NRL star Angus Crichton airs a wild conspiracy theory about man charged with assassinating healthcare CEO on a New York street
Sydney Roosters star Angus Crichton has floated a wild conspiracy theory about the suspect arrested for the cold-blooded execution of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a New York Street.
Thompson, 50, was fatally shot on Wednesday, December 4 in the middle of New York City in what police determined was a targeted attack on the healthcare boss.
A manhunt was launched and on Monday, Luigi Mangione — a 26-year-old Ivy League-educated ‘anti-capitalist’ — was apprehended at a McDonald’s location in Pennsylvania after an employee recognised him and reported him to authorities.
As he remains jailed on murder charges, Mangione has garnered a passionate cult following online, with many praising him for ‘sacrificing himself for society’.
On Wednesday, NRL star Crichton shared a social media post detailing a theory put together by internet detectives that some are calling the ‘286 Conspiracy Theory’.
Crichton posted several screenshots about the theory, alongside the caption: ‘Crazy watching this Luigi case play out in real time, some people doing some digging and finding some crazy stuff. This a stretch or legit?’
Luigi Mangione, 26, was taken into custody on firearm charges Monday afternoon
Angus Crichton has floated a wild conspiracy theory about the shooting
Online sleuths have noticed that the number 286 seems to be a key element in the investigation, as they try to piece together a possible motive.
Mangione’s X account features a photo of himself, an X-ray of a spine, and a Pokémon called Breloom. Digging deeper, eagle-eyed sleuths have pointed out that Breloom has the pokedex number #286.
Mangione also has exactly 286 posts on his X account and was apprehended at a McDonald’s in Altoona, which is oddly 286 miles away from the murder scene outside the Hilton hotel in Manhattan.
If that wasn’t eerie enough, Proverbs 28:6 in the Bible states: ‘Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.’
Finally, the number 286 is a denial code used in healthcare in the USA when the appeal time limits for a claim haven’t been met.
Mangione appears to have led police on a manhunt from New York City’s 6th Avenue to the small Pennsylvania city of Altoona.
He left a trail of overt clues about his motive, including ammunition etched with the words ‘delay’ ‘deny’ and ‘depose’ and a bag of Monopoly board game money in his backpack left in Central Park.
UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, was fatally shot on Wednesday, December 4 in the middle of New York City
Mangione (pictured) has been accused of shooting Brian Thompson at point-blank range
Officials believe the bullet etchings refer to the ‘three Ds of insurance’ – tactics used by American insurance giants to reject patients’ claims.
This motive appeared to be even more clearly outlined in a handwritten manifesto cops seized from Mangione during his arrest on Monday, which the NYPD’s chief of detectives Joseph Kenny said expressed ‘ill will toward corporate America.’
‘To the Feds, I’ll keep this short, because I do respect what you do for our country,’ Mangione wrote in the three-page document. ‘To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone.’
‘I do apologize for any strife or traumas but it had to be done,’ Mangione added in the document. ‘Frankly, these parasites simply had it coming.’
Mangione also allegedly had a ghost gun believed to be the rare World War Two era-inspired 9mm pistol used in Thompson’s murder, which the New York Post reported was a Swiss-made Brugger & Thomet VP9, and a silencer.
He was denied bond and not represented by an attorney during his arraignment in the Blair County Courthouse in Pennsylvania on Monday night. Mangione will next appear in court in New York at a later date.
