NEW YORK, Dec 11 (Reuters) - In the days since Luigi

Mangione was charged with murder for gunning down a top health

insurance executive, more than a thousand donations have poured

into an online fundraiser for his legal defense, with messages

supporting him and even celebrating the crime.

In New York, "Wanted" posters with the faces of CEOs have

appeared on walls. Websites are selling Mangione merchandise,

including hats with "CEO Hunter" printed across a bullseye. And

some social media users have swooned over his smile and six-pack

abs.

Mangione has been charged with murder for the killing of

UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, a father of two, in a

brazen shooting on Dec. 4 outside a Manhattan hotel before an

industry conference, setting off a five-day manhunt for the

masked assailant.

The crime he is accused of has been broadly condemned, but

the Ivy League educated, photogenic 26-year-old has become an

unsettling mixture of folk hero, celebrity, and online crush in

certain circles. His support has only seemingly intensified

since his arrest on Monday.

Most of the messages on the crowd-sourced fundraising site

GiveSendGo reflect a deep frustration shared by many Americans

over the U.S. healthcare system - where some treatments and

reimbursements can be denied to patients depending on their

insurance coverage - as well as broader anger over rising income

inequality and soaring executive pay.

"Denying healthcare coverage to people is murder, but no one

gets charged with that crime," one donor wrote, calling the

killing a "justifiable homicide."

Several others simply wrote, "Deny, Defend, Depose" - the

words reportedly written on the shell casings found at the

murder scene and intended to invoke tactics some accuse insurers

of using to avoid paying out claims.

More than $31,000 had been raised as of Wednesday on

GiveSendGo alone.

Felipe Rodriguez, a former NYPD detective sergeant,

expressed dismay at the reaction.

"They've made him a martyr for all the troubles people have

had with their own insurance companies," said Rodriguez, now an

adjunct professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in

New York. "I mean, who hasn't had run-ins with their insurance?

But he's a stone-cold killer."

Mangione is being held in Pennsylvania on gun and forgery

charges while prosecutors in New York seek his extradition. His

lawyer said he plans to plead not guilty to the Pennsylvania

charges.

FRUSTRATION AND ANGER

On Wednesday, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica

Tisch said police have matched a gun found on Mangione with the

shell casings recovered at the scene and his fingerprints with a

water bottle and energy bar wrapper found nearby.

Other evidence includes handwritten documents found in his

possession casting his alleged crime as a legitimate response to

what he viewed as corporate greed, some media outlets have

reported.

Mangione lashed out himself on Tuesday as he was led into a

courthouse, shouting in part, "...completely out of touch and an

insult to the intelligence of the American people!"

Americans pay more for health care than residents of any

other country, and data shows spending on insurance premiums,

out-of-pocket costs, pharmaceuticals and hospital services has

all increased over the last five years.

Health insurers like UnitedHealth ( UNH ) most often manage health

benefits on behalf of employers and the government, which have a

say in what services and drugs are covered.

Mangione suffered from chronic back pain that impacted his

daily life, according to friends and social media posts, though

it is unclear whether his personal health played a role in the

shooting.

"It's hard to underestimate the anger and angst people have

with their insurance companies," said David Shapiro, a former

FBI agent and a professor at the John Jay College of Criminal

Justice in New York.

Shapiro said he had never seen anything like the reaction to

Mangione, but added: "It's not so farfetched given the mood of

the country and the ease of cheering this anonymously on the

Internet."

On TikTok, users shared videos and photos of Mangione's

outburst with messages of praise, such as "this man is an

absolute legend" and "class consciousness is rising."

Several sites were selling T-shirts bearing his face with

messages such as "FREE LUIGI" and "In This House, Luigi Mangione

Is A Hero, End of Story." Others sold hats with the phrase

"Don't Deny My Coverage."

'DEEPLY DISTURBING'

Support was by no means universal, however.

Several commentators on social media noted Mangione's

privileged background as a member of a prominent Baltimore,

Maryland family, as compared to Thompson's working class

upbringing in rural Iowa, and said the murder was an example of

how anti-capitalist rhetoric can incite violence. Others

described how their health insurance plans paid for life-saving

treatment.

On Wednesday, UnitedHealth Group Inc ( UNH ) CEO Andrew Witty sent

employees a letter praising Thompson. "Brian was one of the good

guys," he wrote. "I'm going to miss him. And I am incredibly

proud to call him my friend."

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro condemned those

valorizing Mangione on Monday, calling the response "deeply

disturbing."

"In America, we do not kill people in cold blood to resolve

policy differences or express a viewpoint," he said.

At a panel at the Reuters NEXT conference in New York on

Wednesday, executives from Pfizer and Amazon said health care

companies are taking a step back to better understand patients'

experiences.

"Our health system needs to be better ... There's a lot of

things that should cause a lot of outrage," Amazon Pharmacy

Chief Medical Officer Vin Gupta said. "It's also true that (the

killing) should not have happened. There cannot be this false

moral equivalence in our discourse."