CNBC didn't report that Luigi Mangione died in jail. Image is doctored | Fact check
The claim: Image shows CNBC report about Luigi Mangione dying in jail
A Feb. 9 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows what appears to be a headline published by CNBC along with an image of the man accused in the high-profile slaying of a healthcare company CEO.
“JUST IN! Luigi Mangione Found Dead in Jail Cell,” reads the purported headline, which is accompanied by bullet points referencing “no signs of foul play” and “questions about jail safety measures.”
The claim also circulated widely on Facebook and on X.
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Our rating: Manipulated media
The image is a fabrication. A CNBC spokesperson said the news outlet did not publish that report. Mangione remained in federal custody as of Feb. 11.
Mangione remains in custody at MDC Brooklyn
CNBC did not publish the report attributed to the news outlet, network spokesperson Erin Kitzie told Paste BN.
Mangione – the 26-year-old charged in the Dec. 4 shooting death of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson – remained incarcerated at Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn, as of Feb. 11, according to federal prison records. Had he been found dead two days earlier, as is claimed in the purported headline, that would not be the case, and other legitimate media outlets would have covered his death widely. There have been no such reports.
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The image contains multiple indications that it is not authentic.
First, stories published by CNBC include a timestamp next to the date indicating when they were published and the timing of any subsequent updates. But in the version shared to social media, there is no timestamp. The fabricated headline includes adjectives and common nouns that begin with capital letters, but the news outlet does not capitalize those words in its headlines. And the image attributes the story to reporter Jennifer Elias, who covers Google and Silicon Valley for the news outlet’s San Francisco bureau. None of the stories she has reported for CNBC mention Mangione.
Paste BN previously debunked false claims that images show authentic CNBC reports about Apple removing the “Far-Right” clown emoji and about the CEO of Lowe’s telling conservatives to “take their money to Home Depot.”
Paste BN reached out to several social media users who shared the image but did not immediately receive any responses.
Lead Stories also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources
- Erin Kitzie, Feb. 11, Email exchange with Paste BN
- Federal Bureau of Prisons (archive), accessed Feb. 11, Find an inmate
- CNBC, accessed Feb. 11, Jennifer Elias
- CNBC, Feb. 11, Ken Griffin says Trump’s ‘bombastic’ trade rhetoric is a mistake that’s eroding trust in the U.S.
- CNBC, Feb. 11, Consumer price report Wednesday expected to show inflation isn’t going away
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