WASHINGTON – The man who admitted to shooting dead a U.S. health insurance executive used a charged courtroom appearance to blame a back injury for his crimes that he said sought to make “health care work better for everyone.”

Luigi Mangione, 28, was thrust into the spotlight in 2024 after gunning down UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a father of two, in broad daylight in Manhattan.

The case laid bare deep frustration and anger with America’s privatized medical system that Mangione said failed him after a back injury.