Luigi Mangione, the suspect arrested in connection with the murder of UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, fell out of touch with some of his friends and family earlier this year, according to multiple media reports.
The loss in contact seemed to align with a back surgery Mangione underwent to treat chronic pain linked to a pinched nerve. R.J. Martin, the founder of a co-living space in Hawaii called Surfbreak, told the Honolulu Civil Beat that Mangione lived in the community, near Honolulu’s Ala Moana Beach Park, for six months in 2022.
Martin described the man as an articulate, engaged member of the community and said he was shocked by the news of his arrest on Monday, noting he helped start a book club for residents.
But Martin said he suffered from ongoing pain linked to a back issue, describing it as a “misaligned vertebrae that would pinch” his spinal cord. A spokesperson for Martin added to the Times that Mangione’s back injury had stopped him from surfing and had impacted his romantic life.
The pair stayed in contact after Mangione moved out, and Mangione sent photos after he had back surgery. Martin told the Civil Beat the man “went radio silent in June or July” of this year.
A Goodreads account that appeared to belong to Mangione flagged books on back pain and spine surgery. A header photo of an X account seemingly linked to the man included an image that seems to be of a spinal X-ray.
Martin went on to tell the Civil Beat this week he was shocked by the arrest, adding: “In some ways I feel like my members are my kids.”
Luigi Mangione is seen in a holding cell after being taken into custody on December 9, 2024 in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Altoona Police Dept.
Those feelings were echoed by several of his acquaintances who spoke to media outlets on Monday.
A fellow resident at Surfbreak, Jackie Wexler, described Mangione as a “thoughtful and deeply compassionate person at everything he did” in an interview with the Civil Beat.
And a former classmate, Aaron Cranston, also told The New York Times that he was forwarded a message earlier this year because Mangione’s family was trying to track him down. Cranston told the paper the message implied his family had not heard from him in several months after he underwent back surgery.
Mangione was arrested Monday in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after a worker at a local McDonald’s called police. Authorities had waged a manhunt for days after UnitedHealthcare’s CEO, Brian Thompson, was shot and killed outside a hotel in Midtown Manhattan in what police believe was a “premeditated, preplanned, targeted attack.”
He has been charged with five crimes in Pennsylvania, and prosecutors in New York have filed murder charges against him.
