EXCLUSIVE: Brian Thompson 'Murderer' Luigi Mangione, 26, 'Was Leading Drug-Crazed, Incel-Style Life Without Sex' After Back Surgery Before He Allegedly Blasted Healthcare Boss to Death
Luigi Mangione is said to have been so riddled with back pain he couldn't form relationships.
Dec. 10 2024, Published 7:30 a.m. ET
Luigi Mangione's warped path from rich Ivy League tech graduate to the alleged assassin of insurance firm boss Brian Thompson is being laid bare by friends and family, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The 26-year-old was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, on Monday December 9 after he became the world's most wanted fugitive following the slaying of the 50-year-old UnitedHealthcare CEO in New York, five days before he was snared by cops.
It's now said he spiralled into near-insanity following painful back surgery so agonizing he explored psychedelic drugs to numb his chronic pain – and plunged him into a sad, celibate existence.
Friends of the ultra-privileged student and heir to his parents' thriving property empire say he dropped totally off the radar when his life after a surfing accident.
CEO Brian Thompson was killed outside the New York Hilton Midtown in Manhattan, New York City, on December 4.
It's now been reported he singled out UnitedHealthcare in a sprawling 262-page 'manifesto' he was carrying when he was arrested.
Blasting America's insurance industry in the document, he fumed in handwritten scrawl: "These parasites had it coming. I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done."
In the backpack he was found when he was nabbed, police also found a so-called home-made 'ghost gun' pistol and printed silencer, both 3-D printed.
And Mangione was carrying a passport and $10,000 in cash, with $2,000 of it in foreign currency.
Mangione had been in regular contact with friends and family until about six months ago when he suddenly went "dark" and stopped communicating with them.
He had been suffering from a painful back injury, with pals wondering why they hadn't heard from him.
One of his former roommates has now said about Mangione going under the radar: "I remember he said he had a back issue, and he was hoping to get stronger in Hawaii.
"It was really traumatic and difficult." He added Mangione had sent him X-ray images of his spine, saying: "It looked heinous, with just giant screws going into his spine." Mangione is also said to have used psychedelics and magic mushrooms as he tried to recover from his surgery.
His family grew so worried about him that he was reported missing on November 18.
They broke their silence in a statement on Monday night, saying they were "shocked and devastated" – adding: "We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved."
Mangione has been charged with murder by New York City officials late Monday after his capture in Pennsylvania. where he is jailed.
Mangione used to post party pictures online before he retreated amid agonizing pain caused by back surgery.
- Glamorous Best Friend of UnitedHealthcare CEO Assassination Suspect Luigi Mangione Breaks Silence on How She Was 'Blindsided' by Arrest — As He's Charged with Murder and 'Ghost Gun' is Discovered
- 'He Should Have Had TEN Bodyguards!' Ex-Bodyguard Of Assassinated UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson Fuels Growing Conspiracy Theories By Asking Why Murdered Insurance Boss Was Out Alone
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He had tweeted about psilocybin online – also known as magic mushrooms.
And in January 25 he added to his Goodreads a book called Psilocybin Mushrooms of the World: An Identification Guide and Mushrooms of Hawai’i: An Identification Guide
Details of Mangione's solitary "incel-style" and apparently celibate life have also emerged.
He spent his recent years living in Honolulu in a 'co-living' space called Surfbreak that caters to remote workers.
Its founder RJ Martin said he met Mangione in 2022, when he was interviewing to be among the initial 20 or so occupants paying about $2,000 per month to share quarters.
He said the young man appeared smart and accomplished and an "ideal member" for the community.
But he added: "His spine was kind of misaligned. He said his lower vertebrae were almost like a half-inch off, and I think it pinched a nerve.
"He knew that dating and being physically intimate with his back condition wasn’t possible.
"I remember him telling me that, and my heart just breaks."
The murder suspect pulled out of a privileged existence as an Ivy League graduate and heir to his family's thriving business empire.
Mr Martin said Mangione left Hawaii in the summer of 2023, presumably for an operation on his back.
And in August that year, he got pictures of his back surgery.
The scans of his spine were so shocking Mr Martin texted Mangione to check how he was coping.
Mangione replied: "So, long story. Will fill ya in in person. Back in Hawaii as soon as I can, I have to figure out some spine stuff here first."
His years as a tortured victim of surgery – apparently on mushrooms and mind-bending drugs to kill his pain as he nursed hatred towards the health insurance industry – is a stark contrast to the Ivy League version of the suspected gunman.
He used to fill the web with images of his fill the web tanned, chiseled looks in beach photos and party pictures with frat buddies, and had been the valedictorian of a prestigious Baltimore prep school costing $40,000-a-year in fees.
The huge 'manifesto' he was carrying also stated: "To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn't working with anyone."
It added corporations "continue to abuse our country for immense profit because the American public has allowed them to get away with it".
At Mangione's arraignment in Pennsylvania on Monday when a judge asked him whether he was in contact with his family he replied: "Until recently."
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