Galway Man Pleads Guilty to Harassing Slain Health Care CEO’s Family
A Galway man has plead guilty in federal court to harassing the wife of slain United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
Shane Daley, 40, pleaded guilty on March 19 in Albany on charges of cyberstalking for an incident that occurred in December 2024, hours after Thompson’s murder.
“Shane Daley celebrated the cold-blooded murder of Brian Thompson and senselessly tried to maximize the Thompson family’s suffering,” First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III said. “Today’s guilty plea demonstrates that federal law enforcement will not tolerate such sickening conduct. I commend the hard work of the FBI and members of my office and the Southern District of New York for bringing Daley to justice.”
Daley was first arrested in August 2025 for allegedly calling Thompson’s widow nine times between Dec. 4 and Dec. 7, 2024. On four of those occasions, Daley left four voicemails, each less than a minute long.
In these voicemails, Daley told her that Thompson “deserved to [expletive] die” and that she and her children deserved to die. He also expressed happiness that Thompson had been killed and leveled several profane insults at her and her family.
While Daley originally denied making the phone calls when interviewed by the FBI, he later conceded that he had been drinking at the time the calls were made, and it was possible he made the calls, according to the Federal criminal complaint.
When pretrial services searched Daley’s residence, they found a loaded shotgun, whip-its, marijuana and beer cans throughout his car and room. They also discovered emails in which he threatened violence against those conducting immigration enforcement.
Daley was ordered by the court to undergo in-patient drug and alcohol treatment, which he successfully completed, according to a letter to the court filed by his attorney.
Daley will be sentenced on July 17. He faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, three years’ probation, and a $250,000 fine.