True Crime

An ex-neighbor of the California man accused of plotting a local mass shooting in a coordinated attack with the Wisconsin school shooter is speaking out ... telling TMZ about the chilling, ominous energy he always carried.

The woman, choosing to remain anonymous, talked to us on "TMZ Live" Thursday, revealing that during the 5 to 6 years she lived near 20-year-old Alexander Paffendorf, he exhibited seriously creepy behavior -- never talking, avoiding eye contact, always wearing his hood up, and other unsettling anti-social habits.

Catch the video, because she dives into the specific moments when Paffendorf made her feel super uncomfortable around their apartment complex -- and it’s spine-chilling.

Luigi Mangione planned the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson months in advance ... and, he'd clearly been thinking about it longer -- so say federal prosecutors.

In the federal criminal complaint -- filed Thursday -- prosecutors included several diary entries they claim Mangione made over the past few months ... all of which seem to point to Mangione as Thompson's killer.

An entry dated August 15 describes how he's "glad -- in a way -- that I've procrastinated" because it allowed him to learn more about a "Company-1" ... which is how the feds refer to UnitedHealthcare throughout the docs.

Luigi Mangione has arrived in New York to face state and federal charges after being extradited from Pennsylvania.

The suspected killer in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was spotted arriving in New York City Thursday, just hours after appearing in a Pennsylvania court where he formally waived extradition.

Luigi, sporting his fresh shave and new haircut, looked somber as he was led into a secure police vehicle. NYC Mayor Eric Adams was among the dozens of law enforcement personnel who escorted Mangione from a helicopter to the awaiting vehicle.

Luigi Mangione is on the move ... the suspected killer in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson is being extradited from Pennsylvania to New York.

Luigi appeared in court Thursday in Pennsylvania and waived extradition ... and now he's being transported back to the scene of his alleged crime.

Mangione is accused of fatally shooting Thompson earlier this month outside a hotel in Manhattan ... and five days after the shooting he was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, PA.

Luigi Mangione was back in court Thursday morning for another extradition hearing ... and his admirers lost their minds 'cause he's cleaned up with a shave and a haircut.

Here's the deal ... Mangione formally waived extradition after he arrived at a Pennsylvania courthouse under heavy security -- he's been officially charged in NYC with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

Video captured Mangione being led into the courthouse -- and he appeared to be more subdued than last time, when he lashed out at cameras shortly after he was apprehended.

7:07 AM PT -- Luigi Mangione formally waived extradition moments ago. He is expected to be taken from Pennsylvania to New York immediately.

Luigi Mangione arrived at a Pennsylvania court under heavy security Thursday morning for his extradition hearing -- and video briefly captured the Ivy League grad surrounded by police.

Check it out ... An Altoona, PA, police car initially drives past a scrum of photogs outside the courthouse and parks inside an open garage.

Police officers then help Mangione -- wearing an orange jumpsuit with hands cuffed behind him -- out of the backseat, escorting him inside the building. From the camera's vantage point, you can only catch a glimpse of the serious look on Luigi's face.

Luigi Mangione mentioned the big bucks he had in the bank on a trip to Thailand ... and also, repeatedly brought up a couple of revealing books -- TMZ has learned.

A source -- who doesn't want to be identified by name, but who spent significant time with Luigi back in April -- tells TMZ ... the two went to the popular tourism destination together, hitting up bars and visiting a weed shop, and cracking inside jokes over a period of two days.

According to his friend, Luigi was "making lawyer money" coding for TrueCar ... a telling statement because Mangione reportedly stopped working for them months before going to Thailand.

3:27 PM PT -- Nima Momeni's attorney Bradford Cohen tells TMZ … Momeni will be appealing, and "We believe there is enough error during the trial to afford him a good chance at a retrial."

Cohen asserts the state's attorney had to "overcharge the defendant" due to rampant crime in San Francisco, saying ... "It's disappointing that after seeing a video in which it proved that the state's witness, Bo Mohazzabi, was a liar, and additionally showed what appears to be Bob Lee holding a knife and snorting a substance off of it, that they came back with 2nd-degree murder."

San Francisco jurors found the man accused of killing the founder of Cash App guilty of murder Tuesday ... following a 6-week trial featuring conflicting testimony about drugs and revenge.

