ThearrestofLuigi Mangione, the prime suspect in the fatal shooting ofUnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has ignited a firestorm of debate on social media.
No online movement is complete without its share of conspiracy theories, and Mangione’s is no exception, as his defenders have taken to various platforms to doubt police statements following his capture.
“There is no way they would be able to isolate fingerprints at a scene as widely touched/traveled as this one,” one user wrote on X. “This is 100% a set-up.”
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Luigi Mangione‘s arrest has elicited both scorn and support following the fatal shooting ofUnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
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Luigi Mangioneis awaiting the result of ahabeas corpus—a legal procedure that allows a person to challenge the legality of their incarceration in court—at SCI Huntingdon, Pennsylvania’s oldestcorrectional facility.
Hiscaptureallowed investigators to cross-reference his fingerprints with those near the crime scene, finding exact matches on a water bottle and an energy bar wrapper.“We were able to match the person of interest’s fingerprints with fingerprints that we found on both the water bottle and the KIND bar near the scene of the homicide in midtown,” CommissionerJessica Tischsaid at a public event last Wednesday (December 11).
Netizens are calling “set-up” at the police’s latest breakthrough into UHC CEO shooting after they found the suspect’s fingerprints on the crime scene
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“You mean the fingerprints were planted?” another asked, adding an extra layer of intrigue to the conspiracy. The conspiracy claims that the police are lying, as, according to them, the likelihood of fingerprints being preserved in such conditions is low.
Mangione’s supporters also claim that he had been wearing gloves at the time. “He didn’t touch anything, and he was wearing gloves,” one commenter wrote, echoing the concerns of many who felt the evidence seemed too convenient.
Regardless, the evidence did little to dissuade netizens, who felt sympathy for Mangione’sapparent crusadeagainst the health insurance industry. Some used the hashtag #fakenews to undermine the police report.
A forensic expert spoke withBored Pandato shed light on the delicate nature of fingerprints as evidence
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Bored Pandaspoke withHeidi Eldridge, Director of Crime Scene Investigations at George Washington University’s Department of Forensic Sciences, to better understand the complexities of fingerprint evidence.
First, she touched upon the likelihood of the marks being able to be preserved when left outdoors in a busy urban environment such as Manhattan.
“Generally speaking, on porous surfaces that absorb water, such as paper, fingerprints tend to preserve very well and have been successfully recovered up to decades after they were deposited,” Eldridge said.
The PhD in Forensic Science explained that cases such as Mangione’s—who had his fingerprints on a plastic bottle and a wrapper—can “easily last months or longer under the right conditions.”
This information challenges the online claims that fingerprints couldn’t survive long enough in an urban environment to be recovered.
Securing a crime scene’s perimeter is essential to allow detectives to effectively retrieve evidence without it being tampered with
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Second, Eldridge delved into a rigorous forensic procedure associated with recovering evidence, known as the “Chain of Custody.”
“This is a record of where the evidence has been from the moment it was created or discovered until the moment it appears in court,” she explained. “Every person who has possession of the evidence must enter their name, the date, the time they received the evidence, and why.”
This is a crucial step in criminal investigations, according to the director, as it allows them to “track who has had access to the evidence and what has been done to it to ensure it is not tampered with or altered.”
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Eldridge stressed the importance of police closing the areas around a crime scene as soon as possible, explaining how it can be the difference between Mangione’s supporters’ conspiracy theories being true or false.
“When evidence has been out in public for a period of time, it is very difficult to establish the beginning of that chain,” she said.
“One could very easily argue that anyone could have had access to the evidence or that it could have been planted or altered.”
Mangione’s fingerprints, alongside three bullet casings and DNA testing, are all being used to support his prosecution
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While the director did not comment on whether the public’s mistrust of Mangione’s investigation is warranted, she mentioned that investigators are tasked with asking themselves the exact same questions that netizens have been pondering.
“Can it be proven that the evidence is authentic and has not been planted, fraudulently created, or tampered with somehow?” she asked. “In these sorts of cases, the proof is really in the pudding.”
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While Mangione’s fingerprints have been characterized as a “major boon” to the investigation, they are hardly the onlyincriminating evidencefound at the crime scene.
Three 9mm shell casings with the words “delay,” “deny,” and “depose” written across them were found, which reference a 2010 bookcritiquing the insurance industryand match the gun used to kill Brian Thompson.
The water bottle will also be subjected to a DNA analysis, as well as a coffee cup investigators believe the suspect may have used before theshooting.
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“Literally, how were there prints? The gunman stood on the street and then left!” a user wrote.
“I don’t trust the lying cops’ word for anything,” another said.
“If the police were trying to convince anyone at this point, they failed,” a netizen stated.
“Man expertly reloads a jammed gun without even hesitating but leaves a wrapper lying around?” another asked.
Social media users claimed the evidence could have been planted, with hashtags like #fakenews gaining traction
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