When he was discovered at an Altoona, Pa., McDonald's, Luigi "Pep" Mangione had his semi-famous backpack full of items that linked him to the murder of Brian Thompson. The CEO of UnitedHealthcare had been gunned down on the streets of Manhattan in front of multiple witnesses. It was caught on video. We saw the tools the killer used to murder Thompson, and now we're learning about his healthcare issues that may have contributed to his rage.
Magione was a 26-year-old certified smart kid, who went to the University of Pennsylvania, one of the Ivy League's premier schools, and attended a summer camp at Stanford University between high school and college that was open only to kids who work hard and are smart enough to get in. But when he graduated, he worked some menial jobs. Then he went dark.
If Mangione was indeed the murderer, it's reasonable to wonder how such a smart person made so many mistakes in carrying off this horrendous act. His mistakes were legion. And why would someone with his smarts still have the apparent murder weapon five days later?
Mangione's backpack, a photographer's pack made by San Francisco manufacturer "Peak Design," was made between 2016 and 2019 and was called the "Everyday Backpack." Police leaked to reporters that Mangione's backpack still contained a "3D-printed pistol, 3D-printed silencer, a loaded Glock magazine, and multiple fake IDs in his backpack," and, of course, his manifesto.
It's almost as if he wanted to be found and linked to the murder.
Related: ‘Pretty Privilege,’ Perps, and Perception: Why Good Looks Matter for the CEO Murderer
The smart young man reportedly had a pre-existing degenerative back injury, for which he reportedly had surgery, but he tried to manage his fitness by working out and eating right.
He followed famous fitness and life hackers on social media. He cared about the nation's food supply. He was concerned about the collision of health and technology and technology's effects on humans.
He shared a short video of tech founder Peter Thiel discussing how the best startups are run by people with a mild form of Asperger's.
His YouTube account, which has been taken down, features a photo of him carrying a McDonald's Happy Meal container, and he was found with his laptop and backpack at the McDonald's in Altoona. Was the fitness fan being ironic by eating at McDonald's?
On his X account, he posted a photo of an X-ray of what is believed to be his own back. The San Francisco Standard reported that the scan revealed surgical intervention:
Mangione’s profile on X features a photo of what appears to be an X-ray of a spine after an operation to install a plate and several screws.
An orthopedic surgeon at the University of Southern California, who asked not to be named due to privacy concerns, identified the procedure shown as a lumbar spinal fusion and said the patient in the image appears to have a degenerative disc disease.
In January 2022, Mangione stayed in a hostel in Hawaii, but a woman who knew him told the Standard that he "ultimately left a few months later to seek treatment for a 'lifelong back injury.'"
Sarah Nehemiah told the Standard, "It was our understanding that he left due to a lifelong back injury that was exacerbated by surfing and hiking." She said they'd all lost track of him after Mangione left the hostel.
Related: CEO Killer Wrote 'Anti-Capitalist' Screed and Admired the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski
It seems reasonable to think his healthcare issues contributed to his antipathy to the health insurance industry.
Spoke with a source that had a lot of friends that went to high school with Luigi Mangione.
— Jack Mac (@JackMacCFB) December 9, 2024
What keeps coming up is a back surgery that “changed everything” for him and he went “absolutely crazy.”
Checks out with his GoodReads history and the X-Ray in his header. pic.twitter.com/dsrXMQcqB2
Indeed, friends believe that his back surgery sent him into a spiral.
“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 sports and pop culture outlet 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.
The New York Post reports that Mangione read the manifesto of Ted Kaczynski, a terrorist known as the Unabomber. He particularly liked this quote, "Imagine a society that subjects people to conditions that make them terribly unhappy then gives them the drugs to take away their unhappiness."
We look forward to finding out if the obviously troubled man was on psychotropic drugs or pain medications.
His two-and-a-half-page manifesto was reportedly filled with references to "powerful" insurance companies "that 'continue to abuse our country for immense profit,'" according to the New York Post.
His mother was worried and filed a missing persons report for her son in San Francisco. A family member, Nino Mangione, a Maryland legislator, issued a message on Facebook offering prayers.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member