Who Is Luigi Mangione? Suspected Murderer in CEO Shooting

In 1998, a boy destined for a life of Ivy League excellence, elite familial ties, and killer looks was born. In 2024, that man’s fate collided with the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on Dec. 4 in New York.

Luigi Nicholas Mangione, 26, led a picture-perfect life on paper. He was born into the wealthy Mangione family and educated at the prestigious Baltimore Gilman School, ultimately becoming valedictorian. He accomplished a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania with honors. An exclusive fraternity desired his presence and he was a Standford University head counselor, teaching gifted high school students. A multi-sport athlete, game enthusiast, avid reader, and conventionally attractive – Mangione “had it all.”

That is until Dec. 9, when authorities arrested him in Altoona, Pennsylvania, as a suspect in Thompson’s slaying. Mangione was on the run for six days when a McDonald’s employee alerted local authorities of his presence in the restaurant. Upon arrival, police questioned his whereabouts in New York recently, to which he visibly became nervous. He matched the suspect’s hostel ID used in NYC when requested for identification. While searching, law enforcement seized a ghost gun, silencer, multiple fake IDs, and a three-page manifesto on his person.

Later Monday evening, authorities charged Mangione in Manhattan with second-degree murder, along with five counts ranging from forgery to illegal weapon possession. As photos and knowledge of the Ivy League grad circulate, his story and motive pierce the curiosity of the American people.

     Who is Luigi Mangione?

The grandson of Nick Sr. and Mary C. Mangione, their family is considered Baltimore royalty. His grandparents built their generational wealth through ownership of country clubs, the politically conservative WCBM radio station, and the Lorien Health Services nursing home company. The alleged shooter’s family owns some of Maryland’s most high-priced real estate. His cousin, Nino Mangione, is an elected member of the Maryland House of Delegates.

As a Gilman student, Mangione’s peers describe him as well-liked, ambitious, and brilliant. Aaron Cranston, a former student, told the New York Times Mangione was likely the smartest person in their private school. “He was a big believer in the power of technology to change the world,” Cranston said. The 26-year-old created a mobile game app where players flew paper airplanes through obstacles while in high school. As a child, he reportedly took an interest in computer games, eventually teaching himself to code to create his own.

Freddie Leatherbury, a former 2016 alum, could recall only positive memories of the track, soccer, and wrestling athlete. “He was very smart, a pretty big math guy, really well-read, and quite well-liked to be honest. He had a very healthy social circle.”

Credit: Instagram

In his valedictorian speech, Mangione described his cohort as men “coming up with new ideas and challenging the world around it.” He went on to excel at UPenn, becoming a member of the Phi Kappa Psi academic honor society for electrical and computer engineering students. This is no small feat, as the 1904 established organization invites the top quarter and third of juniors and seniors respectively. 

According to Mangione’s LinkedIn, he assumed the role of a Data Engineer with online marketplace TrueCar in 2020. However, the company confirmed in a statement that he was no longer an employee since 2023.

In the same year, Mangione joined a remote living community in Hawaii called Surfbreak. His former roommate and founder, R.J. Martin, told NBC News he was thoughtful, nonviolent, and a leader with a great sense of humor. “He was a great fit for our community,” Martin said. “He helped spearhead a book club and was the kind of person people look forward to hanging out with.” Martin recalled the man he bonded with over fitness and cooking seems incompatible with an assassin.

Before moving in, Mangione mentioned painful back issues, possibly from a misaligned spine pinching nerves. A basic surf lesson left him homebound with a traumatic injury for a week, but he rarely complained. He avoided pain medication, practiced yoga with Martin, and did calisthenics while preparing for an impending back surgery.

Still, the chronic pain weighed heavily on the young tech wiz. “He knew that dating and being physically intimate with his back condition wasn’t possible,” Martin told NYT. “I remember him telling me that, and my heart just breaks.” He departed that summer for his operation, telling Martin he planned to return after sorting out spinal issues.

Mangione eventually returned in November, visiting Maui, The Big Island, and Oahu before returning to Baltimore by the new year. The two lost touch by April 2024, as that was the last time he responded to Martin wanting to catch up. “Yo! You awake?” Martin asked on May 20. “Where in the world are you?” another text read on June 23.