Nima Momeni was found guilty of second-degree murder after the jury deliberated for 7 days. The jury reached the verdict Monday night, but it was not read in court until this morning.

The founder of Cash App, 43-year-old Bob Lee, was stabbed to death in April 2023 under the Bay Bridge in San Francisco. He was stabbed 3 times, including through his heart, with a paring knife ... and he managed to call 911 before he died later in a hospital.

Prosecutors are tagging alleged Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann with another murder, saying his 7th victim is Valerie Mack.

Heuermann was arraigned Tuesday in the Suffolk County Courthouse in New York for the slaying of Mack, a former sex worker whose body was found in November 2000.

Prosecutors had named him a suspect in her death back in June ... based on evidence cops collected at Heuermann's Long Island home.

The skateboarder going viral for looking like Luigi Mangione has zero interest in turning his appearance into a cash cow ... telling TMZ Sports he's perfectly content with sticking to his day job.

Guy Azulay shared a short video of himself doing tricks in a parking lot on Thursday -- just a few days later, it made rounds on social media ... with some people misidentifying him as the man arrested for allegedly killing​ UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

We caught up with Azulay amid his newfound internet fame ... and he admitted all the reactions have been surprising -- but overall, he's being a good sport about it.

Michael Moore says people's anger over America’s healthcare system and for-profit insurance is "1000% justified" following the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

In a Substack essay penned after he was name-dropped in the accused killer Luigi Mangione’s manifesto, Michael said while he doesn’t condone murder, the healthcare system has more "blood on their hands than a thousand 9/11 terrorists."

Michael didn’t stop there -- he made it clear the anger about the broken healthcare system was so justified that he was going to "pour gasoline on that anger."

The lawyer representing Erik and Lyle Menendez's victims who are also family members says the handwriting is already on the wall with the new L.A. County District Attorney ... and the writing he saw reeks of bias against the bros.

Bryan Freedman wrote a scathing email, obtained by TMZ, to new D.A. Nathan Hochman, calling him out for meeting with only one Menendez family member ... the one who has gone on the record calling the 2 men cold-blooded killers and advocating that they rot in jail.

Freedman wrote, "Nathan, as I mentioned to you the day after the election ... I represent over 20 family members of Jose and Kitty Menendez ... There is concern however that your process of gathering information from the victims has been unfair."

Luigi Mangione’s mother spoke to feds just hours before he was arrested in Pennsylvania ... telling the FBI the suspect bore somewhat of a resemblance to her son.

The New York Post reported ... members of the Joint Violent Crimes Task Force questioned Kathleen Mangione late Sunday after the family reported Luigi missing last month, prior to the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.

It was police in San Francisco -- where Luigi was reported missing -- who tipped off the feds that the suspected shooter and the missing 26-year-old could be one and the same.

Luigi Mangione, the suspected killer in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was never a client of his alleged victim's company ... this according to the NYPD.

NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny spoke with NBC New York Thursday, where he informed the outlet there's "no indication" LM was ever insured by the medical corporation ... speculating Mangione may've "targeted" UHC for its status as the largest healthcare org in the country.

As Kenny continued, he noted that Mangione "had prior knowledge that the conference was taking place on that date, at that location" -- referring to the New York Hilton Midtown Hotel, where Thompson was fatally shot last week.

O.J. Simpson’s debts are about to get knocked down a notch, that is if someone steps up to buy some of his most prized, and X-rated, possessions.

Malcolm LaVergne, Simpson's longtime attorney and executor of his estate, tells TMZ his stash of prison pornography from his days in Nevada state prison is up for grabs.

Yep, O.J. and his fellow inmates were allowed to read mags like Penthouse, and turns out he had quite the collection.

Lil Durk's criminal case just got heavier ... the feds say he's too dangerous to be released on bail, pointing to possible links between the Chicago rap star and another alleged murder-for-hire plot.

Durk's legal team has been pushing for bail -- but on Thursday, prosecutors unsealed a warrant from April 2023 that alleges Durk "offer[ed] money for people to kill those responsible for his brother's murder" ... and say this has become his M.O., and may have also led to the January 2022 shooting death of 24-year-old Stephon Mack.

According to the search warrant, Mack was the leader of the Smashville faction of the Gangster Disciples, which the feds say is a rival gang of Durk's OTF's Black Disciples.