We officially know whether or not Luigi Mangione’s fingerprints were found at the scene of Brian Thompson’s murder

Luigi Mangione’s case is beginning to look more open and shut as evidence continues to pour in from the police’s ongoing investigation, including fingerprints linking Mangione directly to the crime scene where UnitedHealthcare CEO Bria Thompson was gunned down.

Recent updates from the case have led observers to believe that Mangione may not have been as organized as he initially appeared. According to CNN, New York prosecutors have charged Mangione with second-degree murder, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and second-degree possession of a forged document. Mangione is currently being held at the Blair County Courthouse in Pennsylvania, awaiting a verdict on his extradition hearing.

However, Mangione’s lawyer, Thomas Dickey, remained bullish just yesterday, asserting they plan to plead not guilty in the upcoming hearing. Dickey felt that there was no real evidence linking his client to the actual murder. That plan, however, has been complicated by new police findings. Two law enforcement officers informed CNN that fingerprints matching Mangione’s had been discovered at the scene of the assassination outside a hotel in Midtown Manhattan. As of now, Dickey has yet to comment on this latest development.

While Dickey works on what could be the biggest legal miracle since O.J. Simpson’s acquittal, the public has turned its attention to Mangione’s potential motives. Mangione’s manifesto, which recently surfaced online, critiques the United States for having the world’s most expensive healthcare system while ranking only 42nd in life expectancy. Although less robust than the writings of other rogue figures, Mangione’s concise message has seemingly resonated with many people. To them, his actions — though tragically shocking — serve as a wake-up call for America’s corporate executives.

While executives — especially those in sensitive sectors like healthcare — are feeling the heat, online audiences have responded with some of the darkest and funniest memes to date. Meanwhile, Mangione’s friends are still grappling with disbelief. The discovery of fingerprints, the manifesto, and the weapon strongly suggest Mangione could face a long prison sentence. CNN reports that friends had been tagging Mangione’s X account as far back as October expressing concern for him. Some even shared that his family had been searching for him.

R.J. Martin, an acquaintance of Mangione’s from Hawaii, expressed difficulty making sense of the situation. According to Martin, the Mangione he remembers was friendly and thoughtful. Mangione grew up in a wealthy household, attended the prestigious Gilman School in Baltimore, where he graduated as valedictorian, and later earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in Computer Science and Mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania. A former colleague described this sudden turn in Mangione’s life as “self-destruction” and said he never saw it coming.

If Mangione and Dickey proceed with a not-guilty plea, they will likely have plenty of character witnesses to testify on his behalf. However, the question remains whether these testimonies can outweigh the physical evidence mounting against the 26-year-old — especially the manifesto and the fingerprints.

Mangione’s family, on the other hand, has released a brief statement concerning this entire controversy, saying, “We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and ask everyone to pray for all those involved.”