Luigi Mangione, the man arrested in the shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, struggled with back pain and went AWOL from his friends earlier this year, according to the Honolulu Civic Beat.
Mangione lived in a co-living space in Honolulu in 2022, where he dealt with chronic back pain from a pinched nerve, the Civic Beat reported. His friends in Hawaii said they stopped hearing from him this year, the Civic Beat said.
He was arrested on gun charges after being captured at a McDonald's in Altoona, Pennsylvania, following a nationwide manhunt sparked by Thompson's murder Wednesday outside a midtown Manhattan hotel.
Mangione was arraigned on charges of forgery, carrying a firearm without a license, tampering with records or identification, possessing an instrument of crime, and providing false identification to law enforcement in Pennsylvania. Prosecutors in Manhattan added a charge of murder Monday night. He is expected to be extradited to New York.
He was ordered held without bail and did not enter a plea. His next court appearance in Blair County, Pennsylvania, is scheduled for Dec. 23, pending a warrant from New York to have him extradited.
People who lived with Mangione recalled him as a thoughtful man who was good at articulating ideas and enjoyed reading and working out, the Civic Beat said.
Friends said Mangione had a misaligned vertebrae that would pinch his spinal cord, though he later had back surgery, the Civil Beat reported. Friends told the Civic Beat they stopped hearing from him over the summer.
Mangione was previously cited for trespassing in a closed area of a scenic viewpoint in Oahu, paying a $100 fine, according to the Civic Beat.
- Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Sam Barron ✉
Sam Barron has almost two decades of experience covering a wide range of topics including politics, crime and business.
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