Since the surprise arrest of suspect Luigi Mangione, everyone has been trying to get to the heart of the motive behind his alleged murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. And it turns out “the heart” may have been the issue.
Many have looked to the 26-year-old’s politics, especially after all his signs the killing was motivated by anger at the profit-motivated health insurance system that has taken over the US like an enormous parasite.
But of course, most of the country is angry about that! No one else is arming themselves. So what pushed him over the edge? We’ve learned he had a horrible back injury — and even the expensive surgery he got didn’t stop the pain.
Video: Luigi Cries Out For ‘The American People’ In Outburst Headed Into Court!
His former roommate R.J. Martin told CNN he mentioned a back injury the first time they met to see if they’d be a good fit to live together:
“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.”
Martin, founder of a Honolulu surfing community called Surfbreak, soon found out just how bad it was. After a single, rudimentary surfing lesson, Luigi was bedridden for a week with pain. Martin told the outlet it was “really traumatic and difficult.”
The worst part? The back pain was so bad it destroyed his love life — because he couldn’t even have sex! Martin recalled to The New York Times:
“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.”
No physical intimacy. Poor guy. For many, we imagine this will go a long way towards explaining his downward spiral into the mindset of committing an act of violence.
This seems to have been a recurring theme in Luigi’s life. We’re not sure how long his back was hurting him, but someone did track down a comment he made as far back as 2019 where he said he kept failing to find someone:
pic.twitter.com/AnzvvyX9HJ
— Charlotte E. Rosen (@CharlotteERosen) December 9, 2024
Ironically, Luigi’s infamy has led him to become an overnight sex symbol. Sad how that worked out.
In 2023 or early 2024 Luigi got surgery, Martin explained to CNN:
“He sent me the X-rays. It looked heinous, with just giant screws going into his spine.”
Innerestingly, it was after that when he disappeared on his family and friends this summer. We’re guessing it didn’t work? He was still in pain? Something about his journey through the medical apparatus turned him into something else.
[Image via NYPD/Luigi Mangione/Twitter/Lucia Mangione/Instagram.]