A New York man has been charged with cyberstalking a family member of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, allegedly leaving threatening voicemails that expressed glee about the insurance executive’s killing, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
Shane Daley, 40, is accused of placing multiple calls to Thompson’s family member after the shooting, justifying the killing and saying that the person deserved to die in a similar manner, according to a criminal complaint.
Daley, of Galway, New York, a small town north of Albany, was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday afternoon. Information on whether Daley had an attorney was not immediately available in online federal court records.
In a statement, Acting United States Attorney John A. Sarcone said that “Brian Thompson was gunned down in midtown Manhattan. Daley, as alleged, gleefully welcomed this tragedy and did all that he could to increase the Thompson family’s pain and suffering.”
Thompson was fatally shot outside a hotel in New York City in December by a man who was angered over what he viewed as corporate greed, according to prosecutors. The suspect, Luigi Mangione, has pleaded not guilty.
The killing of Thompson, who led one of the biggest health insurers in the U.S., resulted in a vast outpouring of public frustration with the country’s health care system. Many Americans reacted to the shooting by relaying personal stories about difficult experiences with insurance companies.
Mangione himself has been lionized as a sort of vigilante hero by those who are critical of the insurance industry.