge is roughly a 17-minute walk from the McDonald’s where authorities would later confront Mangione, and take him into custody. Rooms at that hotel cost around $60 a night, according to a review of online price quotes.
At first, Kuklis thought the young man might be a veteran just returned to civilian life — there are “a lot of vets that stay here,” Kuklis said, and thought that might perhaps be why the young man was acting somewhat circumspect.
He added, “When [vets] come back, they have — anybody that walks up behind ’em, or you feel a little shadow, or you hear a specific noise, you just kind of look over your shoulders, watch yourself, and he just, he was like, wouldn’t turn his head, but his eyes were constantly looking like, is there somebody coming behind me, watching his surroundings?”
The booking photo for Luigi Mangione, Dec. 10, 2024, at Huntingdon State Correctional Institution in Huntingdon County, Pa.
Huntingdon State Correctional Institution
Had Mangione been able to get a room, Kuklis said, he would have been asked to show ID — but that didn’t happen. Mangione has been charged with falsely identifying himself to police, according to a complaint filed in Blair County, Pennsylvania.
Tuesday, officers called the hotel, asking if the suspect had stayed there, the clerk said.
“They called this morning and asked if he had stayed here, I says, no,” Kuklis said, but mentioned to police the young man’s earlier attempt to book a stay. “The officer goes, ‘did he have a mask on? Did he ever take a mask off?'” Kuklis said, realizing in real time to the officer, “No, he never did take the mask off.'”
“Next thing I know there’s three Logan Township police cars pulling in the parking lot. I’m like, holy crap” Kuklis said. “We pulled up our surveillance stuff, they go, ‘Yeah, that’s him.'”
Looking back, Kuklis said he “didn’t even realize” that furtive young man might have been carrying the very weapon allegedly used to gun down the CEO. “I mean, theoretically, I guess he could have just pulled it out and shot me.”
