The arrest of Luigi Mangione, the prime suspect in the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, has ignited a firestorm of debate on social media.

The murder, seemingly motivated by the 26-year-old’s ideological grudge against the healthcare industry, has elicited as much scorn as it has support, with a sizable portion of netizens painting the incident as an act of “just retribution.”

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.

The latest example of this is the revelation by authorities of a crucial step forward in determining the 26-year-old’s possible guilt: the presence of his fingerprints on items near the crime scene in Midtown Manhattan, a claim that netizens immediately questioned.

“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.”

Luigi Mangione‘s arrest has elicited both scorn and support following the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson

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Luigi Mangione is awaiting the result of a habeas corpus—a legal procedure that allows a person to challenge the legality of their incarceration in court—at SCI Huntingdon, Pennsylvania’s oldest correctional facility.

His capture allowed 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,” Commissioner Jessica Tisch said 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

Image credits: NYPDnews

Social media immediately erupted with skepticism, with hundreds of comments doubting Tisch’s claims. “This has solidified my belief that this is a set-up,” a user wrote.

“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.

Image credits: NYPDnews

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.

A thorough review of the CCTV footage that captured Mangione on the day of the shooting quickly disproves this notion, however, as his hands appear naked from various angles.

Regardless, the evidence did little to dissuade netizens, who felt sympathy for Mangione’s apparent crusade against the health insurance industry. Some used the hashtag #fakenews to undermine the police report.

A forensic expert spoke with Bored Panda to shed light on the delicate nature of fingerprints as evidence

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Bored Panda spoke with Heidi 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.

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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.

Nevertheless, Eldridge explained that fingerprints—made out of water and oil—are susceptible to environmental factors such as rain or heat. The oil component, however, is more resistant but can still be manually damaged by being rubbed off.

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

Image credits: Jeff Swensen/Getty Images

For Eldridge, recovering fingerprints is a complex and delicate task, which demands swiftly securing the perimeter of a crime scene to reduce the likelihood of items being tampered with. “If other people touched the items before they were discovered by the police and collected, it could really go either way,” she noted.

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 only incriminating evidence found at the crime scene. 

Three 9mm shell casings with the words “delay,” “deny,” and “depose” written across them were found, which reference a 2010 book critiquing the insurance industry and 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 the shooting.

Skepticism surrounding Mangione’s involvement remains widespread on social media, as his supporters continue to argue against the evidence presented by the police

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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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