Accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione made at least one crucial mistake before his bust at an Altoona, Pa., McDonald’s on Monday — he lowered his face mask to munch on some hash browns, new photos show.
The snaps capture UnitedHealthcare chief Brian Thompson’s alleged murderer both with his blue paper mask on and then removing its left ear strap — leaving the mask dangling from his right ear but fully exposing his face.
Someone in the fast-food joint recognized the anti-capitalist Ivy League grad from surveillance photos distributed by authorities nationwide in their frenzied hunt for the Manhattan killer, and he was promptly taken into custody.
The 26-year-old man’s full face was captured on camera at a New York City hostel after he dropped his mask to flash a smile at a flirty front desk staffer, cops said.
Pennsylvania State Police posted the Mickey D’s snaps on X on Tuesday in a push to try to figure out exactly where Mangione was and what he was doing for the five days he was on the lam.
“Law enforcement continues to seek the public’s help in gathering information on Luigi Mangione’s travel and recent whereabouts in Pennsylvania,’’ the agency said.
Mangione — a privileged onetime prep-school valedictorian from Towson, Md., and tech-whiz University of Pennsylvania grad — allegedly killed Thompson because he was furious over the profit-driven healthcare industry in the US.
Thompson, a 50-year-old married dad of two, was executed on a Midtown street last week as he was about to enter a hotel for a conference.
Mangione had been battling his own health issues, including a bad back, and may have been fuming about the healthcare industry’s treatment of a relative, too, law enforcement sources have said.
He viewed Thomson’s killing as a “symbolic takedown” of the healthcare industry, according to law enforcement sources who have reviewed a three-page manifesto found on the suspected killer when he was caught.