The lawyer for the suspect in the brazen murder of a health insurance executive said Wednesday that he'd received offers to cover his legal bills.
But the attorney said Mangione “probably wouldn’t” accept the offers. “Obviously, my client appreciates the support that he has. But I don’t know … it just doesn’t sit right with me,” he said.
“All these rich billionaires can give all kind [sic] of money to candidates, and that’s free speech,” Dickey continued. “So, maybe these people were exercising their right to free speech, and saying, that’s the way they’re supporting my client.”
“He’s presumed innocent,” he told reporters, adding he believes the judge should have set bail in the case. The suspect was denied bail after prosecutors said he was too dangerous to be released.
“In some dark corners, this killer is being hailed as a hero. Hear me on this: He is no hero,” the governor said, referring to reports and comments posted on social media that he added show a “lack of sympathy” for Thompson and his family.
Mangione, 26, contested his extradition back to New York at a court hearing on Tuesday, though it isn’t expected to delay legal proceedings significantly. Little new information has come out about a possible motive, though writings found in Mangione’s possession hinted at a hatred of corporate greed. He remains jailed in Pennsylvania.
On Tuesday evening, in his first public words since he was arrested at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania after a five-day search, the Ivy League graduate from a prominent Maryland real estate family emerged from a police patrol car shouting about an “insult to the intelligence of the American people” while deputies pushed him into a courthouse.
Dickey, responding to a question about the “insult” comment, said he has no comment on Mangione’s remark to journalists.
Manhattan prosecutors were beginning to take steps to bring Mangione to New York, but at a brief hearing on Tuesday, Dickey said his client will not waive extradition and instead wants a hearing on the issue.
Police arrested Mangione in Altoona, Pennsylvania, approximately 230 miles west of New York City, after a McDonald’s customer recognized him and told an employee, authorities said this week.
New York police officials have said Mangione was carrying a gun like the one used to kill Thompson and the same fake ID the suspected shooter had used to check into a New York hostel, along with a passport and other fraudulent IDs.
In the incident, Thompson was shot and killed as he walked to a Manhattan Hilton hotel for a company investor conference in what New York City Police officials said was a “brazen” and “targeted” attack. Video footage showed a masked individual wearing a hooded jacket approaching Thompson from behind before opening fire with a pistol that appeared to have a suppressor, or silencer, attached to the barrel.
