Man charged with murdering UnitedHealth executive

The man suspected of killing UnitedHealth executive Brian Thompson in a shooting outside a Manhattan hotel was charged with murder by New York prosecutors on Monday.

The suspect was arraigned on gun and forgery charges, ending a massive five-day manhunt.

The suspect, identified as Luigi Mangione, 26, was captured in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after he was spotted eating at a McDonald's by a customer and an employee who believed he resembled the gunman, officials said at a news conference.

When approached by two police officers inside the McDonald's and asked if he had recently been in New York, Mangione began to shake and went quiet, one of the responding officers said at a press conference. He had been wearing a mask and sitting alone with a laptop and backpack.

A search of the backpack at the police station turned up a black "ghost gun" - a firearm assembled from parts, making it untraceable - loaded with a magazine and a silencer. Pennsylvania authorities said the weapon, as well as clothing and a mask, were similar to those used by the killer.

Mangione was led into the Blair County courthouse in Altoona for his arraignment on Monday night, where gun and forgery charges were read against him. The judge asked Mangione if he understood the charges against him, and he said he did. No plea was entered.

Prosecutors, citing false IDs and a large sum of cash that were found on Mangione, argued he was a flight risk and asked that bail be denied, which it was. Several electronic devices were also found with the suspect, and they were being examined by police.

Officers in Pennsylvania said at a press conference that they were working to determine if Mangione had any accomplices and if he intended to kill anyone else. They said he had been in Pennsylvania for several days and were investigating exactly where he was and what he did in the state.

Mangione, a Maryland native, had multiple fraudulent identifications, including a fake New Jersey ID that matched the one used by the gunman to check into a Manhattan hostel days before the shooting, officials said.

Police also found a handwritten document that speaks to "both his motivation and his mindset," New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said earlier on Monday.

While the document did not mention specific targets, Mangione harboured "ill will toward corporate America," said Joseph Kenny, the NYPD's chief of detectives.

Thompson, 50, was gunned down outside a Manhattan hotel early on December 4 by a masked man who appeared to wait for his arrival before shooting the executive from behind.