Where was Luigi Mangione?

                                                           Did He Spiral?

The question rang in the minds of his loved ones. Mangione’s years-long vulnerable social media presence captured the bookworm’s adventurous moments with friends, intellectual ideas from the regulation of porn to Japan’s cultural crisis, and sly clapbacks. In fact, this frequent activity is normal behavior for someone Gen Z. Then his digital footprint vanished six months ago.

Cranston told The New York Post that the Mangione family reached out to his Gilman peers earlier this year for word on his whereabouts. It appears he hadn’t been in touch much since his back surgery in 2023. An X user reached out to the young man from July 8 to Nov. 26, two days after he allegedly arrived in NYC, with no response. “I don’t know if you’re okay or just in a super isolated place…but I haven’t heard from you in months,” the user wrote. The friend attempts contact again on Nov. 25, tweeting “Thinking of you and prayers every day in your name. Know you are missed and loved.”

According to law enforcement, Mangione’s mother reported him missing to San Francisco police on Nov. 18. Six days later, NYPD believes he arrived in NYC with the intent to kill Thompson. He stayed in an Upper West Side hostel for 10 days, letting his guard down once to flirt with an employee. Officers leveraged the enchanting act by circulating the image of a smile online during their manhunt. Another image of determined eyes from the cab he took to the George Washington Bridge Bus Station followed. NYPD had only uncovered images, inconclusive fingerprints, and a backpack full of Monopoly with a Tommy Hilfiger jacket in four days. He might have gotten farther than Pennsylvania if not for the meddling McDonald’s worker.

“I don’t think I’ve seen this level of operational preplanning in any crime, never mind in a murder,” said NYPD former chief of department Kenneth Corey.

                                                             What Now?

As of Tuesday, officials are holding Mangione without bail in maximum custody level solitary confinement at the State Correctional Institution Huntingdon. Appearing in court Monday night, he refused to enter a plea and corrected two claims from prosecutors. First, he asserted that someone may have planted the $8,000 cash he carried to escape. Second, he denied criminal sophistication for possessing a Faraday bag that blocks cellular transmission, claiming it was simply waterproof.

While being escorted to his extradition hearing on Tuesday, Mangione shouts to reporters, ‘It’s completely out of touch and an insult to the intelligence of the American people – It’s lived experience!’ Meanwhile, the court has scheduled his next appearance for Dec. 23 in Pennsylvania. The suspect is fighting extradition; However, Blair County District Attorney Peter Weeks vows “to do what’s necessary” for Mangione to return.

Police are still working to identify a motive using his social media accounts and the handwritten manifesto.

In January, Mangione posted a 4-star review of the Unabomber Ted Kaczynski’s manifesto on Goodreads. “It’s easy to quickly and thoughtlessly write this off as the manifesto of a lunatic to avoid facing some of the uncomfortable problems it identifies,” he wrote. “But it’s simply impossible to ignore how prescient many of his predictions about modern society turned out.” Martin has repeatedly stated that he introduced Mangione to the Unabomber’s work.

Luigi Mangione’s X profile header / Credit: X

His GoodReads displays nearly 300 books regarding philosophy, health, and the human body. One book, “Crooked: Outwitting the Back Pain Industry and Getting on the Road to Recovery,” captures attention. Mangione’s X profile header features an X-ray image of a spine supported with surgical implants.

Authorities confirm he may suffer from severe back pain, discovering a now-deleted Reddit account he may have used to seek help. The user spoke of dealing with spondylitis, an inflammatory condition that can be debilitating – especially to a young adult. One X user tweeted “I knew a person with ankylosing spondylitis and he ended up killing himself. The pain was killing him.” Another recalled two friends he perceived as normal eventually committing suicide post-back surgery.

Officers believe the suspect’s manifesto claims responsibility for the attack as it states “To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone.” The writer criticizes profit-before-patient companies that “continue to abuse our country…because the American public has allowed them to get away with it.”

Mangione has received an outpouring of support from the public as a “folk hero.” All who have come forward to speak about him have given positive remarks. “FREE LUIGI” trends on platforms, Fancam edits, and lookalike contests in NYC among more. The Mangione family released a statement Monday expressing their devastation of the suspect’s arrest and prayers for all involved.