Suspect Luigi Mangione Reportedly Battled Severe Back Injury Before Disappearing for Six Months — Family Breaks Silence on His Arrest
The arrest of Luigi Mangione in connection with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO has left friends, family, and acquaintances grappling with shock and disbelief.
As investigators piece together the timeline leading to his arrest, new details have emerged about his life in the months preceding his disappearance and alleged crime.
Mangione, a 28-year-old former computer science student from Maryland. He was described by those who knew him as intelligent, athletic, and socially well-adjusted.
However, the trajectory of his life appeared to change drastically earlier this year following back surgery to address chronic pain caused by a pinched nerve, far-left HuffPost reported.
Mangione spent six months in 2022 living at Surfbreak, a co-living community near Honolulu’s Ala Moana Beach Park.
R.J. Martin, the founder of Surfbreak, described him as an articulate and engaged community member who started a book club for residents in an interview with Honolulu Civil Beat.
However, Martin noted that Mangione was plagued by debilitating back pain stemming from a misaligned vertebrae that pinched his spinal cord. The injury reportedly halted his surfing activities and strained his romantic life.
After undergoing back surgery earlier this year, Mangione shared updates with Martin but soon ceased all communication.
In June or July of this year, Mangione reportedly “went radio silent,” cutting off communication with friends and family.
According to far-left New York Times:
Mr. Mangione was in regular contact with friends and family until about six months ago when he suddenly and inexplicably stopped communicating with them. He had been suffering from a painful back injury, friends said, and then went dark, prompting anxious inquiries from relatives to his friends: Had anyone heard from him?
In July, one man tagged a social media account that appeared to belong to Mr. Mangione and said that he hadn’t heard from him in months. “You made commitments to me for my wedding and if you can’t honor them I need to know so I can plan accordingly,” the man wrote in a now-deleted post.
Those six months will most likely become a focus for investigators as they try to gather more evidence about Mr. Mangione’s connection to the killing, and what he was doing in the time that no one could find him.
While in Hawaii, Luigi was criminally cited by the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources for entering a restricted area within a state park that was closed to the public.
Luigi Mangione, the 26-year-old who has been named the suspect in the killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, was criminally cited last year by the Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources for going into an area that was closed inside a state park.… pic.twitter.com/NEljc442rh
— Sarah Dewberry (@CNN_Sarah) December 10, 2024
Mangione’s arrest has drawn attention. Investigators discovered a manifesto allegedly written by Mangione expressing frustration with corporate healthcare practices.
“These parasites had it coming” and “I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done,” a police official who has seen the document told CNN.
According to the New York Post, citing sources familiar with the investigation, the manifesto consisted two and a half handwritten pages and echoed quotes previously shared by Mangione on his Goodreads account.
These quotes were drawn from the writings of the notorious Ted Kaczynski, the “Unabomber,” an anti-establishment extremist who terrorized the nation for nearly two decades.
In a glowing four-star review, Mangione lauded the document’s insights, referring to Kaczynski as a “political revolutionary” and even attempting to rationalize his violence.
“When all other forms of communication fail, violence is necessary to survive. You may not like his methods, but to see things from his perspective, it’s not terrorism, it’s war and revolution,” Mangione wrote in the review.
Messages inscribed on shell casings found at the crime scene—“delay,” “deny,” and “depose”—echoed these grievances, suggesting a motive tied to systemic failures in healthcare.
His online activity also hinted at his preoccupation with his back injury. A Goodreads account believed to belong to Mangione flagged books about spine surgery and chronic pain management. Meanwhile, a header photo on an X account linked to him displayed a spinal X-ray.
Mangioni’s family owns multiple businesses in Baltimore City or Baltimore County, including Hayfields Country Club in Cockeysville and a radio station.
According to Daily Mail, Luigi Mangione is the heir to a holiday resort empire built by his grandparents, and his sister is a renowned top doctor.
According to New York Times:
His grandfather, Nick Mangione Sr., and grandmother, Mary C. Mangione, purchased the Turf Valley country club in Ellicott City, Md., in the 1970s and developed the golf course community.
In the 1980s, the family purchased Hayfields Country Club in Hunt Valley, Md. It also founded the nursing home company Lorien Health Services, and Mr. Mangione’s father, Louis Mangione, became an owner. The family also owned the radio station WCBM, which airs politically conservative programs and has other real estate holdings.
He is also a cousin of Republican State Delegate Nino Mangione, who has been in office since 2019.
Mangione’s family released a brief statement expressing their shock and sadness.
“Unfortunately, we cannot comment on news reports regarding Luigi Mangione,” the statement reads.
“We only know what we have read in the media. Our family is shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest. We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved. We are devastated by this news.”
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