Murder Suspect Luigi Mangione’s Back Pain Ruined His Love Life, Friend Says: ‘Dating, Being Physically Intimate Not Possible’
Mangione is accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson
Luigi Mangione/X.com
Luigi MangioneLuigi Mangione, the man accused of killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, suffered severe back pain that prevented him from being “physically intimate,” according to reports.
R.J. Martin, Mangione’s friend who founded a co-living space in Hawaii where the murder suspect formerly lived, told The New York Times and NBC’s Today that his former roommate had confided in him about his back pain.
Mangione “knew that dating and being physically intimate with his back condition wasn’t possible,” Martin told the Times. “I remember him telling me that, and my heart just breaks.”
Martin told Today that the back pain “constantly weighed on” Mangione.
Josiah Ryan, Martin’s spokesperson, says regardless of the pain, there was no indication that Mangione would be suspected of such a serious crime.
“His back pain impacted every aspect of his life, his relationships and romantic connections,” Ryan tells PEOPLE. “The constant pain led to depression, which further affected those relationships.”
Mangione was arrested at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pa., on Monday, Dec. 11 after staff members alerted police, following a tip from an eagle-eyed customer.
When an officer responded to the McDonald’s in Altoona, police allege that Mangione presented a fake ID. The officer then asked the 26-year-old if he had been to New York recently, at which point Mangione began shaking, according to a criminal complaint.
Police discovered a 9mm "ghost gun," suppressor, several fake IDs, and a written manifesto on Mangione's person upon searching him.
The arrest concluded a massive search for the masked man who fatally shot Thompson outside the New York Hilton Midtown in Manhattan on Dec. 4.
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Mangione is charged with murder in New York but remains in custody in Pennsylvania, where he is charged with forgery and a weapons-related offense, along with three other criminal counts. He did not immediately agree to be extradited to New York.
"I do apologize for any strife or traumas, but it had to be done," Mangione allegedly wrote in a manifesto, according to a law enforcement source. "Frankly, these parasites had it coming."
Thompson, a Minnesota resident who was in New York for an investor event, had two children.
Read the original article on People
