Luigi Mangione alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO shooting suspect went ‘absolutely crazy’ after traumatic back surgery and going off grid in the months prior to shooting murder of Brian Thompson, with his own family reporting him missing weeks prior.
Luigi Mangione, 26, an Ivy League graduate of Upenn and who came from an affluent Maryland family seemingly had everything to live for, until traumatic back surgery led to him brewing on the state of ‘capitalist America’ and the perceived slights and immorality of how big business is run in the U.S, especially the healthcare industry.
In the weeks prior to being arrested and charged in the first degree murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, 50, in a brazen shooting last week in Manhattan, the 26 year old had gone off radar. His family and friends had sensed a deep change in him before eventually his own family reported Mangione missing.
Luigi Mangione extradition hearing: an elaborate psyops operation?
Alleged UnitedHealthcare CEO shooter reported missing weeks prior
Mangione graduated with two degrees from the prestigious University of Pennsylvania and hailed from a well-off real estate family prominent in their Maryland community.
He was raised outside Baltimore in Towson along with his family owning two sprawling country clubs, a local radio station and several other real estate holdings.
In the weeks leading up to the shooting, he became estranged from his friends and family, according to law enforcement sources.
Mangione’s mother reported him missing Nov. 18 — possibly from a home in San Francisco, where he lived for a time — and reached out to his peers as they tried to track him down.
Posts viewed by The Daily Beast showed loved ones tried to reach out and connect with Mangione before the killing.
‘@PepMangione Hey, are you ok? Nobody has heard from you in months, and apparently your family is looking for you,’ wrote X user @TheRealMandusa on October 30.
Descent into trauma after painful back surgery
‘Thinking of you and prayers everyday in your name,’ wrote user @Collin30923201P on November 25. ‘Know you are missed and loved.’
The day prior, on November 24, the suspected shooter is believed to have arrived in New York City and checked into an Upper West Side, NYC hostel. Just over a week later, the 26 year old would set off from the hostel in the early morning hours, his identity hidden behind a hood and mask, and lay in wait outside of a midtown Manhattan Hilton hotel and gun down one of America’s preeminent health insurance executives, Brian Thompson, who was on an annual $10M salary.
One of his former classmates at the Gilman School in Baltimore told the New York Times that he believed he went dark after undergoing back surgery several months prior.
A friend and former roommate in Hawaii also told CNN that Mangione had previously spoken of his back issues.
‘When I first interviewed him, before he moved in, I remember he said he had a back issue, and he was hoping to get stronger in Hawaii,’ RJ Martin said speaking to the outlet.
The roommate said Mangione’s back issues were so ‘traumatic and difficult’ that one basic surfing lesson left him bedridden for a week.
When he underwent surgery, Martin said, his friend sent him images of the X-rays.
‘It looked heinous, with just giant screws going into his spine,’ he said.
Other former high school friends said the high-achieving valedictorian went ‘absolutely crazy’ after the surgery, according to Jack Mac, a staffer at Barstool Sports.
‘Spoke with a source that had a lot of friends that went to high school with Luigi Mangione. What keeps coming up is a back surgery that ‘changed everything’ for him and he went ‘absolutely crazy,” Mac revealed on X.
Mangione ‘hasn’t made any statements’ since his arrest, law enforcement officials said during an evening press conference in Pennsylvania.
Hours after he was arraigned on weapons and forgery charges in Pennsylvania, he was charged in New York with murder.
The Mangione family said they were ‘shocked and devastated’ in a statement released Monday night, saying: ‘We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved.’
Investigators have yet to say what led to 26 year old allegedly gunning down Brian Thompson, 50, last week outside of a midtown, Manhattan hotel, circa 6.45 a.m as he prepared to lead an investors conference later that morning to discuss record multi billion dollar profits of $450 billion that America’s largest private health insurer expected to bring in for 2025.
