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Suspect Luigi Mangione’s family and friends are still in shock wondering how someone with a promising life could have possibly committed such a brazen crime.
Luigi Mangione, 26, was thrust into the spotlight Monday after police revealed he is their person of interest in the brutal murder of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. (Photo: AFP)
The suspect in the high-profile killing of UnitedHealth CEO Brian Thompson, that has gripped the United States, has been graduated from a Ivy League College and hails from a wealthy family.
Suspect Luigi Mangione’s family and friends are still in shock wondering how someone with a promising life could have possibly committed such a brazen crime.
In a statement released by Nino Mangione’s office, a relative of Luigi, the family said they are “shocked and devastated by Luigi’s arrest.” “We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved,” the statement said.
The 26-year-old scion of a wealthy Baltimore family, Mangione had maintained an active social media presence for years. A book nerd, he publicly kept track of nearly 300 books he had read or wanted to read, reported CNN.
However, after a while, Mangione appeared to stop posting online, prompting worried messages. “Nobody has heard from you in months, and apparently your family is looking for you,” one user posted on X in October, tagging an account of Mangione. “I don’t know if you are okay,” posted another.
R.J Martin, who lived with Mangione as a roommate in Hawaii a few years ago, remembered him as friendly and thoughtful. “I can make zero sense of it, it’s unimaginable,” Martin said to CNN.
Further, the suspect’s grandfather, Nicholas Mangione, a former masonry contractor had said that Mangione volunteered at a family business while he was in high school, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Mangione graduated from the prestigious Gilman School, where he was the high school valedictorian in 2016. In his valedictorian speech, Mangione lauded his classmates for “coming up with new ideas and challenging the world,” citing successful fundraisers and accomplishments in sports and academics, the report added.
Freddie Leatherbury, his high school batchmate told CNN that Mangione “had everything going for him.” He further said that Mangione was humble, unassuming and easy to approach.
A former colleague of Mangione who worked with him as a counsellor at a Stanford University summer program during his college years described him as outgoing and socially charming.
“I am flabbergasted, I never got the impression he would self-destruct,” the colleague said.
Luigi was arrested on Monday after police were alerted by a McDonald’s employee that the accused had been spotted at the outlet in Pennsylvania.
Mangione was led into the Blair County courthouse in Altoona for his arraignment on Monday night, where gun and forgery charges were slapped on him. The judge asked Mangione if he understood the charges against him, and he said he did. No plea was entered.
Fifty-year-old UnitedHealth CEO Thompson was gunned down outside a Manhattan hotel on the morning of December 4. Luigi was masked when he killed Brian and had waited for him to arrive before he shot him from behind.
(With inputs from CNN)
