Everything We Know About Luigi Mangione, The Suspect In UnitedHealthCare CEO's Murder

26-year-old Luigi Nicholas Mangione has been named the prime suspect in the murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Thompson was fatally shot outside a Hilton hotel in New York City last week, just hours before a shareholder conference. Mangione was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania after a witness recognized him from a wanted poster. The arrest led to the discovery of a chilling combination of a "ghost gun" and a manifesto critical of the healthcare industry. 

Here is everything we know about Mangione so far.

Creepy YouTube Video

A video was uploaded to a YouTube account under "Luigi Mangione" (@PepMangione) on the day of his arrest. However, it is unknown if the account truly belonged to the suspect. The title of the video reads, "The Truth," followed by a 1-minute and 24-second video with text that says, "If you see this, I'm already under arrest." It’s a countdown that goes to zero, with text in the bottom right corner saying, "Soon..."

Valedictorian to Accused Killer

Mangione’s academic background is almost incongruent with the charges against him. A former valedictorian of the prestigious Gilman School in Baltimore, Mangione graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with both a Bachelor’s and Master’s in Engineering.

His academic achievements placed him in the Eta Kappa Nu Honor Society for Electrical and Computer Engineering. To those who knew him growing up, Mangione was a promising, “nice kid” who “always had a smile on his face,” according to a former classmate. 

He was an avid reader and had a Goodreads account. Some of his "want to read" list included Children of the Fleet and Mein Kampf.

He left a review on Amazon for the Unabomber's book and suggested that "violence is necessary to survive."

Mangione’s Social Media Activity

On platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, and Instagram, Mangione posted messages that hinted at his frustrations with the healthcare system. The most critical find was his manifesto, reportedly filled with anti-healthcare rhetoric. 

Some of the quotes from this manifesto included, “These parasites had it coming,” and, “I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done.”

One of Mangionge’s posts that gained traction was his response to a tweet from an account using a photo of Karl Marx. The account had tweeted, "Do any of you retards have a PhD? I have questions." Mangione’s reply was a blunt, “Pretty huge D*ck.” 

Mangione also had an interesting choice of profile images. His X banner photo was an X-ray of a lumbar spine. Some users, like @SyeClops, speculated that this picture might be a clue to his personal grievances with the healthcare system.

Could the image be linked to his struggles with his own health? Or his family’s experiences with insurance companies? Sleuths also found that Mangione’s grandmother passed away in 2013, and his grandfather died in 2017, reportedly after battles with health insurance. 

Mangione’s Following

But Mangione’s social media activity didn’t stop there. He also posted a strange photo of a McDonald's Happy Meal. To some, this juxtaposition of seemingly innocent images with his increasingly disturbing rhetoric was jarring.

Some users, like @Vocalcry, pointed out the contradiction between Mangione’s anti-healthcare stance and his seemingly trivial posts, joking, “A nutrition bro being caught at McDonald’s with an anti-healthcare ‘manifesto’ is really giving ‘we immediately found the passports of the 9/11 hijackers’ vibes.”

Mangione’s penchant for posting about his “manifesto” led to more online theories. One user, @EdmundSmirt, speculated that Mangione’s descent into radicalism may have been fueled by conspiracy theories and his obsession with topics like Nietzschean philosophy. 

Theories and Speculation

What led him to murder Brian Thompson? Social media users have offered their own theories. Some, like @SyeClops, speculate that Mangione’s growing frustration with the healthcare system was deeply personal, perhaps linked to the loss of his grandparents. Others, like @Sondraa, suggest that Mangione’s personal health struggles – possibly related to being kicked off his parents' insurance at age 26 – may have been the tipping point that pushed him toward violence.

One particularly unsettling theory, according to The New York Post, connects Mangione’s hatred of the healthcare system to his family’s treatment by it. The theory suggests that Mangione may have sought revenge for perceived wrongs done to his relatives by insurance companies, fueling his rage and ultimately driving him to kill Thompson.

Another user, @Vocalcry, put forth a chilling observation: “IDK you guys does this sound like a schizo shooter to you?” suggesting that Mangione’s erratic and conspiratorial online behavior was indicative of a deeper mental unraveling.

Mangione and Psychedelics?

"People also believe that Mangione was into psychedelics, pointing to an old post from him on January 24, 2024, where he wrote: '“Drug abuse” isn’t fair criteria imo. The most intelligent, open-minded individuals I know all manipulate and push the buttons of their psyche via specific drugs. 'Drug abuse' should distinguish psilocybin and marijuana from addictive soul-suckers like meth, fentanyl, etc.'"

Despite the growing list of troubling social media interactions, some users, like @MerissaHansen17, raised doubts about the narrative surrounding Mangione’s arrest. “If you honestly believe this BS story that they found the United Healthcare CEO’s killer FIVE days later still wearing the same clothes with the murder weapon on him, and a fucking written manifesto in his pocket, your functionally low I.Q.,” she tweeted.

For now, Mangione sits in custody, facing charges that could forever alter his life and the lives of those who knew him. But his story – one of academic achievement, personal tragedy, and a descent into violent extremism – will no doubt continue to raise troubling questions for years to come.
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