NY Man Admits to Threatening UnitedHealthcare CEO’s Family After Murder

A 40-year-old New York man has entered a guilty plea to federal cyberstalking charges for making threatening phone calls to a relative of murdered UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Shane Daley admitted to leaving multiple harassing voicemails celebrating Thompson's death and threatening his family members.

A man from upstate New York has entered a guilty plea to federal cyberstalking charges after admitting he made threatening phone calls to a relative of murdered UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Shane Daley, 40, acknowledged in federal court Thursday that he left multiple harassing and menacing voicemail messages for a Thompson family member following the executive’s December 2024 shooting death.

Federal prosecutors charged Daley in August, alleging he made numerous phone calls to a Thompson relative right after the insurance CEO was gunned down, during which he celebrated the killing.

The healthcare executive was shot and killed outside a Manhattan hotel by an individual who was reportedly motivated by anger over perceived corporate greed, prosecutors said. Luigi Mangione, the alleged shooter, has entered a not guilty plea and is facing both state and federal trials.

During his guilty plea, Daley confessed to making repeated calls to a business phone number used by a Thompson family member in the immediate aftermath of the murder. In the voicemails, he used threatening and harassing language, celebrated Thompson’s death, and stated that the family member and Thompson’s children should suffer the same violent fate, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Northern District of New York.

“Shane Daley celebrated the cold-blooded murder of Brian Thompson and senselessly tried to maximize the Thompson family’s suffering,” first assistant U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone said in a prepared release.

Daley lives in Galway, located approximately 40 miles north of Albany, and is scheduled for sentencing on July 17. He could receive up to five years behind bars and face fines reaching $250,000.

Thompson served as the leader of one of America’s largest health insurance companies, and his murder sparked widespread public anger about the nation’s healthcare system. Some individuals have praised Mangione as a vigilante figure.