Law & Order's Latest 'Ripped from the Headlines' Story? Luigi Mangione's Alleged Murder of Insurance CEO

The most recent episode of Law & Order appears to have been based on the December 2024 killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

The Thursday, March 20, episode focused on a character named Ethan who resembles Luigi Mangione, who is accused of fatally shooting Thompson on Dec. 4 outside a Midtown Manhattan hotel as the victim was walking to an investors conference.

In the episode, Ethan, played by actor Ty Molbak, guns down the CEO of a fictitious health insurance company on the sidewalk as he is about to enter a Manhattan building. Ethan is eventually tracked down by detectives as he is preparing to kill another insurance company CEO. Investigators find the gun used in the slaying and a notebook where he details his plan to kill other healthcare CEOs.

In the real-life Mangione case, police recovered shell casings with the words “delay,” “deny” and “depose” inscribed on them in an apparent nod to what critics have said are strategies used by insurance companies to reject claims.

Mangione was taken into custody five days later at a McDonalds in Pennsylvania.  Police allege the University of Pennsylvania graduate was allegedly carrying a “ghost gun,” fake IDs and a letter addressed to “the feds” claiming “parasites” in the health insurance industry “had it coming.”

Mangione has allegedly struggled with a debilitating back condition and allegedly spoke about his back issues with former neighbors from when he lived in Hawaii, according to R.J. Martin, founder of the co-living space in which the murder suspect had once lived, the Honolulu Civil Beat reported.

Much like in the case of Mangione, the character of Ethan gained sympathy from many members of the public. Mangione supporters have donated tens of thousands of dollars for his defense fund, ABC News reported.

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During the fictitious trial on Law & Order, Ethan told the jury he killed the CEO because the insurance company refused to pay for the drug that he believed would cure his mother’s terminal breast cancer. The episode ends without a jury verdict.

“I feel like this open-ended episode played incredibly well,” actor Jesse Metcalfe, who plays Sergeant Danny DeLuca told TV Insider. “It really works for this episode. We don’t really take a stand on what the verdict should be. We allow the audience to have their own opinion. I think a lot of times when a storyline isn’t resolved, it can cause the audience a little bit of frustration. I think in this episode, I think it’s still incredibly satisfying, which is important.”

A spokesperson for the show reiterates in a statement to PEOPLE, “Law & Order is fiction.”

Mangione, 26, has pleaded not guilty to murder, terrorism and other charges. He is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, New York.