There are two documentaries in the works exploring the story of the CEO murder suspect Luigi Mangione.
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot dead outside a Manhattan hotel on December 4, with the killer remaining at large for several days afterwards. The suspect, initially described as a white man wearing a mask, fled the scene.
On December 9, police arrested Mangione at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania after an employee recognised him from New York Police Department images. A three-page manifesto was found in his possession, in which he criticised the American healthcare system.
Mangione, 26, has since been charged with second degree murder, three counts of illegal weapons possession and forgery. He is currently being held in prison in Huntingdon County, Pennsylvania and has been denied bail.
In the days that he was on the loose and since his arrest, Mangione became the subject of widespread attention online, with a cult-like following developing as people tried to understand the nature of his alleged crime. It also led to a wider conversation about the current state of the health insurance system.
It has now emerged that two separate documentaries are in production about the saga, with Emmy nominee Stephen Robert Morse, known for his work on Netflix’s documentary Amanda Knox, working on one that will focus on those directly involved in the murder, including Thompson’s family and Mangione himself. That production will also explore the controversial nature of private healthcare.
“This case is complex and raises important questions about vigilantism, the devastating cost of a privatised healthcare system and the inevitability of violence when peaceful change is seen as possible,” Morse has said.
“My goal is to present a balanced exploration of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson’s assassination, showing all sides of the story while respecting the profound loss of life and its impact on everyone involved. Every story is multidimensional, and I believe in treating all participants with kindness and fairness. This approach has always been central to my projects.”
The other will come from the production companies Anonymous Content and Jigsaw Prods and the acclaimed director Alex Gibney, who has made documentaries about Scientology, WikiLeaks and Enron.
That project will examine the wider context of the killing and how culture reacted to the events surrounding it.
Earlier this week, footage emerged of a Disney-themed DJ concert where images of Mangione were displayed. “You gotta give the people what they want,” said the DJ to a mixed reaction from the audience.
On Saturday (December 14), comedian Chris Rock made a joke about Thompson’s death in his monologue. During his fourth stint as Saturday Night Live (SNL) host, he touched on the internets reaction to Mangione.
“Everybody’s fixated on how good-looking this guy looks,” he said. “If he looked like Jonah Hill, no one would care. They’d already given him the chair already.”
He continued: “But he actually killed a man, a man! A man with a family, a man with kids… I have real condolences for the Healthcare CEO…but you also gotta know, sometimes drug dealers get shot.”
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